Isaac startles at my side, repositioning so I can pack up my things. “Will I see you before Wednesday?”
A smile quirks my lips. “You realize all you have to do is ask and I’ll come?”
“Don’t make me ask,” he groans, his freckles bright on his cheeks.
I tug his chin gently, dipping to kiss a path along those freckles as Isaac sighs. When I’m fairly sure I’ve caught them all, I lean back. “What time should I pick you up?”
He looks a little dazed. “When? For what?”
“Dinner,” I answer. “Tonight if you want.”
“Um. Six?”
“It’s a date.”
Isaac pretends to be unaffected as I zip up my backpack and stand, but I can see the happiness radiating gently from his being. The tiny smile at the corner of his mouth. The way his shoulders have relaxed and the softness in his eyes.
One day, soon I hope, Isaac won’t be afraid to show me his emotions. But for now, I accept the compliment for what it is, content in the knowledge Isaac is excited to simply spend time with me.
“See you tonight,” I say again. “And, Red? Be good.”
It takes him a second to understand, and then he’s scowling. “I’m not going to start a fight with the girl at our table.”
“You promise?” I tease, fairly certain he would have had I not intervened.
“Aren’t you going to be late?” Isaac shoots back, waving a hand as if to shoo me along.
I bark a laugh that has Isaac trying his best to hang on to his scowl. “All right. I’m going.”
I’m halfway down the hall when Isaac’s voice stops me. “Hey. ‘What is the hardest task in the world?’”
I turn back around, finishing the quote by Emerson. “‘To think.’”
Isaac curses. “Iwillstump you one of these days.”
“I look forward to it,” I tell him honestly.
I leave Isaac to finish his studying, my heart beating steadily in a way I find comfort in. I’m not racing. For a few minutes, there’s no hustle.
There’s only the promise of tonight and the memory of heated blue eyes to keep me company.
There’s no inquisition this time when I show up at Isaac’s front door. No shakedown from his friends. The door opens, and Camden waves me inside before disappearing, leaving me to guess whether or not he went to retrieve Isaac.
I wait in the living room for a minute before shooting Isaac a text just to be safe.
He appears soon after, wearing a forest green shirt he looks fantastic in. His voice comes out a little high when he says, “Hey.”
I take in the anxious darting of his eyes and the way his chest is rising and falling in short bursts he appears to be trying to moderate. “Does calling it a date make you nervous?”
He puffs out a breath, shooting me an almost exasperated look. “Do you have to be so perceptive?”
“I promise there’s nothing to be nervous about.”
Isaac grabs a lightweight jacket off a hook near the door, shrugging it on. “You know, telling a person not to be nervous is like telling them to calm down. It doesn’t ever work.”
Isaac’s mouth snaps shut when I spin him gently my way. “Let me try that again,” I say, straightening the collar of his jacket before smoothing my palms up his neck. “Hi, Red. You look good enough to eat.”
His pulse feathers against my thumbs. “I really hate when Todd is right.”
