I’m nervous and trying not to show it. I have no idea what Dylan means that we’ll be on the rooftop of his dad’s shop. I want to spend time with him, but hanging out on a roof? My palms are starting to sweat and he’s still holding my hand. The chances of hiding that are slim to none, but I don’t want to pull away because then he’s going to want to know why. Gah! This dating stuff is hard work.
“Here we are. Dad’s still working. I told him that we would stop in so I could introduce you.”
He finally releases my hand when he goes to get out of the truck, and I take the opportunity to wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans. While I’m distracted, Dylan opens my door, causing me to jump.
“Hey.” He steps into the open door and cups my face in his hands. I feel the roughness from what I assume is hours on the football field and even more spent in this very shop helping his dad. “I promise, if you feel uncomfortable at any time or if you don’t like what I have planned, we can leave.”
I’m being ridiculous and I know it. Taking a deep breath, I nod and take his offered hand, climbing out of the truck. He leads us to an open garage door.
“Dad!” he calls out. Surveying the room, I see a head pop up from underneath the hood of a minivan. “Hey, this is Avery. Avery, this is my dad, Wayne Knight.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, holding out my hand that I pray isn’t sweaty again.
“Avery.” He holds up his greasy hands. “I don’t want to get you all messed up. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My boy here has talked a lot about you.” He winks at Dylan.
“Real smooth, Dad.”
His father laughs. “Just keeping it real, son. You just missed the delivery. I went ahead and took it up for you. You all have fun. No funny business, mister.” He points at Dylan.
“No, sir. Just want to spend some time with her without the prying eyes of a small town. Football star and all that.” He puffs out his chest.
“You need to keep an eye on this one, Avery. If his head gets any bigger, it might explode.”
“Har har,” Dylan says dryly.
“It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it,” I say with a smile.
“Come on you. Later, Dad.”
“I’ll be here,” he says.
Dylan grabs my hand and leads us to a door that hides stairs that I assume take us to the roof. Slowly we climb the steps that lead to another door. When Dylan pushes it open and we walk through, it’s not at all what I expected. The roof is flat and decorated with patio furniture, with a flat-screen TV and a DVD player set up on a table in front of an outdoor couch and a table that holds a pizza box, which I assume is the delivery his dad was referring to. Beside the table sits a small cooler and a picnic basket.
“Dylan,” I say in awe. I’m not capable of much else.
“This spot, this is special to my dad. He and Mom used to do this. It doesn’t get used much anymore, but I wanted to be alone with you without hanging out in my truck. I ordered pizza, and we also have pop and water. I even have dessert. We have the satellite box hooked up so we can order pay-per-view or on demand, or we can find something on one of the regular channels, whatever you want to do.” He leads me closer to the setup and farther onto the roof. “Over here we have a radio so we can listen to music, or just sit and talk and just… be.”
“I can’t believe you did all of this.”
“I’m going for complete honesty here, Avery. I’ve admired—no, that sounds creepy. I’ve always thought you were beautiful and different, you know? You’re never mean or vindictive, at least not that I’ve ever seen. To me you were untouchable, but something happened the other night. I just… hanging out with you, I want to do more of that. As much and as often as you’ll let me.”
Is this real? I pinch my leg. “Ouch.”
“What are you doing?”
I feel my face heat. “I had to make sure this was real. That it wasn’t a dream.”
Slowly he walks toward me. Lifting his hand, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Not a dream, Aves.”
“I wanted it to,” I whisper the confession.
“Wanted what?”
“Last weekend. When I found out that you were going to be with Brad, I wanted what happened to happen.”
His smile is blinding. “You did, huh?” he asks, stepping closer.
I nod.
Dylan leans in and I brace myself. He’s going to kiss me, I just know it. As he nears, I close my eyes and wait for his lips to press to mine. That never comes. Instead his lips land on my forehead. “Let’s eat,” he says, backing away and leading me to the couch. “I just got pepperoni. I wasn’t sure what you liked.”
“Pepperoni is perfect.” I watch as he reaches into the picnic basket and pulls out paper plates and napkins. “You thought of everything.”
“Not really. My dad had a lot to do with it.”
“So this is the Knight version of ‘date stuff’? Dinner and a movie on a rooftop?”
“Maybe,” he says, adding two pieces of pizza to a plate and handing it to me, then making one for himself. “Just thought it might be nice to hang out up here.”
“It’s great, really. I’ve not done the date thing that much, so that makes this the most interesting to date.”
“Why is that?”
“What?”
“Why do you not date much?”
“Really? I don’t exactly have guys knocking down my door. Being Mr. Stanton’s little sister, or Coach’s little sister to the football team, tends to keep suitors at bay.”
“Suitors?” He grins.
“You know what I mean.” I laugh. “I’m actually really surprised that you asked me out tonight.”
“You’ve seen you, right?” He’s completely serious, his face void of any humor.
“My brother is your coach,” I remind him, deciding to ignore his question. How in the hell am I supposed to answer that anyway?
“He is. That doesn’t mean he’s your father. I respect him, but my coach has no say in whom I date. What about you? Does he influence your decisions?”
“No. I mean, he’s my older brother and I trust him, but he doesn’t make decisions on whom I date either.”
“Hence the reason you’re here.”
“What? You think he would try to talk me out of it? You’re his team captain, Dylan. He likes you, trust me.”
“As a football player, yes. For you? Only time will tell.”
“What movie are we watching?”
“I have Netflix, so we can watch whatever you want. And like I said the satellite box is hooked up to. We can search on both.”
“Netflix and chill, huh?” I ask, a stern look on my face.
“No, I mean, yes, but no. Damn it. I want to hang out with you eat this pizza and watch a movie, nothing else. Well, I mean not nothing, but… fuck!”
I can’t stop the laughter from falling from my lips. “Dylan,” I say reaching over and resting my hand on his arm. “I get it. I’m just messing with you.”
Slowly he lifts his head and looks at me. I watch as the grin pulls at the corner of his lips. “What am I going to do with you?” he asks.
I shrug. “Eat pizza with me and, I don’t know, watch a movie?”
“Har har.” He picks up the remote and starts surfing through the channels.
“Wait, that one,” I say when he passes over The Hunger Games.
“You sure?”
“Definitely. Have you ever seen it?”
“No. If I’m not on the football field, I’m here with Dad. Don’t really do the dating thing.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that about you.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Aves.”
“Trust me, I know that too.” I smile at him, which seems to help him relax.
Side by side we sit on the outdoor couch, eating our pizza and watching the movie. The sun has set and it’s almost completely dark outside. It’s romantic, but I don’t think that was his intention. That’s just me, finding the romance in every situation. Dad says I’m just like Mom; we’re always searching for the happy ending. Every minute that passes I feel more and more comfortable with him, up here on this roof.
Plates empty and pizza forgotten, I kick off my shoes and curl my feet up under me. Dylan lightly grabs my ankles and sets my feet on his lap, never taking his eyes off the screen.
I suck in a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. I have the hottest guy in school sitting next to me, lightly trailing his fingers up and down my legs.
“You’re cold,” he says before reaching beside him and grabbing a blanket.
I can’t tell him that it’s his touch causing the goose bumps to break out on my skin. The night air is thankfully a little chilly, so I just let him believe it’s the weather. Dylan drapes the blanket over my lap, covering me, then stretches it over my legs. His hands remain under the covers and he continues caressing… if that’s even the right word for what he’s doing to my legs. It’s a new experience for me. I’ve been on a handful of dates one-on-one, as well as a few group dates, but none of them compared to this.
This is one of those movie moments that Mom and I will talk about for days after the movie is over.
This is romance at its finest and he has no idea.