Evolve (Soulmates Book 4) Read online

  “Yes, a date. I’ll pick you up at your house wearing nice uncomfortable clothes with flowers in hand. You’ll dress up also and we’ll go out to a really nice over priced restaurant. Small talk, maybe a movie before I drop you back off at your door at a respectable hour. You know a first date.”

  Wow. That actually sounded nice, but I shook my head. Andy was the exact type of guy I needed to avoid if I was going to change my horrible reputation. “I can’t”

  “You can’t?”

  “No.”

  “Can you tell me why?”

  “No.”

  Jake and Paul walked over and Jake wrapped an arm around Andy’s neck, “Are you hassling Jackie?”

  Andy moved Jake’s arm off of him, looking irritated that we were interrupted. “No. What do you assholes want?”

  Jake laughed, “Heard you broke up with Kourtney.”

  Andy glanced over at me and then back at Jake. “And?”

  “Well what happened?”

  “Nothing, just sick of her. You know, Jackie and I were talking.” He gestured toward me.

  I didn’t want Jake and Paul to know what we were talking about. I looked at Andy, “That’s okay. I have to go anyway. I have to go talk to the counselor about financial aid.”

  He looked disappointed, “Okay, I’ll talk to you later then?”

  I nodded and took off. I bumped into Michelle as I was leaving the locker bay. “Hey. What the hell was that about?”

  I looked at her, “What was what about?”

  “You and Andy, you guys are spending a lot of time together lately.”

  She eyed me suspiciously. I hated when she did that. Michelle had an excellent bullshit meter. “We’ve been working on a project together and we are friends.”

  “He’s an asshole. Be careful.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got to go.”

  I headed off to the counselors and hoped she didn’t bring it up again.

  I couldn’t believe Andy asked me out on a real date. He had to be joking.

  Andy

  Jackie turned me down, but I wasn’t letting it go. She was totally under my skin and I had to convince her to give us a chance.

  Lunch wasn’t a good time to ask her again, with everyone else there. It was an awkward thirty minutes. Jackie tried like crazy to avoid my eyes the entire time and I tried like hell to meet hers.

  I finally caught her alone when we were both heading to practice and I gently grabbed her arm, turning her to me. “Hey. Will you please talk to me?”

  “Andy, what is there to talk about?”

  “Our date.”

  She sighed. “There won’t be a date. I can’t.”

  “Okay, just tell me why.”

  “There are too many reasons to list.”

  “Try.”

  She examined my face and I tried to give her my most determined look so she would know without a doubt I wasn’t going to give up easily. “We are friends and I don’t want to ruin it. You dated and cheated on my best friend. You scare the hell out of me. You just got out of a relationship with a total vile, evil bitch. I want to change my reputation not make it worse.”

  I stood there for a minute and let it all sink in. “Wow. Okay. Those are all decent reasons I guess, but look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t want to go out with me despite all of them.”

  I moved closer so that her chest barely grazed mine. I could feel her starting to breathe faster. She had the exact same effect on me. “Andy…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Of course I want to go out with you, but I know it would be stupid. I’m making better choices now and not being manipulated by good looks and charm anymore.”

  She was really stubborn. “One date, if at the end of the date you feel the same way I swear I will drop it.”

  She bit her lip nervously and I found myself in a daze, staring at her beautiful mouth, praying she would say yes.

  My prayers were answered when she opened her mouth. “Okay, one date.”

  I beamed. “Great! I’ll pick you up at five on Friday at your house.”

  I walked off before she could change her mind.

  Chapter 10

  Jackie

  On Friday I stood in front of my bedroom mirror after school, trying to decide if I wanted to wear my blonde hair up or down. I decided to leave it down, but added some curl to it. My hands were actually shaking as I curled my hair. I couldn’t believe I told Andy I would go out with him.

  How stupid could I get? Just me and Andy, out on a date, that was a recipe for disaster. I couldn’t get his gorgeous face out of my mind as I changed for the third time. This time picking a light blue sundress that fit my body perfectly and showed off a lot of leg.

  I stared at myself in the mirror, happy with my appearance. I had never had butterflies like this. I needed to get a grip. It was just Andy. Sexy, charming, hot, Andy. Shit.

  I heard the doorbell and made my way to the door, trying to calm my nerves. My mom wasn’t home from work yet.

  I opened the door and Andy was standing there. He wasn’t dressed the way he had described when he asked me out a few days before. This was much better, in loose fitting jeans and a tight t-shirt that clung to his chest in arms, he looked incredible.

  I tried to play it cool. “Hmm… t-shirt and jeans? No flowers? This isn’t what I was promised.”

  He laughed, “Yeah I know. I thought about it and we’ve both done that shit before. If I only have one shot to convince you that we need to be together, I’m gonna have to step up my game.”

  I swallowed hard. This was not going to be easy. “So what do you have planned?”

  “You’ll just have to come with me and see.”

  “Okay.” I locked the door and followed him to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and I got in. Nothing was going to calm my nerves that night.

  He started driving and we headed out of town and onto the highway. “Where are we going?”

  “You really think I’m going to tell you?”

  “No, but I still had to ask. Do your parents know about tonight?”

  “Yep, my mom’s really excited and even said I can stay out until midnight.”

  “What’s your usual curfew supposed to be?”

  “Eleven.”

  I smiled. It made me happy that his mom approved of us going out on a date, but I was still determined that it would only be one date.

  We arrived in Hutchinson around an hour later and drove to the outskirts of the town. When Andy finally parked the car we were at some kind of large track. “Where are we?”

  “Ever been to a dirt track race before?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  He unbuckled and got out. I unbuckled and he opened my door. He held his hand out for mine. “Come on. You’ll love it.”

  “You brought me to a race track? Oh how well you know me.”

  He smirked. “I know you better than you think. It’s something new and not boring. Trust me on this one.”

  I grabbed his hand and he helped me out of the car. We walked and found a seat in the stands. The cars were all lining up, getting ready for the race. He was right, I wanted to try new things and I really wasn’t as prissy as people thought I was. I didn’t mind getting dirty occasionally.

  They waved the flag and the cars took off. With everyone cheering and yelling it was really loud, but there was something thrilling about watching the cars flying around the track.

  He turned to me and practically had to yell his question, “Hungry?”

  I yelled back. “Yes.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  I smiled and stayed put in the stands while he disappeared into the crowd. There were a ton of people here. A lot of them were around our age. I had heard Jake, Paul, and Andy talking about going to the races before, but never thought I would be here.

  A pair of twin boys that couldn’t have been more than six or seven and their frazzled mom, were sitting in
front of where we were sitting. They boys were wrestling more than watching the race and when Andy brought back our hotdogs and sodas they bumped into him spilling everything onto Andy and me.

  Most of the damage was to the front of my dress. The mom apologized profusely scolding the boys and offering to buy us replacement food.

  Andy shook his head politely, “No that’s okay. Things happen.”

  She smiled at him gratefully and Andy sat down next to me. He handed me a napkin and I dabbed at the mess on my dress. He tried to clean off his shirt, but there was no way the napkins could remove the ketchup and mustard mess. “Well, I guess I’ll be right back.”

  I looked up from my dress, “Where are you going?”

  “To get more food.”

  “No, it’s okay. Why don’t we just something after? I mean that line is insanely long and you’ve already missed a lot of the race.”

  He smiled looking down at my dress, “I’m sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. Like you said things happen. Let’s just enjoy the race.”

  He smiled, “Okay, sounds good.”

  We both relaxed and watched the race for about ten minutes when I looked up at the sky that had turned dark really fast. “Uh Andy? Is it supposed to storm tonight?”

  He looked up from the race and at the ominous sky. “Shit. I guess I should have checked the weather.”

  Lightning came out of nowhere and a couple of seconds later there was a loud boom from thunder. And then the rain started. Hard, flooding type of rain started pouring down and people started scattering from the stands. Andy stood up and grabbed my hand, “Fucking Kansas.”

  We started running toward his car, getting soaking wet from the sudden rain that was not letting up. We reached his car and he was unlocking it, when there was another flash of lightning. I jumped. “Geez, that was really close that time!”

  He unlocked the car and I climbed into the backseat and he followed, closing the door behind him.

  We watched the storm and the people running from the stands out the back window. He laughed, “Some date, huh?”

  “Actually, yeah, it’s been a great date.”

  He turned to face me and looked at me like I was insane. “Which part made it great? Wearing our food, ruining your dress, or the severe weather that cancelled the race?”

  I giggled, a really girly, giddy giggle, that probably made me sound like an idiot, but I couldn’t help it. It was cute how irritated he was with the way the night had gone and it actually was the best date I had been on. “All of it.”

  Andy

  Jackie turned so she was facing forward in the backseat of my car and I turned my body also. I actually believed that she had a good time on our date so far, which was crazy. This date was a total disaster. I was pissed off because I wanted it to go perfectly.

  I turned just my head toward her, leaving my body aimed straight ahead. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to make a move on her, although the thought had crossed my mind. “There is no way you are going to agree to go out with me again after this mess.”

  She giggled again, a really sweet genuine laugh. “Don’t be so sure Andy. And shouldn’t you be happy? I mean wouldn’t most guys love this kind of date? Soaking wet and in the back seat of your car?”

  That made me laugh and I joked, “Ah so you saw through my master plan?”

  “Yep, Can’t fool me.”

  We laughed again and she looked out of the window at the unyielding rain. “Maybe it will stop soon and the race won’t be cancelled.”

  “It’s cancelled. It’s called dirt track racing, not mud track racing. Maybe we should just go get something to eat.” There was no way I was giving up.

  There was another loud crack of thunder and Jackie shook her head, “No way. It’s pouring. It’s not safe to drive yet.”

  I smiled and was happy that she didn’t seem to mind staying with me. “Okay, what now?”

  She reached into her soaked purse and pulled out a package of peanut butter crackers. “Dinner?”

  She opened the package and handed me a cracker. I was starving and took a bite. “Mmm… delicious.” I was being sarcastic and still couldn’t believe how this date had turned out.

  She took a bite also, “Yep. Perfect first date meal.” She wasn’t, she sounded totally serious.

  I groaned. “I’m sorry. I should have just taken you out to the nice dinner I promised.”

  She faked a yawn and covered her mouth, playfully. “Boring. This date has been way more entertaining.”

  We finished our crackers and then Jackie turned to me, looking serious. “Can I ask you something?”

  I turned so I was facing her, nervous about what was about to come out of her mouth, “Yes.”

  “Why now?”

  “Why now, what?”

  “We’ve been friends for a long time. Why do you want to date me now?”

  It was a fair question. I had always been attracted to Jackie physically, but never crossed that line with her. “Honestly. I think it was that New Year’s Eve party.”

  She looked surprised and raised one eyebrow, “The party where I was drunk off my ass and we spent most of the night in the bathroom?”

  I nodded, “Yep. It was the first time you let your guard down. You were so honest and open with me.”

  “I was drunk.”

  “Yeah, I think people are the most honest when they drink. And since then you’ve allowed yourself to be the real you around me. I really like the real you.”

  She smiled and blushed slightly. We had unconsciously moved closer to each other and our foreheads were almost touching. I took in her delicate, beautiful features and before I could she moved in and touched her lips to mine.

  It shocked me at first, but I returned her kiss, cautiously. I hadn’t expected her to make the first move. After a few seconds the kiss turned heated and she opened her mouth welcoming my tongue. I pulled her onto my lap so she had one leg on each side of me. Her dress rode up, revealing her toned thighs. We continued our kiss, hungry for each other.

  I ran my hands up her small back and into her soaking wet hair, pulling her even closer to me. She slowly pulled back, with her hands on my chest. “Andy…”

  I looked at her, begging her not to stop, but I saw the worry in her eyes and dropped my hands. “What’s wrong?”

  Chapter 11

  Jackie

  Ugh! What was wrong with me? I looked into Andy’s concerned eyes. I kissed him and of course it was even better than I had imagined. I loved the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around me and his full lips were way softer than I had imagined.

  “Jackie?”

  I snapped back to reality. “I’m sorry. I just can’t do this.”

  He looked frustrated. “You keep saying that, you just can’t. I just want to know why.”

  “I told you why.”

  “Yeah and then you agreed to go out on a date with me. Which tells me that you actually can, and not only that, but that you want to. So what is holding you back?”

  He had no idea how badly I did want to date him and to kiss him… “Andy.” I started to move off of him. I couldn’t think straight being so close to him.

  Before I could leave his lap he held me in place with two strong hands firmly holding my hips. “Please just talk to me.”

  He looked desperate and I knew I owed him a real explanation. “Okay. So I can date you and yes part of me does want to, but it’s not a good idea.”

  He was listening to me intently, so I took a deep breath and kept going. “I want to change. I know it seems stupid, but I meant everything I said on New Year’s Eve. I am tired of being the dumb blonde cheerleader who gets involved with the wrong guy. I’m tired of being used.”

  “Okay, I’m with you so far.”

  “Well, you have to admit that you are the wrong guy for me to change my image with. Andy, you are exactly the wrong type of guy for me. I mean look at you, you’re gorgeous with a perfect body,
and you are charming and sexy.”

  He nodded and sarcastically said, “Yeah who would want to date someone like that.”

  I gave him a slightly irritated look, “And you’re cocky, have a terrible reputation yourself, and you are obsessed with sex.”

  He played hurt, “Ouch, but I think most guys our age are.”

  “True, but you are also a known cheater.”

  He looked actually hurt that time, “Ouch. But okay, that’s true.”

  “I just don’t trust myself with you. I mean this is our first date and look at where we are.”

  His eyes slowly ran down my body and lingered on my bare thighs. He finally looked back into my eyes with a devilish grin plastered on his face. Then he laughed, “Okay. So admittedly this went further than I was planning, but that just means we are attracted to each other. I really don’t see that as a bad thing.”

  “Well I do, after we have sex, that’ll be it. You’ll be done with me and everyone will just see poor dumb Jackie who was tricked again.”

  “You really believe that?”

  “I don’t know. Part of me does yeah.”

  He looked angry, but stayed calm. “So you think this is just a game to get you to sleep with me?”

  I didn’t say anything and looked down at his legs beneath me. He lifted my chin with one finger so that I was making eye contact with him again. “Jackie, if that were true why wouldn’t I have made a move at that party when we were both drunk? Or the numerous times we have been alone since then? I’m trying to do this the right way. I broke up with my girlfriend. I asked you out on a real date. I wouldn’t have done any of that if I were just interested in sex.”

  I thought about it, he had a really good point. “Okay, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t hurt me. Or cheat on me.”

  “Okay. I cheated on Maddy. It was a stupid fucking mistake that I wish I could change, but I can’t. I fucked up. I had just had sex for the first time and I had started dating a virgin who wanted to stay that way. To top it all off, I had an asshole best friend in my ear telling me she would never want to take the next step. I was an immature little prick and there really isn’t an excuse for that. I did learn from it though.”