THE DRIVE TO the ferry felt like a thousand miles and less than a minute long. We wasted precious time with repeated thanks and welcomes about the truck and move. I took the long way around to give myself enough time to grow the balls to ask for clarity. At the top of the hill down to the dock, I finally found my voice, which cracked and sounded like gravel when I asked the question weighing down my tongue.
“I . . . wanted to know . . . in the shop . . . was for Lori’s benefit, right?” I felt like I was asking to touch a boob for the first time.
She leaned against the door. “The mule conversation?” Her lip lifted in amusement.
“No, the part that came before the mule.”
“The ass?” She snickered. When I didn’t join her, she explained, “The ass, or donkey, is a mule’s father.”
“Oh, that answers that question. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence settled over us.
“Tom?”
“Yeah?”
“The part with Lori? I said it for our sake.”
“Ours?” Were we a we?
“You’ve met Lori before, right? Her business is her business, but everyone else’s business is her business, too.”
“She likes to be in the know,” I agreed.
“Understatement of the year.”
“I was keeping our pledge under the stars,” she said.
I remembered our whispered conversation during the meteor shower. “In front of God and the cosmos?”
She nodded. “Plus, didn’t we recently agree to be platonic friends? No sex. No dimples.”
I grinned. “Oops. Sorry.”
“No you’re not.”
“But what if—”
She stopped fidgeting and seemed to hold her breath, waiting for me to continue.
“—what if it was different.” I drummed the fingers of my left hand on the steering wheel.
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. Just not all the hiding and lies.” I swallowed. “I didn’t lie to Lori about hanging out, but it’s none of her business if we’ve had sex. I’ve never been one to kiss and talk, and I’m not going to start with you, but she asked and I lied.”
“I appreciate you’d lie for me. She’s going to grill me over dinner tonight. I better stop for wine on the way. I’ve never lied to her since we were kids, but you’re right, it’s none of her business. I guess I should’ve thought this through when I hunted you down in October and to quote you, ‘attacked.’ I really didn’t think further than finally having sex with you. ”
Shit. I really could be an asshole when it came to the things that came out of my mouth. I inhaled and counted . . . four . . . three . . . two . . .
“I like you. I, um, I wanted you to know it wasn’t only about the sex.”
She crinkled her nose and her mouth twitched between a frown and a smile. “Thanks for saying so. It’s okay if it was.”
My fingers quieted. “Was it for you? Only about the sex?” I wiped my palm on my jeans. We’d stopped at the light at the bottom of the hill. I had about two minutes to find my manhood before she’d be getting out of the truck.
“Honestly? It was. At the beginning.”
The light flipped to green and I pulled forward to the toll booths. Out of time. Time to man up.
“Hey, you want to go grab a bite to eat some time?” I allowed myself to focus on her eyes. “Or a drink?”
Her eyes narrowed, but her lips lifted into a small smile. “Are you asking me out?”
I rubbed my jawline. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
After paying, getting my change, and steering the truck into a lane to wait, she still hadn’t answered. She sat there in the passenger seat with her small smile. The low bellow from the ferry arriving at the dock broke the silence. She opened her door, and with her hand on the handle, she jumped down.
“Yes,” she said before the door slammed shut. With a wave over her shoulder, she strode toward the parking lot.
I sat in the idling truck, smiling like a fool.
My smile faded halfway through the short ferry crossing to Mukilteo.
I think I asked Hailey out on a date, which was a huge problem because I didn’t date. Ever.
I had no idea what to do. This change stuff threw me upside down and sideways. Dating? Me?
Did I make a reservation? We’d eaten food together before. I knew she ate.
Of course she ate food.
Should I bring her something?
Flowers?
Candy?
I’d never seen either at her house.
I realized the perfect person to ask all the questions about courting a woman would be Clifford. As the smoothest flirt I knew he would have given me the classic tips without judgment. Missing him all over again, I realized I’d have to channel my inner Clifford.
What would Clifford do?
He’d probably show up doused in cologne and hair pomade. Maybe a cowboy hat, or a fedora, depending on the decade.
Okay, those weren’t going to work on Hailey. Did Aqua Velva exist anymore? Or was it Old Spice he wore? I’d never even tried aftershave and hadn’t worn cologne since a weird period in high school where I smelled like an artificial pine car freshener after Caroline told me she liked some cologne. Hailey would probably laugh.
Skip the pomade and aftershave.
Sweet talk and compliments. He always laid them both on thick. Again, she might laugh.
Flowers might work.
I’d have to go to Mukilteo.
Wait, no. I’d buy them here. And if anyone asked, who cared? This was new Tom. Dating Tom.
Right.
I set up a plan of action in my head.
By the time the ferry docked, I smiled again. I could do this. If I got nervous, I’d imagine her naked.