“Drinks tonight?” he asks me, and I realize it’s our tradition on Saturday nights to spend our evening at the bar looking for girls. It’s been like that since I was in college, and it hasn’t changed since we both never had a relationship. But now that I have Haelee, I have a feeling the tradition will have to be tweaked to include her as well.
“We have dinner with Haelee’s mom, and then I’m heading home. I have something planned for tomorrow, but we’ll see you on Monday.” There’s a glint of a question in his eyes, and I know he’s going to call me tonight to ask about this.
“Next weekend,” he says. “And bring Haelee along.” With a wink, he tips his head toward her in farewell before leaving us to head into the garage. We walk to my Range Rover, but there’s tension emanating from my girl.
Once inside, she asks, “Did I mess up your plans with your friend?”
“God, no.” I turn to her before starting the engine. “He understands that you’re in my life, and I want to spend time with you. He only asked because we had this thing where we’d go to the bar every Saturday.”
“To look for girls?”
Her question has her eyes widening, and I feel the guilt eating at my insides. But I don’t know why I feel it. I shouldn’t. I didn’t do it while I’ve been with her, and I’m not the type of man to cheat. Even when I wasn’t in a relationship, each time I did have a girl on my arm, even just for one night, it was only her who held my attention, nobody else.
“Yes,” I finally answer. “I’ll never lie to you, and I won’t ever cheat. It’s not who I am or how I was brought up. When I’m with someone, I’m with them only.”
“How many ex-girlfriends do you have?” she asks, and it sounds so innocent coming from her, I want to erase my past and never let her learn about it. But I can’t do that.
“I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”
This time, Haelee’s eyes widen even more, and her mouth pops into an O, so she looks almost cartoonish. “Never?”
“No. This,” I tell her, pointing between us, “is a first for me. And if I fuck up, it’s only because I’m not sure what the hell I’m doing. But the fuck up will never be me cheating on you. It might just be me hiding behind my exterior to guard myself against being hurt.”
“I wouldn’t hurt you,” she assures me in a soft voice that makes my heart thump against my ribs. I believe she won’t, but when you love someone, you do give them the ability to hurt you, even when you don’t expect it.
“I’m not saying you will, but at times, we do things when we don’t even realize we do. I want to make a promise to you here and now. Honesty always, ride or die,” I attest, holding out my hand for hers.
She’s quiet for a long while, and I almost think she’s not going to accept my offer, but then she takes my hand and smiles. “Honesty always, ride or die,” she reassures me with a grin.
“Good.” I kiss her forehead before turning back to the steering wheel and starting the engine. Reversing out of the lot, I take the road back toward town, and I know the exact place I want to take her. A small diner Curtis and I found late one night after racing at the track for hours.
We’d spent much of the day and night there, and when we left, hunger pains hit hard. On our way home, we found this little place, which was practically hidden from the road, with bright lights calling us toward it.
I had never had a better burger, so I want to take Haelee there and show her something I like. And hopefully, we can get to know each other better over lunch. When I pull into the lot of the diner, I notice it’s not too busy, which I’m thankful for.
“What is this place?”
“You ask that a lot,” I tease her.
“Well, you take me to a lot of new places, so I have to ask,” she sasses me with an eye roll that makes me chuckle. Her fire really does it for me, but I don’t say anything about it. Instead, I push open my door and motion for her to do the same.
We meet at the hood of my car, and I once again take her hand. I like how small she feels, how fragile, but I know deep down she’s anything but.
She’s a fierce warrior who’s slowly winning over my heart.
Inside, we grab a booth, and the server comes to hand over our menus and take our drink order. I ask for a Coke, and Haelee gets an orange juice. Once we’re alone, I set the menu down and look at her.