Chapter 130 Chapter One Hundred And Thirty
I blinked. “Rest of your life?”
“Yeah.” He said it so casually, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Then he seemed to realize what he’d said. “Shit. I meant—all of high school. Obviously.”
“Oh.” I felt something deflate in my chest. “Right.”
I took a grudging lick of the ice cream, strawberry flavoured, or maybe cherry, and immediately heard Noah’s voice in my head: Are you really going to eat all that?
I stopped mid-lick, instantly feeling guilty for indulging.
“Do that thing with your tongue again,” Jace said, smirking at me. “It’s hot.”
I frowned at him. “Shut up.” Then I ate my ice cream angrily, taking aggressive bites while he laughed beside me as though I was the most entertaining thing he’d ever seen.
“Stop laughing at me,” I muttered through a mouthful of mint chocolate.
“I can’t help it. You’re cute when you’re mad.”
I turned my head away from him so he wouldn’t see me blush, and watched carefully as Rosie and Martin approached a particularly tall, steep slide.
The stairs looked impossibly high, and the slide itself seemed almost vertical, making my stomach clench with worry. “Is that safe?” I asked.
“Don’t worry,” Jace said, following my gaze. “I’m watching them.”
“I don’t trust you to watch them. I think I should go see—”
I started to get up, already planning to intervene, but Jace’s hand caught mine.
He pulled me back down gently but firmly. “They’ll be fine. Just let them figure it out, you’ll see.”
“But—”
“Lena.” His thumb traced a circle on my palm. “Trust me.”
I watched, my heart in my throat, as Martin and Rosie climbed the stairs together. Rosie went first, fearless as always, while Martin followed more carefully counting the steps as he went up.
Eventually reached the top, positioned themselves at the slide, and—
They came shooting down, both shrieking with delight, landing safely at the bottom before immediately racing back to do it again.
I breathed a sigh of relief, sinking back against the bench. “Okay. Fine. You were right.”
“Music to my ears.”
I was just about to take another bite when Jace asked, “So what do you think about our first date? Is it going well?”
I nearly choked on my ice cream. “Our what?”
“But maybe on our next date, we don’t bring the kids with us,” he continued smoothly, as though he hadn’t just said something insane. “That way I get your full attention and you get mine.”
“This isn’t a date,” I said firmly.
“Sure it is.” He gestured around us. “We’re together at an outside location, talking and sitting together like a couple would, having fun.”
He lifted our joined hands. “Look, we’re even holding hands.”
I snatched my hand away like I’d been burned. “This. Isn’t. A date.”
“How would you know?” His eyes shone with amusement. “Have you ever been on a date before?”
I felt my cheeks flush hot. “No,” I admitted quietly.
It was true. Nobody nerds never got asked out. I’d spent most of high school invisible, and no one ever showed interest in me except to ask me to help with their homework or something. They were all too embarrassed to be seen with me.
“Shame,” Jace said, and a genuinely happy look flickered across his face. “I was kind of hoping you’d tell me what to do at the end.”
I scoffed. “Haven’t you been on a million dates in your life? I bet you have. Football captain, popular guy like you.”
“Not really, no.” He was quiet for a moment, his expression turning thoughtful. “I’ve never liked anyone well enough to actually ask them out on dates. Sex is usually enough for them, and for me.”
“Stop talking about sex,” I hissed, my face going hot. It was beyond embarrassing, sitting here in a public park discussing Jace Dawson’s sex life or anyone’s sex life for that matter.
“Alright, if you aren’t comfortable then I’ll drop it,” he said easily.
I knew I shouldn’t ask because it was obviously none of my business, but I asked anyway. “So you’ve really never been on a real date before?”
“I have,” he said, turning to look at me fully. “I’m currently on one.”
He smiled at me and it wasn’t one of his evil smirks or a cocky grin, but a genuine, soft smile that made my insides turn to liquid.
I looked away quickly, shaking my head. “I told you, this isn’t a date.”
“Agree to disagree.”
“You’re trying to tell me you’ve never taken any girl to dinner” I pressed, unable to let it go because it was so unbelievable
“No.”
“What about to the movies?”
“No.”
“Bowling?”
“No.”
“Mini golf.”
“No.”
“Wine tasting? Cherry picking? Moon gazing? Escape Rooms? Nothing at all?”
“Nothing at all.”
I squinted at him as though he’d sprouted a second head. He was Jace Dawson. Girls threw themselves at him constantly, I’d seen it happen a million times. And he’d never once taken someone on an actual date?
“You seem surprised,” he observed.
“I am. And I don’t believe you.”
“I know I don’t have a great track record for being the most honest person,” he said, his eyes getting a lot more serious, “but I promise you right now, I’m telling the truth.”
He finished his ice cream and tossed the cone in a nearby trash can, then turned back to me, staring at my own with unmistakable hunger in his eyes.
“Don’t even think about it.” I guarded my cone jealously, holding it out of reach. “I’m not giving you any of mine.”
He laughed out loud, his voice rich and warm. “You’re such an only child. What happened to ‘it’s empty calories’?”
I pouted. “Whatever. You gave it to me and it’s mine, so now it’s too late.”
He started to stand, presumably to go get another one, but before he could fully rise, he leaned over and kissed my cheek.
His lips lingered for just a second longer than necessary, warm and soft against my skin.
“Be right back,” he murmured.
Then he was gone, heading back toward the ice cream cart, leaving me sitting there with my heart racing and my face burning and my stupid ice cream melting all over my hand.
Not a date, I told myself firmly.
Definitely not a date.