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©2018 Angela K Parker
Kind Series B1: An Unexpected Kind Excerpt
Samantha
“A mathematician? Really?” The tone of my question was all wrong. “I mean, that’s
great.” I try to rephrase. I feel hot all over. Not only is he smoking hot, but he’s also got the brains to match. He’s not a true jock. This just keeps getting worse. My attraction to him is growing by the minute.
The vibration from his laughter reaches me from across the table. “I know… that’s the
reaction that I get from everyone when they find out what I want to do. I’m full of surprises.”
He leans up to whisper over the table. “FYI, I don’t like them myself.”
Note to self… he doesn’t like surprises. Why would I even care?
He sits back. “In case you’re ever thinking about throwing me a party or something.” He
answers my mental question. It’s like he’s reading my mind. That could be bad if he is.
“Why would I be thinking about throwing you a party?” I raise my brow in question. At the same time, I’m amused by his premonition.
“That’s what people do when they’re dating right? They plan for birthdays and holidays. I
figured I’d give you a head start on the small stuff. When you say yes, it’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about.”
“When I say yes to what exactly?”
“To our second date.”
“I wasn’t aware that we had a first date.”
He smirks like he knows a secret and leans closer to me. “Will you go out with me again?”
His question catches me off guard. I don’t know what to say. If I say no, I feel like I would
be letting Lacy down, but I know that saying yes would mean that I’m agreeing to try. I like him. There is something about him that won’t let me speak the word no. I want to say yes, but would he be willing to take me as I am, with all of the broken pieces that can never be made whole again?
His eyes plead for my yes and the flame inside of them won’t let me say no. “Yes.”
He sits back in his seat satisfied. “Where should we go on our second date?”
“Second date?”
“Yes, you just agreed that this was our first.”
“I did not.”
I asked if you would go out with me again and you said yes.”
“You tricked me.”
“No. I got you to admit what you already knew. I’m going to have fun getting to know you, Samantha.” He begins to scribble something onto a napkin.
This guy… I’m going to have fun getting to know you too, Bradley.
He reaches over and places the folded napkin into my hand. It brings a smile to my face
when I open it and read the note written down. “Can I have your number, Samantha?”
“You know, you could have just asked. I’m sitting right here.”
“Yeah, I could have but I wouldn’t have gotten the same reaction.”
I scribble my number down along with my added note, ‘for emergencies only,’ and slide it back to him.
He reads it and looks up at me, one eye raised slightly higher than the other. A slow rumble comes from his chest. “I plan to have a lot of those.”
Bradley pulls out his phone and saves my number inside and begins twiddling his thumbs across the screen. My phone dings. He watches me with expectant eyes. My skin heats at the message displayed. It’s his number along with an invitation. “Anytime, day or night.”
“Did anything interesting happen while we were gone?” Emily plops down in the booth
next to me.
I feel like I’ve just stolen a piece of candy from the sacred dish and it’s time for me to
confess. I open my mouth to reveal my secret but the handsome hunk across from me beats me to it. I’m relieved when he opens his mouth to speak.
“Samantha just agreed to go out with me.” Bradley grins from ear to ear.
“Smooth talker,” Emily says to Bradley.
I blush from embarrassment. Bradley is a very smooth talker. My intent was to not like
him. I had already made up my mind from the moment that I saw him. I would not give him the satisfaction that he so obviously wanted. I didn’t care that his cheeks dimple when he smiles.
All of that was thrown out the window the second he opened his mouth to speak. It didn’t matter to him that I was trying to ignore him. He could care less that I had a plastered scowl. He didn’t give up and I finally gave in. I only hope that my giving into him doesn’t come at a vast cost.
