Jake looked over at me. “It’ll be fine. I can tell him if you want me to.”
I shook my head and looked out the window. “Where are we going to go?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said with a mischievous grin. I groaned, which made him laugh. “I’m glad you are excited. I, for one, can’t wait to have you to myself when it’s daylight. This thing at night is killing my beauty sleep.”
I burst out laughing. “You do not need beauty sleep. You are a natural hottie,” I told him as we parked.
He leaned over and looked at me with a smirk. “You think I’m a hottie, do you?” His perfect full lips were so close. A sigh leaked out and that just cracked Jake up. “C’mon. Dad and Drake are waiting,” I said getting out of the car and away from his oh-so-kissable lips.
Dad and Drake were waiting by the door and Jake was right behind me. We walked in. The tiny space was packed for eight at night. “Honey, why don’t you and Drake find a seat and we’ll order,” dad said. “The usual, right?” I nodded, took Drake’s hand, and found a booth near a window.
12
Jake
I ordered myself an Oreo Blizzard and a vanilla ice cream cone with sprinkles for Drake. Mike ordered Emily a banana split, her favorite, and a brownie sundae for himself. While we were waiting, Mike asked me a question. “So, what exactly is going on between you and my daughter? I saw that kiss and your arm around her waist at the game so don’t even think about giving me that look.”
I gave him a sly smile and decided on the truth. Mike didn’t seem to me like the kind of guy who should have someone pulling his leg. “I really like her. She’s been opening up to me about her mom and stuff. I knew she called her last night and I told her that next time, she should just let you talk to her.”
“She told you?” Mike was in disbelief.
“Yeah, and every day during lunch, I try to make her more comfortable around people. I have her talk to me about anything and have her look at my eyelids.” Mike gave me a questioning look and I continued. “I close my eyes while she talks to me. Soon, she’ll have to look at them. Anyways, she’s doing pretty well. I asked her out on a date too.” Mike’s eyebrows shot up and he began to look a little uneasy. “She agreed,” I said before he could open his mouth. Then his expression turned to full fledged shock.
He slowly started to talk. “I don’t know Jake. I don’t want her to get involved just when she’s coming out of her shell. If she gets hurt, she could easily go back to square one and then what if I can’t get her back out?”
“It’s simple,” I said. “I don’t plan on hurting her.”
“Just because you don’t plan on it, doesn’t mean you won’t.” He sighed. “Just please be careful with her. I don’t want to lose her again.” I nodded just as our ice cream was ready. We headed to the booth where Emily was cracking up over something Drake had said.
I sat beside her leaving Mike to sit beside Drake. Ice creams were handed out and we dug in. Emily moaned, “It has been way too long since I’ve had one of these. Drake, you’re a genius.” Drake smiled and continued to lick his ice cream, getting sprinkles stuck to the side of his mouth. It would be useless for me to say something about it until he had finished.
“I have another game tomorrow, are you guys coming?” I asked, looking over at Emily who glanced over at her dad who in turn shrugged.
“I have some papers that are due Thursday and I haven’t done them yet. I was planning to do them tomorrow. Sorry Jake.”
“It’s fine. What are our plans for Thursday?”
Mike spoke up. “We’ll probably leave around five to be there by seven. That way we’ll have a little wiggle room for rush hour traffic. You can meet us at our house a little before five or we can pick you up. Either way is fine with me.”
“I’ll meet you at your house. What do I owe you for the tickets?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me. I’m just happy to take Drake to his first game.”
“Mike, I can’t let you do that. Just tell me.”
Emily put a hand on my shoulder. She looked at me (yes!) and said, “You might as well just let him. Once he has decided to pay for something, you can’t convince him otherwise. I can’t wait to go and see Crosby play again.”
“She used to say that she was in love with him and that she would marry him one day,” Mike said with an evil grin.
“Dad!”
I looked over at Emily and tried not to laugh. “Emily Crosby, huh?”
Drake chirped in before I could tease her more, “Emily and Sidney, sitting in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
Her cheeks were a bright red. “You guys are horrible! Sidney Crosby has to be one of the hottest players and one of the best, especially for his age! There’s nothing wrong with liking him.”
“You don’t like him, Emily. You love him,” I said laughing. She elbowed me in the ribs. “That hurt, Emily!” I was still laughing. Her expression was priceless.