Think Ethan deserves another chance? Read on.
Chapter 8
Take It to the Hoop
T
he long ride to the miniature golf course was riddled with tense conversation. Gemma remembered their previous date, and how the conversation had flowed easily. Tonight it was forced and uncomfortable.
“Is something wrong?” Ethan finally asked.
Earlier, in the cafeteria, Ethan had told her where he had been and why he hadn't called. He even seemed shocked that Angela had answered his phone. She really wanted to believe him. But it was too hard; there were so many rumors about the whole Ethan-Angela drama, and it wasn't as if Ethan would have been the first guy to lie to a girl.
Making it worseâGemma knew this would all go away if she would just get up the nerve to ask him straight up. Instead, she just shook her head and said, “No.”
See? Girls lie too
, she thought, staring out the car window.
When they arrived at the Laguna Beach miniature golf course, Ethan hopped out of the car and opened up her door. “Are you sure you're okay?” he asked again. “You've been acting kind of strange tonight.”
Gemma tensed even more. She didn't think she was acting strange. And even if she was, it was understandable. What did he expect, dating one girl while possibly seeing another? Was Angela an ex who didn't want things to be over? Then why didn't he just take care of it? That's what he ought to do if he was seriously interested in Gemma. Or, did he think he could string them both along? That idea made Gemma sweat. No way was she going to compete for some guyâespecially with a skank like Angela.
Or maybe
... she thought, her mind going a mile a minuteâ
maybe he was just using her to make Angela jealous!
Until she found out the deal, there was no way she was going to let her guard down.
No way.
Ethan suggested she go first. “I've had a few golf lessons,” he said. “I may be able to give you some pointers on holding the club.”
“Thanks,” she said. She hid a smile. She decided not to tell him that her dad had been taking her to driving ranges every Saturday since she was ten. How embarrassed would he be if she beat him?
As she prepared to take a swing at the ball, Ethan shouted, “Hold on.” He sauntered up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, taking hold of her club. “This is how you do it.”
Gemma grinned.
Yeah, if I want to hit a foul ball.
Her hands were now spaced way too far apart and her stance was awkward, but Ethan's embrace felt so comfortable she allowed him to continue with his demonstration. With his help, she raised the club and took a swing. As she expected, instead of going through the first hole, a tiny windmill situated right in front of them, the ball veered left toward the eighteenth hole.
“Hey!” a kid near the eighteenth hole yelled.
Ethan and Gemma cracked up. “Come on,” he said. “Let's see if we can stay on our side of the course!”
Ethan gave her a peck on the cheek. “Don't feel bad, this can be hard.” He grabbed her waist and steered her toward the next hole. This time they knocked the ball out of the gate. By the time they flirted their way to the twelfth hole, Gemma found herself much more relaxed and not worried about Angela at all. She had to be crazy to think that Ethan was into Angela. Not when he was showing Gemma this kind of attention.
“I have a confession,” Ethan said as they approached the fourteenth hole. “I have no idea how to play golf. I just like the excuse for getting up close to you.”
“I figured that,” she admitted. “The last time you showed me, we almost took out a kid at the seventh hole.”
“We'll do it right this time,” he said. Somehow she didn't believe he was referring to golfing. He stood behind her again but this time grabbed her waist. Just as she was about to hit the ball he kissed the back of her neck. She tried to keep her concentration on the ball but it was no use. When she finally swung, the ball ended up somewhere over the rainbowâagain.
She turned to face him. He kissed her lips until they were locked in a passionate embrace.
Here she was, making out with Ethan for the second time!
“Excuse me,” some guy called behind them. “Let us know when you're done making out so we can go on to the next hole.”
Gemma and Ethan pulled apart. Gemma wiped her lipstick off Ethan's face, giggling. She had completely forgotten that they were making out right there on the course.
She turned around and got an even
bigger
surprise. The guy who broke up their make-out session was standing next to Angela Rattner. Seeing Angela gaping at them with her hands on her hips, Gemma knew this couldn't possibly turn out well.
Gemma, Ethan, and Angela's date all watched as Angela turned in a huff and stomped off the golf course. With a baffled expression, her date ran off after her.
Gemma turned to Ethan. Even though he was dark-skinned, he still managed to turn a little pale, and his mouth hung open.
“Ethan?” Gemma prodded.
“Whatâoh, yeah, well, that was a surprise. So we should get back to playing.”
“Yeah ... we should ...” Gemma studied Ethan, trying to figure out what was going on with him.
With his best effort, he continued the game but it was no use. Before they made it to the last hole, he told Gemma that he had to take her home. Supposedly, he
forgot
he had something to do. The entire ride home, Gemma could not believe she had been tricked yet again. There was no way in hell Ethan was
not
still in deep with Angela.
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“It doesn't mean anything,” Maria reassured Gemma. “So what if you two ran into her? I thought you said you were hitting it off really well?”
“We were,” Gemma said with a frown. “But that was before Miss Thang was staring at us while we were making out. Think about it. After that he started acting all funny and then all of a sudden had to go home. How do I know he didn't make a beeline straight for her house? Maybe that's why he suggested golfing in the first place. Maybe he wanted to use me to make her jealous?”
“Now you're being ridiculous.” Maria looked down the hall. “Here he comes now. See how he acts today.”
Gemma thought about heading in the other direction but it was too late. His boy, Marcus, had already spotted Gemma and was pointing her out to Ethan.
“Just see how it goes and tell me everything at lunch.” Before Gemma knew it, Maria was down the hall and around the corner.
“Hey,” Ethan said when he finally reached her. Marcus mumbled something about checking him out later. Still staring at Gemma, Ethan nodded his response.
“I had a great time last night,” he said.
“Did you take care of whatever it was you had to take care of?” Gemma asked.
“Yeah. Everything is cool.”
What did that mean, “cool”? That told her absolutely nothing.
Ethan grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. “I hope you had a good time because I would love to see you again.”
Was he showing her affectionâin school?
Taking it a step further, he leaned in and kissed her. It was only a soft peck on the lips but he had never done that before. Onlyâgulpâcouples did things like that in the halls.
Maybe Maria was right. Ethan really liked her and Angela wasn't a threat at all.
“Yeah, I had a great time and yes, I would love to go out with you tonight. Want to try bowling again?”
He shook his head. “Nah. I was thinking we could just chill at my house tonight. That chem test is next week and from what I hear, Mr. Sodanis's tests kick ass big-time. We could do a study thing.”
As coolly as she could, Gemma nodded and said, “Sure.” But what she was really thinking was that he was inviting her over to his house. What was Ethan expecting tonight?
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At home that evening, LeBron watched sympathetically as Gemma rushed around to get ready. Ethan was due in twelve minutes and she hadn't even combed her hair yet.
“Hey, hon,” her dad called from the other side of her bedroom door. “Your mother and I are going out to the movies tonight. Want to come?”
“No thanks, Dad. I'm going out, too.”
“With Maria?”
Gemma hesitated. If she told her dad the truth he would want to meet “the young lad” and she wasn't in the mood for any of his jokes tonight. Especially if her dad knew that Ethan was the boy who had stood her up. But she also didn't want to lie. “I'm going out with Ethan,” she finally said.
“Ethan? Don't think we've met him yet. Is that the same guy from the other night?”
“That's him,” Gemma admitted.
“You're giving him a second chance?” Mr. Williams asked. “That was very rude behavior.”
“Well, he had an explanation,” Gemma said, not wanting to get into it. “But we're not meeting up 'til later and I don't want you to miss your movie. I promise, you'll meet him next time.”
“Okay, but you know I like toâ”
“I know, meet the guys that will attempt to paw your only daughter. Gotcha,” Gemma mocked.
Her father laughed. “Have a good night.”
“You, too.”
Minutes after her parents drove off, the doorbell rang. She grabbed her chemistry book from the shelf and headed downstairs, with LeBron following closely behind her.
“You ready?” Ethan asked. He looked great in his jeans and T-shirt.
“Ready as I'll ever be,” she said and shut the door behind her.
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They sat at the kitchen table with books spread out from corner to corner. Gemma could hardly keep her mind on Mr. Sodanis's test. Memories of Ethan's kisses and touch kept distracting her. She kept sneaking peeks at him, wondering when he was going to make his move. But it appeared as if Ethan really
was
studying.
Did he have study dates with Angela?
she wondered. Then she picked up her marker and highlighted something in the bookâshe had no idea whatâirritated that she let thoughts of Angela spoil her time with Ethan.
Ethan finally glanced up from his books and caught her looking at him.
Ooops
. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked.
“No, thanks.”
“Well, highlight everything you have a question on in the chapter and then we'll compare notes.”
Gemma nodded. She looked at her book and realized she had been in the footnotes section all along.
She was highlighting footnotes
. And what chapter was he referring to? The test wasn't until next week and Gemma was more of a cram specialist. She hadn't taken Ethan for the studious type. Of course, if his parents were anything like hers, he had to keep up his average in order to stay on the teamâand to protect his basketball scholarship.
She peeked at him from under her eyelashes. Concentrating on his book, his face took on a sweet lookânot at all the focused, aggressive expression he had on the court, or the intensity she saw in his eyes when he was caressing her. Memories of his touch warmed her, made her want to reach for his strong hand, stroke his skin. This wasn't exactly how she had imagined this evening. In fact, it didn't feel very much like a date, with him on the opposite side of the table and separated from her by piles of books and notes.
“Do you want to take a break?” she asked.
Ethan looked up from his book, surprised. After all, they had started only twenty minutes ago. For a moment she was afraid he might scold her the way her father did whenever she tried to squirm out of studying. To her relief, he smiled.
“Sure,” he said, standing and stretching. “We can watch some television if you want.”
Ethan led her into the enormous living room and nodded his head toward the deep leather sofa. She nestled against one soft arm of the couch while he found the remote and clicked on the big flat-screen TV.
“Anything special you want to see?” he asked, settling onto the other end of the sofa.
What was he doing sitting all the way over there?
Gemma wondered. “Do you have any movies?” she asked.
“Sure. What are you in the mood for?”
Gemma knew exactly what she was in the mood for. She decided to make the first move. “Why don't we turn off the TV and just talk for a while?” She scooted down to his end of the couch.
Ethan smiled, realizing what she had in mind. He wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her. His hands slipped up under her shirt, moving up and down her back as they had the night before, sending fiery signals to every part of her body. She could feel his eagerness, but not the smothering aggression she had felt with Nick Simmons. Instead, her body responded just as eagerly.