“No, seriously. That’s too much,” I said, shaking my head and trying to grab the keys back.
“If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered. I’m happy to give you a ride.”
Reaching his cruiser, he carefully passed me the sleeping kitten and took the key from the keyring. He ran back and tucked the key under the wheel well.
I bit my lip, willing my cheeks not to blush as he came back to open the door for me.
“At least let me come over and help you set all this up as thanks,” I said, sliding into the seat.
Oh my God, Jenna. You offered to go shopping with him, and now you’ve invited yourself to his house? How hard is it to throw litter in a box and food in a bowl?
He gave me a look I couldn’t read, then walked around to the driver’s side and pulled out his phone, talking low, probably to his friend about my SUV. I tried to be casual, taking my phone out of my pocket and answering a text from my friend Addison about grabbing dinner next week. I was tapping my foot on the floorboard when he opened the door and got behind the wheel with a smile.
“Thanks for the offer, Jenna. That would be helpful. I’d love for you to come...” And he winked.
4 - MARK
Over. I’d love for you to come over.
I shook my head and cracked my neck. Leaving out that one word was messing with my mind, filling it with images that would make a stripper blush. I started the cruiser and touched the Evil-Eye pendant hanging from the turn-signal lever, looking both ways and heading past Magnolia Crescent to my neighborhood.
Jenna took in all the gears and gadgets on the dashboard while her foot tapped out a steady beat on the floor.
“I didn’t mean to invite myself over. I’m sure you’re more than capable of setting up shop, and you must be tired,” she said, staring out the window. She looked calm, but that foot-tapping said otherwise, so I cleared my throat and tried to put her mind at ease.
“Well, you invited yourself shopping with us,” I said, making a right-hand turn. “I figured you’d be tagging along tonight.”
“What? Really?”
I had to smile, and it took her a second to return it, but when she did, her entire face lit up, and I had a hard time focusing on the road. I wasn’t prepared for what that smile did to me, almost as if Jenna was giving me some rare gift by letting me see the light in her eyes. Gripping the steering wheel, I felt vulnerable and out of my element, hoping we could ride the rest of the way in silence so I could push whatever this was back down from where it came.
“Are you superstitious?” Jenna asked a few minutes later, pointing to where I was absentmindedly rubbing the pendant.
“Um, yeah, I am.” I forced myself not to elaborate, waiting for her to laugh.
“Did you know that psychologists have proven people who believe in superstitions have less stress?”
What? Was this chick for real?
“Less stress?” I repeated, turning into Briarwood.
“Yeah, and if you have any superstitious rituals before playing a sport, you perform better. It’s science.”She shrugged her shoulders as if she calmed a man’s nerves every day when he admitted a part of himself most people thought was ridiculous.
Jenna leaned forward as I turned down my cul-de-sac and wound around the driveway.
“Wow, Mark. Your house is beautiful,” she said, taking in the wrap-around porch and red shutters. Pausing to look for a moment, she was right. I had finished the landscaping before the southern weather became scorching and noticed the gardenias had bloomed.
“Thanks,” I replied, pushing the garage door button and pulling in. “I grew up here.”
“You did? That’s amazing you moved in.”
“Yeah?” I said, turning off the cruiser.
This house needed work, but it wasn’t done making memories.
“Yeah. You can feel the love this house has. I’d love to live in my childhood home. It’s a two-story blue house with a gigantic oak tree in the back and a witch window in the attic. I remember my dad spending a summer sanding down the floors and building me a nook where I could read and watch the birds.”
I was speechless. I’d always been a man of few words, but this pretty girl, with her bright smile and useless facts, made my skin tingle. Not in a bad way, but unfamiliar. The second I saw her walking out of the clinic, I felt my stomach flip-flop like I’d just pummeled down a thousand-foot roller-coaster without being strapped in.
