True Love and Magic Tricks Read online

  Kaylee doesn’t skip a beat, untangling our limbs and jumping out. “Lexie, I told you to take your time,” she says and tosses a messy braid over her shoulder.

  Lexie shakes her head. “You texted me over an hour ago. I had to wait for Ryan to pick me up and he was helping Pop-pop with a tranny.”

  Kaylee turns her head toward me with a giant blush and damn if that doesn’t just set me ablaze again.

  Ryan motions for me to step out, and I hope to god things are all cool in the crotch region. The last thing I want is Kaylee to see me at full mast. I step out and shove my hands in my pockets pulling the material away from my body. “Thanks for rescuing us,” I say.

  “By the looks of things you didn’t need any rescuing,” Ryan says, and smacks my back then dangles his hand in disgust. “Dude, you’re sweating.”

  “Things got a little hot in there,” Kaylee says, and bounces up to kiss my cheek.

  “Yeah. It was…It was hot. No air flow.”

  “I’m sure that’s all it was,” Ryan says.

  “We’re going to the movies tomorrow if you guys want to come.” Lexie says.

  Kaylee bites her lip and fidgets with her hands. Her hair has come loose from her braids and is sticking up. The pieces that aren’t sticking up are matted to her forehead, yet she still is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  We’ve been out before. But now that we’ve kissed I want to make it official. A girl like Kaylee deserves a real date.

  “Only if Kaylee agrees to go,” I say, walking over to her and tucking a few of her golden strands behind her ear.

  Her eyes widen, and she looks up at me through her long lashes. “Of…of course.”

  “Great. It’s a date then.”

  “A date?” she all but squeals.

  I smile. “A date.”

  “Oh. Oh! I have to go.” Kaylee grabs Lexie’s hand and yanks her out the door.

  “What the—” Lexie’s words are lost in the hallway as Ryan and I just stare at each other.

  “What just happened?” I ask completely dumbfounded, the taste of Kaylee’s strawberry gloss still on my lips.

  “Chicks man. They’re just weird,” Ryan says, and we both plop down on my bed, shaking our heads.

  “Ry?” Lex sticks her head back in the room and Ryan and I both look up.

  “Yeah Lex?” Ryan says.

  Before Lexie says anything Kaylee runs back in, kisses me on the cheek and sputters, “Rain check on the movie tonight,” then disappears again.

  “We need a ride to Kaylee’s house,” Lexie says.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask, afraid Kaylee realized who she just agreed to a date with and bolted.

  “Perfect. Kaylee just has to get home for dinner. And apparently we have a lot of planning to do too. Um. Yeah. Girl stuff. I mean did you see her nails? Ow Kaylee!” Lex’s head goes back into the hallway, but we can still hear her words. “What? Have you looked at them? All chips.” Lex’s head pops back into the doorway. “Ready?”

  Ryan rolls his eyes and hops up from the bed. “Catch you later, dude.”

  “We’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven,” Lexie says, and disappears again.

  I’m totally cool until I hear the front door shut, and the thoughts of tomorrow fill my mind. I’m going on a date. With Kaylee. What the heck am I thinking? I don’t know how to go on a date. Not like I never had a date before, it’s just none of those girls were my dream girl. Don’t get me wrong they were all awesome in their own way, just not Kaylee.

  Everything about her is over the top and perfect and this date needs to be exactly that. I need help. I sit down at my desk and pull up Skype on my laptop. Please be there.

  “What’s going on?” Nick says as his face pops on the screen. It’s six in the evening, and he has no shirt on. Which means he’s either getting ready to head out or a girl is sleeping on his bed. I hope it’s not the latter. The last time that happened, it got a little awkward when the girl woke up and flashed me.

  “You alone?” I ask.

  “Yup.” Nick was always a man of many words.

  “So I kind of need your advice.”

  “Did you get the herps?”

  “What? No. Nothing like that. I have a date.”

  Nick’s dark eyebrow rises. “Okay? You’ve been out with girls before. You open the door for her. Don’t offer to pay right away just in case she’s a feminist. Feel her out before you go in for the goodnight kiss. What else do you need to know?”

  “This girl’s different. I want to…you know. Wow her.”

  “Little bro’s got it bad, huh? Oh snap. This is the girl I had to call for you, isn’t it?”

  “I called her.”

  “I hit the button. And be real. You never would have. Okay, this is what you do. Girls like flowers. Go pick some up at the Stop and Go. You’re not wearing that are you?”

  I look down at my button up and suspenders. “The date’s tomorrow so no. But I was going to wear something similar and add a bow tie.”

  “Seriously where did you come from?”

  “Look Joan Rivers, my fashion choice is the least of my worries.”

  “If you say so. Okay so here is what you’re going to do…”

  Chapter 9

  I rip out the fourth magazine perfume sample, strip out of my shirt, and slap the sample to my chest. It might be completely bonkers, but I think I’ve lost my mind a little bit.

  “Kaylee bug?” Dad yells up the stairs. “There are… people here.”

  Oh my gosh, Dad! Embarrassing much? He has to call me bug, then he’s gotta point out that I never have people over.

  “Ugh,” I grumble in the comic tee I’m wiggling my face through. “Be down in two seconds!”

  Mr. Pippi shifts in his cage, and I blow him a kiss after making sure my braid is smooth. I didn’t do my normal easy going pigtails, opting for a more elegant braided look, but my fingers keep reaching for two braids to twist out of habit.

  Before I step from my room, I shove the box of blue love notes back under my bed. Maybe I’ll try to subtly bring them up tonight and confirm my suspicion that it’s been Nate this whole time.

  I’m surprised I don’t tumble down the stairs and land on my face with how fast my feet want to move. Lexie’s eyes go straight to my newly painted toes. Dating a Royal she deemed appropriate, even though blue is not my color.

  Ryan’s flicking his key ring around his finger, talking about some sort of mechanical who-knows-what with my dad as he looks past him out the door to whatever car Ryan’s driving. There’s some other guy there too, next to Lexie, and it takes me waaaaaay too long to realize… that’s my date.

  I blink a few times, double and triple taking glances at Nate. He’s wearing this unbelievably tight black shirt. I mean so tight I’m seeing nipples. Okay, no judgment. It’s fine. He looks good in anything. Really. What size is that?

  Instead of his signature smile, he gives me the head bob, which is fine too. But not really for my dad who insists on shaking his hand. Nate looks like he’s going to, but then fumbles out with a fist-bump. He totally just fist-bumped my dad.

  Oh Nate, please start talking and prove to him you’re just this adorable, nervous guy, and you’re not a complete jer—

  “Wow, you look… finger-licking,” he says to me. My eyes jump out of my head, and I whip my neck to catch Dad’s reaction. His neck is slowly turning the color of an eggplant.

  “I’m not familiar with that expression,” Dad says, crossing his arms. “Please explain it to me.”

  Nate gulps and tries to crack a grin. “She looks good. Tasty. You know, like finger-licking… food?”

  My hand comes up over my eyes. Maybe I’m hallucinating. But when I bring my hand back down we’re all still there. Ryan and Lexie are sharing equal expressions of confusion. My dad’s neck strained so much I can see the tendons. And Nate’s standing there winking at me.

  Oh sweet mother…

  “I have my phone,�
� I say, trying to keep the perk in my voice. I hop down my last step, kiss Dad on the cheek, and give him an encouraging smile. It doesn’t work.

  “It was a compliment, you know,” Nate says, crossing his arms to echo my dad, but he fumbles on it, looking like he’s confused about which arm to put over the other. He opens his mouth to continue, but I’m afraid what’ll come out, so I push him outside, mentally begging him to keep his trap shut till I close the door. Ryan flips his keys again and says, “We’ll meet you there?”

  Nate nods, and my brow crinkles when I notice the two cars parked in the drive. Okay, so we’re driving separately. No big deal. Just curious why they all came to my house to pick me up.

  Dad waves from the window, and then does the lame phone sign to let me know to call if I need rescuing. I smile and signal back. And a sick weight plops in my stomach because I wish Mom was here to pacify him while I’m out.

  “So,” Nate says, opening the door for me, “I know it’s not a five star place, but they want to go to Skippy Lee’s.”

  “Skippy Lee’s tastes like five stars.” I nudge him with my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”

  He rolls his eyes and shuts the door behind me. Geez Louise, what is up his butt tonight? I quickly sniff myself to make sure I’m not emanating some weird funk.

  Ryan backs out of the drive just as Nate starts the engine. He gulps, shaking his head and breathing really weird before pushing his foot on the accelerator once… twice… three times, revving the engine like he’s in a drag race.

  I look over my shoulder at Ryan who’s laughing, and he starts revving his engine. Lexie smacks him upside the head and motions for him to just drive. Agreed, girlfriend. Boys. Though, I didn’t peg Nate as a guy who liked to compensate with his car.

  “Where’s your deck of cards?” I ask, looking around every inch of the cab.

  He shrugs, the tight shirt bunching on his shoulder. “I cleaned.”

  I attempt a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that it was dirty before. I just thought… I don’t know, that you kept them around.”

  “I do more than just card tricks.” He throws me a grin, which comes off extremely suggestive and throws me back a little.

  “Um, okay.”

  His eyebrows pull in, and he shakes his head and stares out the windshield. We pull up to a red light next to Ryan. I wave like I haven’t seen them in years, and they both laugh. At least they’re in a good mood tonight.

  Nate revs the engine again, egging Ryan on to do the same.

  “Oh please don’t race him,” I say, trying to keep my tone light, but I mean it. We’re still in a semi-residential area, and who knows what dog or kid or cat or whatever will come jetting onto the road after a ball.

  He does that grin again, like he doesn’t know if it belongs on his face, but it’s there so he’s going with it. I open my mouth to emphasize that I really don’t want him to gun it, but the light turns green, and both Ryan and Nate’s tires squeal, and I’m thrown back into my seat.

  “Damnit, damnit, damnit!” Nate’s shouting as the car shifts from first to second to third and Ryan’s still pulling ahead. My blue nails dig into the seat, heart thudding through my ears, and my vision goes blurry. Nate doesn’t seem to notice my absolute shock and terror as Ryan cuts him off and slams on his brakes, making Nate do the same. The seatbelt locks across my boobs, stealing the breath right out of my lungs.

  “I should’ve known.” He waves at Ryan’s car in front of us. “He tunes that thing up like, every week.”

  I keep quiet, trying to calm my heart rate. My fingers slowly uncurl.

  “Wait,” he says, finally glancing in my direction. “Are you okay?”

  I manage to unstick my tongue. “I… I told you not to.”

  His eyebrows shoot up, eyes wide. “Holy crap, I’m sorry. I thought… Girls like fast cars, right?”

  My fingers twist around my braid, and I shake my head. “Not this girl.” I stare at my knees, trying to calm down. Nate looks like he wants to put his hand on mine, but he doesn’t. I get control of my heart, feel like smacking him upside the head, but I just turn and look out my window.

  He audibly gulps. “Got it.”

  We pull into Skippy Lee’s parking lot a few minutes later, and his phone is out. He’s typing like a mad man. After a good forty seconds, I sigh and open my door, meeting up with Lexie in the entrance.

  “I hope you smacked him for encouraging that display of macho-ism,” I say, nodding at Ryan. He holds his hands up like he’s totally innocent.

  Lexie rolls her eyes and tweaks his nipple through his button-down. He’s rubbing it out when Nate slides in behind me. Thank the heavens he’s not texting.

  “Hey, Ryan and I can get the food if you guys… uh, I mean ladies… want to grab a table.”

  Lexie laughs and thank goodness because it means he’s not acting normal. I hope he pulls something out of thin air or blushes or something normal for him soon. Or you know, give me a compliment other than something that sounds like it’s an advertisement for fast food.

  I put on a big smile and kiss his cheek. It has to be nerves. So I’ll try to reassure him. “Thanks, that’d be great.”

  Lexie turns to Ryan with pouty lips and bats her eyelashes. The girly reaction makes me laugh. Especially when Ryan groans and says, “Bacon burger. I know…”

  “Extra, extra bacon.”

  Ryan’s nose crinkles, and Nate leans in when he sees my half-confused, half-amused expression.

  “Ryan’s a vegetarian. She does this to him all the time.”

  I flick my eyes to meet Nate’s, and my stomach hops on a downhill slide. He sounds like normal Nate. Normal, sexy, adorable, yummy—

  His lips slam on mine with no warning, no how-do-you-do, no prelude music. My eyes are still wide open when he pulls back, and his cheeks are splashed red when a shaking hand taps my rear-end. “Go get our table,” he orders. Orders. If I hadn’t had such a great time with him… well, every other time we’ve been together, I would smack that mouth for doing what it just did.

  “Oh-kay.” I share a look with Lexie and Ryan who seem just as dumbstruck as I feel. “Could you get me a—”

  “I got it,” he sputters.

  “But you don’t know what I—”

  He places a trembling hand over my mouth, then attempts that awful smirk I saw in the car. “Trust me, ‘kay? Promise I’ll get you something good.”

  The back of my eyes start to prickle, and before I can let him see just how disappointing this date is so far, I grab Lexie’s wrist and yank her to the dining booths. I don’t look back once, afraid if I do I’ll see whoever that jerkwad is that decided to possess Nate’s body tonight.

  “Please tell me he’s not like this usually,” I whisper-yell to her the second we sit down.

  Lexie taps her pink nails on the napkin holder. “I think he’s nervous. I’ve never seen him rev the engine on that car since he owned it. And um… sorry, I wouldn’t know if he’s into PDA so I don’t know if that’s normal.”

  “I don’t mind him kissing me if it’s like… I don’t know… not so rushed and sloppy and isn’t followed by a smack to my butt and a ‘get our seats, woman!’”

  “I’m sorry. Give him a bit. Knowing Nate he probably ‘date studied’ all night by watching movies. He’s just trying too hard to be like those guys.”

  I cluck my tongue and nod at the tabletop. “I want him, though.”

  She shrugs. “Then tell him.”

  Holy balls, she’s totally right. I don’t have to tolerate this nonsense! I won’t embarrass him in front of his friends, but if he keeps it up, I’m so spilling in the car on the way to the movie.

  “Thanks, Bestie,” I say, and even though her eyebrows rise at the name, I don’t care. She’s on my side here, and I’m stealing her as my new best friend. Or I should say my first best friend… outside of Mr. Pippi.

  “Here’s your cow gut and pig spine,” Ryan says, and trays slide under o
ur noses.

  Lexie’s face brightens as she unwraps her bacon loaded burger. She takes a massive bite and says, “Thank you, buh-ddy.” Then she puckers up like she’s going to kiss his cheek with all that food in her mouth, and Ryan shoves her face away.

  Nate bumps into me as he sits, throwing me a nervous grin. “I got you my normal… it’s amazing.” He pushes the burger in my direction. It looks good, but I can already tell it’s not going to be my thing with all the stuff piled on it.

  “Thanks,” I say anyway. I’m a big girl who can try new things… after I pick off the tomatoes and onions and pickles and wipe the mustard off. He makes a derisive noise with his mouth when he sees me reorganizing my burger before taking a bite. My lips purse together to keep from telling him he would’ve known all this if he’d let me order my own dang food.

  To keep the attention away from whatever weird chemistry is—or isn’t—happening between Nate and I, I nod at Ryan’s tray and ask, “What do you eat here?”

  He half-grins and picks up a carrot from his salad. “Vegetables.”

  “Rabbit food,” Lexie snorts.

  “Don’t knock him for wanting to save little animals,” I defend, finally getting my burger vegetable-free.

  “Oh, it’s not because he wants to save lives.” Lexie laughs, and Ryan wrinkles his nose at her. “He just doesn’t like the taste.”

  “What?” I’m laughing now. Nate shifts in his seat and pulls his phone out. Gar.

  Ryan takes the lid off of his shake. “Meat is greasy and chewy and I’m just… not a fan.”

  “Cheese is also greasy and chewy.” I eye the melted stuff all over his side of fries.

  “That’s what I keep telling him!” Lexie shouts to the skies. We all laugh into our food… well, except for Nate, who’s tapping his phone like he’s waiting for something.

  Okay… it’s settled. The moment we’re alone, I’m opening my mouth.

  ***

  Nate doesn’t say a word when I tell him I think he’s acting weird. He just stares out the windshield and drives in silence to the movies. I try to sing along to the music, keep things light so he knows I’m so totally into him still… when he’s him.