Finding You (By You #3) (7 page)

An even bigger smile spread across his face.

"You mean like ask you on a date?"

She frowned, giving him a little pouty look. "Am I not dateable?"

He shook his head. "No, I'd love to go on a date with you."

"Oh yeah? And what would we do on this date?

He let out a little laugh. "Something fun," he said. "Definitely not another frat party."

"What then?"

"I can't just tell you," he said. "That would take all of the mystery out of it."

Her smile spread even wider. "Well, I'm free for surprises on Saturday," she said.

"I thought
I
was supposed to be the one asking
you
on a date," he said, grinning fiercely.

"Well you hadn't done it yet, so I was starting to think you needed a little more encouragement."

He let out a tiny laugh. Sarah really was something else. It had been a long time since he'd been able to talk so naturally with a girl before, like he was able to just be himself.

"Well...Sarah...would you like to go on a date, Saturday?"

Her smile was replaced by a serious look as she considered it. Then she shrugged a shoulder.

"I suppose I could find the time if I rearrange some things..." He laughed and shook his head as she broke into her own smile. Then she gave him a serious look. "I'd love to."

They both fell quiet and Jeremy knew he had to get out of there soon, while he still had a shred of willpower to do so.

"I should get going," he said. He pointed back down the hallway with his thumb.

Sarah drew in even closer to him, still clutching her keys to her chest. She looked up at him with those beautiful, blue eyes, and he felt every one of his senses crumbling in front of her. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a slow hug. For the longest second imaginable, he felt frozen by her touch, then he wrapped his arms around her waist.

They held each other like that for what must have been five minutes. Feeling her that close, feeling her in his arms, feeling the flesh of her cheek pressed up against his neck, Jeremy didn't ever want to let go, he didn't ever want that feeling to go away. His heart pounded in his chest even harder than it had all night. It was pounding so hard she had to be able to feel it, too.

As they held each other, Sarah squeezed him even tighter, pulling him even farther down into her. Her cheek slid up from his neck until their heads were resting against each other. Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the warmth of her face on his, and struggled to keep his senses about him. He could feel her nose as it nudged him, could feel her lips graze over his skin.

He was about to lose his mind.

He started pulling away from her, but she held him close. Their eyes met for a brief second before she looked down at his lips. He couldn't help but notice hers, too. They were the softest, most heavenly looking things he'd ever seen. Desire threatened to overwhelm him.

Warning bells were going off somewhere in the back of his mind. He tried to silence them, but they wouldn't go away. He knew what she wanted and he wanted it, too.

But he just couldn't.

"Sarah, wait," he said. "We can't do this."

"Can't do what?" she said, innocently.

Neither of them moved. Their lips were still on the verge of touching, and Jeremy knew that if he felt them press against him he wouldn't be able to control himself.

"It's not right--not like this," he said. He let out a groan as he backed himself away, but he had to put some distance between them. A look of worried concern came over her.

"I don't understand," she said. "Is it something I did?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Then what?"

"It's just... You've been drinking..." He let out another groan as he said it, he felt like a fool, but he had to do what he thought was right. "I just don't want it to be like that."

She frowned at him. "You're not taking advantage of me or anything like that."

"I just want our first time to mean something," he said. "I don't want it to be like this."

She looked like she was bout to say something, but fell silent instead. The pained look on her face crushed him, and he wondered if he was making a mistake. He wanted to kiss her more than anything in the world, but he didn't want to cheapen it in any way, she deserved more than that, he wanted to do it right.

"I should get going," he said, again, breaking the silence.

Sarah nodded and pulled away from him. Her hands slid down his chest as she did, sending shivers through his spine.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he said. "To make sure you remember our date on Saturday."

She smiled at him, though it was a pained one.

"Trust me, I won't forget it."

He smiled and forced himself to walk away.

Despite not being able to kiss her, walking away was the hardest thing he'd done all night.

The next morning, Sarah awoke with her head feeling like it was going to collapse in on itself. And it wasn't because she was hungover. Her thoughts flashed back on the night before--the way she'd acted made her cringe.

She rubbed her forehead, trying not to think about how forward she'd been with him. What had possessed her to act like that? Thing shad been going so well, and then the last memory she had of him was the look on his face when he walked away, the disappointment he had in his eye after he shot her down.

She let out a groan. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be?

Sarah pulled herself together enough to take a shower and get ready for the day. Then she swung by Reagan's room to see how her night with Tate had turned out. She also needed someone to commiserate with, someone that might be able to tell hr how she could fix things with Jeremy.

Knocking on her door, Sarah heard Reagan call out from inside. Sarah poked her head into the room, finding her friend twisted up on the floor, her legs, arms, and body twisted like a pretzel. Her face was red and there were beads of sweat dotting her forehead.

"What in the world are you doing?" Sarah said.

"Yoga."

Sarah let out a sympathetic groan.

"How can you do that? It hurts just watching you."

"It's good exercise," Reagan said, her voice tight.

Reagan's breaths were labored and her face got even redder the longer she held the position. She was definitely in good shape. Her legs were long and lean, and smooth lines wrapped around the muscles in her shoulders. Sarah hadn't worked out a day in her life--she was naturally skinny, and thankful for it.

Reagan rolled over until she was flat on her butt. She had the satisfactory look of pleasurable relief in her eye. But when she looked at Sarah, her brow knitted together in concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Sarah let out a huff and shut the door behind her.

"I made the biggest fool of myself last night."

"You always think that--tell me what happened."

Sarah fixed her with a patient look.

"I don't
always
think that. And it happens to be true, this time." She took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing. "I got drunk and tried to throw myself at Jeremy."

Reagan's eyes flashed with excitement. "Well that's
way
more interesting than my night was." She got a worried look on her face. "But that stays between you and me. Tate seems convinced that I had the best night of my life." She waved a hand. "Anyway...I want all the details, so start spilling!"

Sarah let out a little sigh, and launched into the story about her night. She told her everything. About Huck showing up at the party, about what Billie said to him. And then she told her about the police and having to jump over the back wall to get away from them. Then came the most embarrassing part of the story--the walk home, where Sarah had invited him up to her room, and then all but tried to drag him in after her.

"But he was a gentleman and he wouldn't even come near the door," she added, at the end.

By the time the story was done, Reagan was sporting the biggest smile Sarah had ever seen.

"I don't see what the big deal is, he sounds like a pretty wonderful guy. You shouldn't feel bad--just go for it!"

"I don't feel bad. It's just that, sometimes I get the feeling that he's interested in me, and then other times he wants to keep me away. He's got my head so spun around that I don't know what to think."

Reagan shook her head and hopped to her feet.

"That's just how guys are," she said. "One minute you think you know them, and the next you have no idea what's going on."

Sarah considered it for a moment. Reagan was right. She didn't know anything that could be more confusing than trying to figure out what was going on in a guy's head. It was like they were speaking a different language most of the time.

"Still, I'm sure I made a complete fool of myself," Sarah said. "I mean, I basically threw myself at him when he was just trying to be a gentleman."

Reagan waved her hand. "Guys like that sort of thing--trust me. I have five older brothers, and they find that kind of stuff flattering."

"If you say so."

"I do--don't give it another thought. Just play it cool and he'll be eating out of the palm of your hand in no time."

Just then, the door flew open and Tate bounded in with a triumphant look on his face. He wore his thick-rimmed glasses, and tight denim jeans with a V-neck t-shirt. In his hand was what appeared to be a colorful flyer, and his eyes were wide with excitement.

"Kill. Me. Now," he said, pushing the flyer in front of Reagan. She let out a confused laugh and took it from him. "I'm serious, kill me now. I can't handle this." Reagan read the flyer, a look of confusion playing across her face.

"What is it?" Sarah asked.

"What
is
it?" Tate said, turning a horrified face to her. "It's only the biggest party of the year."

"Oh, is this the thing you were telling me about?" Reagan asked. Tate's lips curled back in a look of insulted horror.

"This isn't just a
thing
, it's going to be the
best
thing that's ever happened in your whole life."

"What's so great about it?" Sarah asked, taking the flyer from Reagan. The flyer was covered in bright, psychedelic colors, but the only thing it said was "Are You Ready" in the center, with a rainbow-colored symbol beneath it. She shook her head, looking up. "I don't get it."

Tate slapped a palm to his forehead. The look he gave them made Sarah wonder whether he was going to run out of the room screaming or just call them idiots and refuse to be their friends.

"The Rave Fest is only the most anticipated party in the city," he began. "They throw it every year, and it's usually such a crazy time that they won't even announce where it's being held until the last minute."

"Why would they want to do that?" Sarah asked. "What if people forget because they don't know where it's going to be?"

Sarah wasn't an expert on concert promotions, but she'd had a little bit of experience with it when she helped Scottie put on his Battle of the Bands during the summer back in Green Falls. Scottie owned the Saloon--the biggest local watering hole--and held the Battle every summer to help promote local artists. It was because of the Battle that Sarah's cousin, Maggie, had met the sexy guitarist from
The Believers
, and it was the reason she was out on tour with them right then.

"You don't understand. Every year the Fest has a surprise DJ, and if they announced it ahead of time the whole place would be a zoo. No one would be able to get in. By keeping it secret, they make sure only the hardcore fans are there. And even then the place is usually sold out within an hour or two."

The excitement in his voice was palpable, and it was hard for them to not smile along with him.

"Have you been to it before?" Reagan asked.

Tate shook his head. "It's the only thing I care about this semester. We
must
go."

"We?" Sarah said.

"Yes! I want us all there--it's going to be such a good time."

"Oh, I don't know if that's really my thing," Sarah said.

"Not your
thing
? It's
everyone's
thing--you have to go."

It didn't look like Tate was going to take no for an answer, and Sarah wasn't in the mood to get into an argument with him over something so silly. Besides, maybe he was right. Maybe it would be a good time. The only thing she knew right then was that she needed to talk to Jeremy. She needed to make sure he didn't think she was too much of a freak.

Glancing at the clock, her stomach twisted in surprise.

"Crap, I'm late for class. I'll see you guys later."

Sarah rushed out of the room before either one could respond, but as she made her way down the hall, she heard Tate call after her.

"You're going with us!"

He was determined--she had to give him that.

* * * * *

Sarah was a few minutes late for her class, and had even considered ditching it entirely. There wasn't anything worse than walking into a classroom late, when everyone had nothing better to do than to stare at you while you tried your best to hide. But it hadn't been so bad, and no one had stared too much.

She wasn't able to focus on class, at all. Her thoughts swirled around Jeremy and the mess she'd made. He had said he was going to call her, but she hadn't heard from him yet, and she couldn't wait any longer. She needed to talk to him, to apologize for the way she had acted. Maybe she still had a chance to make everything okay.

Even if there wasn't anything romantic between them, he was the kind of guy she could become good friends with. She just had to figure out some way to make everything right between them, but the clock on the wall seemed to think that it needed to move as slowly as possible. She glanced at it every few minutes, and halfway through class even considered leaving early. It took every last bit of her willpower to convince herself that she was starting to act like a crazy person and she needed to take a few deep breaths and calm herself. That seemed to help...a little.

The moment the bell rang at the top of the hour she was out of her chair and bounding for the door. Her phone was already in her hand and she dialed Jeremy's number as soon as she was outside.