Finding You (By You #3) (8 page)

"Hey you," he answered, after three rings. His voice had its usual huskiness to it, and he sounded genuinely excited to hear from her. Or maybe that was just mind playing tricks.

"Hey," she said.

"You're not calling to cancel on our date tomorrow, are you?"

Sarah's stomach twisted into knots. She had almost completely forgotten about their plans for Saturday. What had possessed her to agree to them in the first place?

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Uh oh, this doesn't sound good. Should I sit down?"

"No, it's nothing bad. I just...I wanted to apologize for the way I acted last night. I was a complete mess--thank you for taking care of me."

"You weren't a mess," he said, reassuringly. "Besides, what are friends for?"

"Yeah, well...thanks, anyway. Not everyone would have done what you did, and I appreciate it."

"It's not problem, don't think twice about it."

God, if only she could just think
twice
about it. She'd barely thought about anything else since she'd woken up.

"So about tomorrow," he began, "I know we agreed to do something tomorrow night, but I was kind of hoping you were free a little earlier in the afternoon. You don't have any plans, right?"

"You still want to do something?" she asked, surprised. She was sure that he had only made plans as a courtesy--as a way of getting her to peel herself off of him.

"You
are
calling to cancel on me," he said. "I
knew
it."

The knot in Sarah's stomach twisted again, and she instantly felt guilty.

"No, I'm not canceling. Yes, I'm free."

"Good. Then I'll meet you at your place at say...3 o'clock?

"Okay. I'll see you then."

"Great." Sarah went to turn the phone off, but Jeremy added something else. "Oh, before I forget, make sure you wear jeans."

"Jeans?" she said, confused.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "And not your favorite pair, either. Something you don't mind getting a little dirty."

"Okay..." she said, absently, her mind racing at what they could possibly be doing that might involve getting dirty.
 

Before she could ask any further questions, Jeremy said, "See you then," and the line went dead.

Sarah shook her head, possibly even more confused about the whole situation than she had been before she'd called him. Boys really were the most confusing thing on in the world, there was just no way around it.

The next morning Sarah woke up earlier than she'd expected. After everything that had happened on Thursday night, she was too tired to do anything on Friday night. Reagan had tried to talk her into going to another frat party with her, but Sarah had said that she wouldn't be making any repeat appearances any time soon. They had agreed to get together and do some shopping in West Village soon.

Instead, Sarah had been a bum and gone to bed early, which left her with more than enough time to get ready for her date when she woke up early. She still hadn't been able to figure out what Jeremy could possibly doing with her--where they could possibly be going that required her to wear jeans.

When 3 o'clock rolled around, Sarah was ready to go. She was wearing her second favorite jeans, since he'd told her not to wear her favorite, and a blue blouse with a frilly collar to go with it. She had a sweater slung over her arm, too, and she'd even considered taking an extra change of clothes, but decided against it. The idea of Jeremy seeing her all dirty mortified her, but not quite as much as coming across as the crazy girl who brought extra clothes with her on a date did. She was a country girl, she could handle a little dirt. She couldn't handle him thinking she was a psycho.

When there was a knock on the door, the butterflies in her stomach started jittering about. This was it--the big moment. She gave herself a once over in the mirror--just a quick double check--before pulling the door open. Her breath caught up in her throat when she saw him.

"Well hello, there," Jeremy said, that sexy grin spread on his face. His eyes fell down across her body, taking all of her in, and the trail of heat they left in their wake bothered her more than she thought it would. "Ready to go?"

She cracked a smile. "All set."

Sarah moved to shut the door, but Jeremy held up a hand before she did.

"One thing I didn't mention--and I hope it's no big deal." The smile on his face dimmed for a second as his eyes wrinkled at the side. "You see, I don't drive. I don't have a car here, so I was hoping..."

"Oh, of course." Sarah patted her purse on the side, a tiny jingle sounded from within. "Got my keys right here, I can drive."

The nervous look on his face was replaced for a second when he smiled at her. "Thanks," he said. "I can give you gas money or whatever."

She shook her head. "It's no problem."

When they made it out to her car, he blew out a soft whistle. "Nice Volvo."

"Yeah, my parents spoiled me when I turned sixteen. I love her."

"What's her name?"

Sarah looked up at him over the car. "Her name?"

"Don't tell me you didn't name your car. It gives it some personality."

"No, I did." Sarah gave him a surprised look. Jeremy definitely wasn't like any of the other guys she knew. There was no way any of them would have thought to ask that. "Penelope."

He blew out a soft whistle and ran a finger along the gold trim line. "That's a good name."

Sarah grinned at him, and they climbed into the car. He gave her directions on getting off campus and to the highway, but he didn't tell her exactly where they were going. As they drove towards downtown, Sarah was convinced that Houston was made up of all highways--it was a confusing mess. If he wasn't with her, there was no way that she would have been able to find where they were supposed to be going. It definitely wasn't anything like Green Falls. Even San Antonio felt tiny by comparison.

When they finally got off the highway, they were in a part of town that Sarah had never been before. It was an older part of town, but it had a certain charm to it, all the same. Jeremy told her which streets to turn down, and before long she was seeing signs for the University of St. Thomas. He had her pull into a parking lot across the street from it.

"There's another university this close to Franklin?" she asked, as they got out of the car.

"There are a ton of schools in Texas--and quite a few of them here in Houston," he said.

"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed.

They walked down the block a ways, and Sarah started to see that the area around St. Thomas felt much like it did over at Franklin. There was a certain youthfulness and vibrancy to it that put her mind at ease--made her feel at home. Which was saying a lot, considering just how nervous she was with Jeremy there.

Keep it together, everything's going fine
.

"So where are we going?" she asked, finally.

Jeremy flashed a grin at her.

"You're about to see," he said.

As they rounded a corner, a small restaurant appeared before them with a crammed parking lot. Scrawled on the side of the building, in what looked like it had to be graffiti, was the name--
Eatsie Boys
. Getting closer to the entrance, Sarah realized that the graffiti wasn't vandalism or anything like that--it was part of the decor.

"What is this place?" she asked, a curious smile spreading across her face.

Jeremy shrugged. "You said you were new to Houston, so I thought it would be nice to show you a little of what the city has to offer. This is one of my favorite little places to eat."

Jeremy hopped in front of her and held the door open. She flashed him a nervous smile as she walked past.

The restaurant wasn't anything like she'd seen before. There was shouting and hollering coming from behind the counter, and the line in front could barely be called that much. It better resembled a chaotic mob of people that still somehow managed to get their orders in and get seated at one of the many tables in the dining room without causing too much trouble or confusion.
 

"All of the slogans and menu items are named after the Beastie Boys and their music," Jeremy said. "It was started by three guys a couple years ago after their food truck started getting swamped with customers and they decided they needed something bigger."

Looking around, Sarah saw what he was talking about. She wasn't too familiar with the Beastie Boys and their music, but she knew the hits. The menu had all kinds of things of food on it, but most of the references were too obscure for her.

"This place is incredible," she said, the smile on her face spreading even wider.

They didn't have to wait long to put in their order, and afterward they found a table near the windows on the far side of the dining room. They set out their order number on the edge of the table for the staff to see.

"Are there lots of places like this in Houston?"

"Little independent eateries?" Jeremy said. "They're everywhere."

"That's so cool. Green Falls is a pretty tiny place, so our choices are pretty limited. The only big place we have is a Chili's."

Jeremy let out a laugh. "That sounds awful. Where do you go out on dates and stuff?"

"Chili's," she laughed, shaking her head. She shrugged her shoulder, and added, "Besides, I never really did much dating back home."

Jeremy frowned. "How many boyfriends did you have in high school?"

She gave him a nervous look. "Just the one."

Sarah flashed back on the night at the party, on the way Huck had talked to her. He had acted like a completely different person, a far stretch from the boy she had started dating a little over a year ago. But, that was why she had to be careful. That was why she had to protect herself. If he could say and do those kinds of things to her, then anyone could. Maybe even Jeremy...

Jeremy must have sensed her thoughts, because he got quiet while he studied her. His blue eyes were intense, and they had a way of making her think they were looking straight through her, like he knew everything she was thinking, almost before she even thought it.

"I bet it's hard being out here by yourself," he said.

She waved a hand and composed her thoughts. She didn't want his pity, she didn't want
anyone's
pity.

"It's not that big a deal. People go off to college every year--some of them a whole heck of a lot farther than a few hundred miles."

"But it takes a special person to stick through it after going through what you went through."

That intensity had returned to his eyes, and Sarah felt a fluttering in her stomach. She was thankful when the moment was broken up by a girl who set their food in front of them. It smelled delicious, and was almost enough to take her mind off of the way Jeremy was looking at her.

"What about you? I bet you did a lot of dating in high school."

Jeremy's neck arched backward, as though the question caught him off guard.

"Why do you say that?"

She shrugged. "Just a guess. You're easy to talk to, and you're confident, and you're handsome, and you know all the right things to say, and you're sweet." She cut herself off before she rambled too much more, heat rushing to her cheeks after she realized everything she'd just said.

His lips tilted up in a smile. "You think I'm handsome?"

Sarah was caught off guard by the amused look in his eye. Had she really just said that?

"Don't act so shocked. You know you look good."

"I know
other
people think I look good. But I didn't know that
you
thought that, too."

Sarah looked down at the table, unable to keep looking him in the eye as her voice caught in her throat. He really did have a way of putting her off guard. Finally, she was able to compose herself enough to speak again.

"You never answered my question--or should I take that cocky look in your eye as an answer?"

"What question was that, again?" he asked, amused.

She let out a sigh. Why did he feel the need to make this so difficult?

"Do you date a lot of girls?"

The cocky look in his eyes tensed for a moment. It was a pained expression that was gone nearly as fast as it had come, but she'd seen it.

"I dated here and there, back in the day," he said, his voice lower than it had been before.

"Anyone serious?" she asked.

His lips pinched together, and all traces of his smile were washed away. There was a tense moment of silence before he answered her.

"There was someone. But that was a long time ago."

For the first time, Sarah felt the pain coming off of him. She got the impression that there was a lot more to the story than he was telling her, but she got the feeling that he didn't want to talk about it. She was curious what could make someone look the way he looked right then, but she wasn't about to ask him to tell her. They weren't
that
close--not yet, anyway.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, though it looked like Jeremy was playing with his food more than eating it. She hoped she hadn't upset him with her questions. She just wanted to get to know more about him--she didn't realize it was going to be such a big deal.

"Thanks for bringing me here," she said, hoping to lighten the mood. "This place is really nice--and the food is great."

"I'm glad you like it." The corner of his lip tugged upward a bit, though the smile was fleeting. Still, she at least felt like she accomplished something. "Wait and see what I have planned next--you're
really
going to be in for a treat."

Sarah's brow knitted together. "What are we doing?"

"You'll see," he said, winking. The smile had returned completely, at that point. "It's a bit of a drive, but it's worth it."

She couldn't help but smile along with him.

"Then I can't wait to find out."

They finished eating and Jeremy left a five-dollar bill on the table for the waitress. By the time they'd walked back to the car, all signs of whatever had bothered him earlier were gone, and he was back to his normal, confident self. Sarah liked being around him when he was like that. He had a way of putting her mind at ease. And that's exactly what she needed after everything that was going wrong in her life.