Resisting the Bad Boy

[27] "Kade Fosters"

     I FIDGET nervously as I wait in the kitchen for Kade to get here. Normally my Sundays are relaxed and slow and definitely not as nerve wracking as this. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I considered cancelling. I don't know why, but I feel so guilty going on dates with both him and Archer. Someone isn't going to get what they want and they will have wasted their time.

And then there's Grant.

One of my best friends and someone who's stuck around with me through all my stages and phases. He's truly been someone who I can lean on, but I can't further what I know he wants with his feelings. At the moment I have no idea how I'm going to break the news, but I'm more scared of how he'll react and what it means for us. The smallest part of me is irked that he changed the whole dynamic of the friendship because he had to catch feels. At the same time, though, I know that there's never a way to control who you fall for.

A knock on the door interrupts my running thoughts on Grant. I need to talk to him as soon as possible. We need to figure this out and I didn't do anything at school today with anyone. I ate lunch in the library while I worked on homework and avoided everything and anyone. Since when did everyone decide to make their move and shoot their shot?

     The sound of a car pulling up to the house alerts me that Kade is here and I gather my things. A knock sounds on the door and I take a quick glance down at myself. Black jeans, red satin tank. I don't have time to debate over the outfit as I open the door to find Kade standing on the other side, put together and a sweet smile on his face.

     "Hey," he says.

     "Hi," I say as I walk out the door.

     "Do you like Italian?" he asks as we make our way to his...bike?

     "You took the bike!" I say and quicken my pace toward it.

     "I knew you liked it," he laughs.

     "Definitely a good choice. And yes I like Italian," I say.

     "Good, I've got reservations at Ida's," he says casually.

     That rips my attention away from the bike.

     "Ida's? I haven't been there in ages," I say, not to mention it's also pricey.

     "Yeah, well, I had to pull out all the stops didn't I?" he asks rhetorically and hands me a helmet.

I gingerly put it on and choose to laugh off his comment rather than come up with something to respond with. I look at the bike and my bare skin, knowing I'm about to be an icicle after this drive. Kade catches my stare and shrugs off his leather jacket, reaching out to give it to me.

     "Take it. You're gonna freeze," he says.

     I open my mouth to argue, but I have nothing to say to that.

     "You're 100% correct," I say and slip into the jacket as he laughs.

     The loud exhaust drowns out my thoughts as I put my arms around Kade's middle and give him a thumbs up to signal that he can get going. He takes off a bit fast and I squeeze him, probably knocking the wind out of him. As soon as I see his shoulders shaking, I shake my own head as I realize he's laughing. As I recover from the embarrassment, I take a deep breath and look at the blurred surroundings as we fly by. I seriously can't believe I'm riding a motorcycle on a date.

     He pulls up to the restaurant and I shake out my helmet hair to fix it up a tad. He takes the helmet from me and puts it under his arm, guiding me towards the restaurant. I'm still on the adrenaline high of the motorcycle ride and miss a certain important detail as we walk in the doors.