***
The next day, school passed painfully slowly. Thankfully it was now over, and I was waiting for Oakley by my car. Kerry and Ben loitered around with me, flirting with each other and play fighting.
Just what I wanted to see.
“You wanna tag along with us tomorrow? You know, so you don’t look so pathetic being alone on a Saturday night,” Ben said.
“Hmm, do I want to be a third wheel on your date? No, thanks. I think I’d rather be pathetic.” The thought of watching them sticking their tongues down each other’s throats all night made me want to hurl.
Kerry rolled her eyes and grabbed Ben’s hand. “Fine, loser,” she chirped and pulled on Ben’s hand. “Come on, take me home.”
Ben waved over his shoulder, and I nodded.
Moments later, Oakley walked out of the building with Hannah and some other guy, who was looking at her for slightly too long. If he valued his eyeballs he was going to need to look away real soon.
Oakley smiled as she saw me, and I couldn’t help smiling back.
“Bye, Oakley,” Hannah said, giving her a little wave, which she returned.
I held my arms out for her, and she gripped hold of me so tight, it took me by surprise. It was as if she was scared I would run away or something crazy like that. “I’ll miss you this weekend, too,” I whispered in her ear, predicting her problem.
She nuzzled my neck, confirming my guess.
The weekend would no doubt pass slowly. I definitely needed to go out and do something to make the time pass faster. Jasper was talking about doing something so maybe I should go with him. It’d be much better than being a third wheel on Kerry and Ben’s date.
Maybe I could also stop Jasper from getting too drunk and calling Abby again. Last time he’d ranted about how she broke his heart and was an evil witch for making him still love her.
Or maybe not. It was funny.
I took Oakley for ice cream after school. With all the drama recently and Oakley’s extra gymnastic classes, we hadn’t been in a while. We took our usual seat in the booth by the window, and Julie called to say she would bring our usual order over.
“So you’re leaving at eight tomorrow morning and will be back at three in the afternoon on Sunday, yeah?” I questioned, making sure I remembered right. I was planning to pick her up at four on Sunday so she could have some time to shower and change, and then I was taking her to the arcades and dinner.
She nodded.
We were given our order and wasted no time tucking into the ice cream. She moaned as she ate the first mouthful. I closed my eyes, feeling my blood heat.
“Hey, if we can’t get the house to ourselves soon we could always take my car in the woods or something,” I suggested, only half joking. A light pink blush crept over her cheeks, and she flicked her straw at me. Ice-cold milkshake hit me in the face.
Oh, you’re going down.
I dipped my fingers in my drink and she took off, running towards the door. I jumped out of my seat, laughing as I sprinted after her.
Oakley could run pretty damn fast when she wanted to, but I soon caught up to her and grabbed her around the waist. With a low, deep chuckle, I ran my index finger down her cheek, leaving behind a trail of chocolate milkshake.
“Love you,” I mumbled against her neck and tightened my arms. I always thought men were pathetic for being so under the thumb and thinking about their girlfriends twenty-four-seven.
Now I was one of them, and I couldn’t have been happier.