Take it All (Blinded by Love) (9 page)

“We should get going, it’s getting late,” she said, when she pulled her cellphone out to see it was already quarter after two and they were only half way to Tatum’s house.

Raine grabbed and pulled her to her feet, then they left the church. The cool, crisp breeze grazed upon both their faces as the weather hadn’t changed much from when they arrived at Aces; for being middle of February in Alberta it wasn’t normally common. But the sky was clear and every star was visible, the moon full and bright as it illuminated the sky, reflecting down, and lighting up the dark corners of the streets. It was one of those nights where everything was calm and completely still. No cars driving around, no people out late, no dogs barking, nothing but the quiet night and the sound of their footsteps hitting the pavement.

“How long have you lived in town?” Raine’s voice sounded out quietly in the night.

“My whole life,” Lennox said, turning her head slightly, a small smile pulling on her lips. “And you?”

“I moved here almost three years ago.”

“What made you choose here?”

Raine looked at her; his one eyebrow was arched mischievously, a grin pulling on one side of his mouth. “You say it like it was a bad choice,” he said with a laugh.

Still smiling, Lennox said, “No, I just meant... I grew up here, and don’t get me wrong I love Spruce Hill– most of the time anyways– but I often wonder, what makes people move here? Is it the multiple choices of liquor stores or the lack of fast food joints?”

“Well now, I don’t know. I was going to say the charming townspeople but you had to throw liquor and fast food in there, so now I’m just torn, Lennox,” he teased.

“I’ll accept all of the above.”

“So, tell me something about yourself.”

Lennox pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, “Like what?”

“Anything like what you do for fun, what your shoe size is, what would you do if a clown was in your closet, relationship status, anyone of those will do– specifically the last one and the one before.”

“Aren’t you a smooth one,” Lennox laughed and slid her hands into her coat pockets. “Let’s see, I do a lot of reading and I watch a lot of hockey, I wear a size seven, I’d probably die in fear since I’m terrified of clowns– they’re disgusting and creepy–, and what are you, a social network?” she teased, elbowing him playfully in the arm.

“Had to ask somehow.”

Lennox wasn’t sure what to say. Technically she was single but she did have a date Monday night, at least as far as she knew she did. But there was a part of her that had no idea what to say and that was partly because of Caleb and partly because it was Raine asking. She had a feeling if she told him she was single, he was going to ask her out and she wouldn’t be able to say no. But she also had a feeling if she told him she wasn’t sure and why, he’d ask her out anyways and she didn’t think she’d be able to say no either. There was just something about Raine, and the feeling she got around him. It wasn’t like the feeling she got around Caleb, not even close. With Caleb, her heart raced and slammed against her chest so quick, she was afraid it was going to burst. When he came close to her, her body rolled in flames and her breath caught in her throat while excitement reeled through her at high speed. Everything she felt when she was with Caleb on Tuesday, she loved, she wanted more of. It was a rush and the fact that she felt that, with him, meant something. But with Raine, being around him for a couple hours made her feel comfortable, and completely at ease. She felt like she could be who she wanted, say what she wanted– regardless of how stupid it may be, and act how she wanted without him saying anything. And that was something big, at least she thought so, because there were times when she was with Londyn or Tatum, that she didn’t know how to act or what to say, like she was thinking ahead, planning her next sentence.

There were times she just didn’t know herself, but walking next to Raine, she didn’t feel that and she wasn’t thinking ahead of what to say; there was no plan. Her head was quiet with him. But it wasn’t just with Raine, she had noticed it with Caleb too, but he also made her feel nervous and thrilled at the same time, as well as completely open to him and that scared her, more than she liked. But she knew the minute he walked in to Fizzy’s, the moment their eyes met, that there was an edge to him, an unruly edge– she could see it, she could feel it when he was close, but she didn’t budge. For the first time she was... excited.

“I’m not really seeing anyone,” she finally declared.

“Liar,” Tatum mumbled, then stopped abruptly and sat down on the sidewalk.

Lennox stopped and looked down at her friend who was just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk like a toddler who was becoming annoying and still wasted out of her mind. She rolled her eyes then sighed before crutching down, almost eye level. “Come on, Tate, we’re almost there. Just around the corner then you can go to sleep.”

Lennox reached down and started to help Tatum to her feet when she said, “You’re a liar.”

“Jesus,” Lennox muttered under her breath. “Oh please, enlighten me on why I’m a liar. I’d love to know,” she said dryly, as she finally got her to her feet, with help from Raine.

“You’re seeing someone,” she turned and looked at Raine whose arm was slung around Tatum’s waist, “She’s seeing someone.”

“Tatum,” “You are?” Lennox and Raine said at the same time.

“No, not really.”

“She’s got a date Monday night pretty boy, with the boy she crushed on when she was a tiny girl,” Tatum said, then burst out laughing. “Lenny, the teeny tiny girl might have a date with Caleb the boy from her childhood.”

“Might have a date, not really dating someone, I’m confused,” Raine said, looking between the two, brows knitted together. “Is this a dating your second cousin, twice removed type of situation or something?”

“Tatum doesn’t know what she’s talking about, she’s stupid drunk.”

“So you don’t have a date Monday night?” he asked as they continued on their way towards Tatum house, and Lennox couldn’t have been happier to get her there.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly, then pulled Tatum’s purse off her shoulder and started digging through it, looking for her house keys.

“Who’s Caleb?”

“He’s an old friend who I just recently reconnected with a few days ago,” she said, sounding distracted as she kept digging through Tatum’s purse, looking for the house key’s she had already found and had clutched in her hands.

“And you guys have a date Monday,” Raine said, as if he was confirming it to himself.

“Raine,” Lennox said as they stopped in front of a small white house with green trim around the edges and two small bushes on the sides of the steps that lead to the front door, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Let me get her inside first.” Lennox, clutching the keys in her hand, reached out and took Tatum by the arm and the two started walking towards the front door.

“Lenny?”

“What, Tatum?”

“Raine’s fucking hot,” she giggled, “but don’t tell him I said that, and if I forget in the morning, please don’t remind me.”

Lennox shook her head as she unlocked the front door then handed her the keys and her purse. “Whatever you say, Tatum.”

“Enjoy your walk home with Raine. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, unless of course you want too,” she said, winking then turned and stumbled into her house.

“Good night, Tatum.”

Lennox walked down the steps and towards Raine who was waiting at the end of the sidewalk when Tatum yelled out her goodbye then slammed her front door so hard it made the screen door fly open then slam shut as well. “Thank God that’s done; longest walk from Aces to date,” Lennox huffed, then motioned to Raine the direction they needed to head to get to her house.

“She seems like a handful,” Raine said, pointing out the obvious.

“Ha, that’s putting it nicely,” Lennox said, running her hands through her hair and gathering it in a high ponytail before securing it with an elastic on top of her head, just as the cool breeze grazed across the back of her warm neck.

“You shouldn’t have to watch her like that. She’s old enough to not need a babysitter, I mean unless she’s a child inside,” he said, his features soft in the moon light night.

“Sometimes I often wonder myself,” Lennox joked, as she pulled out her cellphone and looked at the still blank screen, not having missed anything, “but she’s a good friend, other than nights like this.”

“That I don’t doubt,” he said, running his hand through his surfer like hair. “So, tell me about this Caleb guy. He your boyfriend or something?”

Thrown off guard by his question, Lennox pushed her purse up her shoulder more and crossed her arms over her chest nervously. “No, nothing like that,” she told him.

“Then what’s it like?”

“He’s just a guy who used to live next door to me when I was younger, he moved away and we recently reconnected,” she said, trying to keep it vague.

“Someone you’re dating?” he asked, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets and looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“No,” she answered quickly, faster than she meant, “yes– no I mean– no.” She was flustered and smoothed her hand over her face, avoiding his gaze.

Raine laughed, “Well which is it, yes or no,” he questioned.

Lennox turned her head to the side and eyed him, taking in the relaxed look on his face and told him, “We were supposed to go out, on a date, Monday night.”

“You were?”

Lennox sighed, and felt slightly embarrassed to be talking to Raine about something so personal especially when she had just met him, and he clearly liked her. “We have it set and planned but...”

“But?”

“I haven’t talked to him since Tuesday.”

Raine looked at her like she was crazy, “Okay, and?”

“And, I’ve tried calling a couple times, a few text messages but... nothing.” She shrugged her shoulders as they continued walking up Michigan Street and then turned on to Dover.

“Guy must be whacked.”

“Excuse me?” Lennox choked out a laugh, remembering Caleb say how most of the guys in town must be jacked to not have already swept her off her feet and that it was their loss and his gain.

He smirked at her, and it was then looking at him, with not just the street light reflecting across his features but the bright moon light as well, that she noticed how the left corner of his lips pulled up and slightly twitched into a half smirk that she found incredibly irresistible. “Don’t be modest, Lennox.”

“Modest?”

“Yeah, I mean you must know how gorgeous you are that, if he doesn’t follow through with this date, then he’s fucking whacked,” he said, shaking his head, seeming baffled. “Surprised you’re actually single to be honest.”

“He said the same thing,” she spoke to herself, under her breath, and then came to a stop in front of a tall white house with light blue frames and window shutters on the front side window. She motioned with her head, and finished, “This is me.”

Raine stopped in front of her, and looked back at her house, then to her, “Nice house, live with your parents?”

Lennox nodded her head while looking at her house that was in darkness. Her mom’s Lexus was in the driveway parked next to Lennox’s black Ford Escape. She knew her dad was still out of town for work and wouldn’t be back until late in the afternoon and that her mom was in bed, where she couldn’t wait to get to. “Yeah, I guess you could say I’m not really ready to leave the nest yet,” she said, turning to look at Raine, who had moved in closer to her that their bodies were almost touching.

“I’m going to ask you out, dinner but no movie. I wanna get to know you and sitting in a dark theatre isn’t the best way to do that, so I hope you say yes,” he began softly. “You’ll have my undivided attention, I won’t go days not calling you or texting you; you call me and I’ll answer on the first ring.”

“Raine,” Lennox said, unsure of what to say or what to think. Something like this had never happened to her, she didn’t meet hot guys at a bar who turn out to be nice and funny, then help her walk her drunken best friend home only to ask her out. Raine, not including Caleb, was unlike any guy she had ever known and she wanted to know even more of him but she wasn’t sure if it was in a romantic way or in a just friend’s kind of way.

“Say yes, Lennox.” His thumb brushed against her cheek bone softly, as he took a step into her, and his other hand rested on her hip. “Say yes,” he whispered, and she sucked in a breath as his lips brushed across hers, surprising her, and solidifying her in her place.

All it took was his arms sliding around her waist and pulling her gently into him before she relaxed and slid her arms around his neck as their lips met. As he slowed the kiss his teeth grazed her bottom lip and playfully tugged on it before breaking connection and pulling away; resting his forehead against hers.

The kiss was nice; simple, yet only nice. But it was nowhere near what she had been expecting. There was nothing there, no spark, no desire, no intense passion where you wanted it to last forever. There were no feelings whatsoever. She was still waiting for that kiss, that one kiss that awoke her in every part of her mind, body and soul; that one kiss that sets the bar high for anyone else. The kiss you see in the movies where the girl’s leg kicks up behind her or one that makes you want to run and jump into his arms, throw your legs around his waist and crash your lips to his.

She didn’t get any of that with Raine, and she didn’t feel disappointed either. If anything, she felt relieved; happy that the kiss she had been waiting for as long as she could remember didn’t come from a guy she had just met at a bar while standing outside her house at just after two thirty in the morning. But even though she didn’t feel anything from their kiss, that didn’t stop her from answering his question about going out with him, with a surprising, “Okay, I’ll go out with you.”

Raine grinned down at her and she could see the excitement that filled his pale blue eyes and she instantly felt guilty. She knew she should have said no or told him she’d think about it before she turned him down politely. She wasn’t sure what possessed her to say yes to him in the first place, to make him think there was potentially something between them, when for her, there wasn’t anything but friendship. She didn’t want to be that type of girl who led a guy on, only to have it go nowhere in the end, and she hoped telling him her feelings that he would understand where she was coming from.