The Boyfriend Bet (LDS Fiction) (8 page)

"Great minds think alike, so that means that we can go out again without having the stress or pressure of a serious, committed relationship, right?"

"Agreed! That sounds perfect to me."

"Do you have any plans for Saturday night? We have a small gig that night for a friend's birthday party, but afterward, a bunch of us are going to watch a movie. Would you like to come with me?"

"I have a study group Saturday afternoon, but we should be finished by five or six o'clock. My evening is open, so I’ll plan on it."

"That’ll work out; we won't start playing till eight o'clock. You can show up anytime, we’re planning to play till eleven, and then we'll turn on the movie after that."

"I'm looking forward to it. You guys sounded great at the practice, I'd love to hear more of your music."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. It's just a cover band, so all the songs we play are popular songs off the radio. We don't have any original music, but it would be fun to get to that point someday."

I didn't want the evening to end, but I knew that I couldn't stay up too late or else I would be risking a nap in class the next day. "I've really enjoyed myself tonight, thanks for the invitation. I hate to be the party pooper, but I've got an early class in the morning, and a lot going on tomorrow. That means I really need to get to bed."

"No problem, I totally understand." Patrick stood up and offered a hand to help me up. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big hug. "Thanks for a great evening. Have a wonderful night, Shara."

I hugged him back, and it felt nice to wrap my arms around his firm body. We held onto each other for just a moment, and then he let go and stepped back.

"Have a great night, I'll see you on Saturday."

Giving me another one of his dimple-inducing smiles, he turned and walked down the back porch steps and around the side of the building to his car.

I stayed outside for a moment to have some time to myself before saying hi to my roommates. I knew that as soon as I walked back inside, they'd want details about the date. I wanted some time to sort through my thoughts.

Patrick was a great guy, despite the difficulties in the beginning to get him to ask me out, things were going really well. He was definitely in the yum-yum category at this point.

I loved the way he treated me and the way he made me feel. It had been a while since a guy had gone out of his way to do something special for me, like buying my favorite ice cream. It was a small thing, but he had obviously put effort and thought into finding out what I liked and buying the exact flavor.

The fact that he put the effort into it and that he made it a point to let me know that he talked to Jonathan made me think that maybe he was really interested. Little things like that always go a long way in a relationship, and it made me wonder what it would be like to be in a long-term relationship with him.

The bet was just for two weeks, but what would it be like to spend two months with him? Or even two years with him?

I surprised myself with these thoughts, especially because long-term relationships scared me so bad.

But Patrick was a good guy, and there was definitely chemistry between the two of us. Even though it was only a two-week bet, I knew that I shouldn't stop myself from pursuing the relationship further, if it was right.

A scary thought? Yes.

A possibility? Yes.

The idea of a long-term relationship with Patrick made me feel nervous and excited at the same time. At that moment, I decided to just let things happen how they will happen. If God helped me meet a great guy like Patrick, I shouldn't let myself get in the way of a potentially good relationship. What if I had met Patrick without the bet?

I decided that the best thing I could do was pray to God and ask for his help... guidance on what I should do with my dating life, and help so that I didn't hurt Patrick with this dating bet.

I offered a little prayer in my heart, and asked for God's support in my life. I thanked Him for the blessings that I had been given, and for the good semester that I'd had so far. I told God about my concerns with Patrick, and how I was feeling uncertain about the future. I also told Him about the guilty feelings I was having about the bet, wondering if I had started the relationship for the wrong reasons.

I felt a comforting feeling in my heart, and knew that God had heard my prayers. I felt like everything was going to be all right, no matter what happened.

I held that feeling in my heart for a few moments before heading back inside to tell my roommates about the night.

The rest of the week went well. I was doing really well in school, and I felt happy every time I thought about Patrick.

We talked almost every day, either over text or on the phone. Most days, we had ongoing text conversations about life in general, flirting with each other here and there.

He called me on Friday to share details about Saturday, and I made arrangements to meet him at the party. He was planning to get there early so they could have time to set up the equipment, and he told me that it wasn't necessary for me to be there right at the beginning of the party.

We talked for 30 minutes on the phone, and the conversation flowed as if we'd known each other forever.

After getting off the phone with him, I thought about the fact that Saturday was date number two of the week. According to the bet with Kendra, I needed to get five dates within a period of two weeks. I was on track and needed to make sure that I saw Patrick three more times next week.

Deep inside, I was still feeling conflicted about the situation. The conflict was between my fear of committed relationships, and my growing fondness for Patrick. The more I talked to him and spent time with him, the more I realized that he was a great guy. I knew that he was good-looking, but I didn't realize how much depth he had to offer.

He was funny, confident, smart, thoughtful, likable, gentle, and tough all at the same time. He seemed like the full package deal, although there was still something there I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I didn't know much about his past, and he seemed to be hiding some dark secrets. I was curious about the experiences he had been through, but knew that if we opened that door, I would need to tell him about my past relationship as well. I wasn't quite ready for that yet.

It’s okay, I reassured myself. It will all come in good time.

*****

My Saturday study group ran a little long, so I didn't leave the library until about 6:30 that evening. I hurried home so that I could grab some dinner and jump in the shower before going to the party.

I wanted to take one of my roommates or friends with me so I wouldn’t be by myself while the band was playing, but everyone had already made plans for the evening. So, I decided to go to the party on my own, knowing that I'd meet up with Patrick after the band was done playing. Plus, I was guessing that there would be some people from church there, as the party wasn't too far from my apartment.

I arrived at the house and saw signs directing the partygoers to go out back, so I walked around the side of the house to find the backyard filled with lots of people. It was a cool evening, and I knew that this may be one of the last fall outdoor events before the snow started falling. I was grateful that I brought a sweater and noticed that a lot of people were huddled around the fire pit, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs.

The band was playing, and I caught Patrick's eye. He smiled and winked as soon as he saw me, and he continued with the song. I knew that I'd get a chance to talk to him when the band took a break, so I looked around to find some other friends to hang out with until then.

Typically at this type of event, I was a social butterfly, and it wasn't uncommon for me to give my phone number to at least one guy during the evening. But I reminded myself of the bet, and the fact that I couldn't go out with anyone else until the two-week period with Patrick was up. There was also the thought that I was there to see Patrick and it would be totally rude to be flirting with other guys tonight. Technically, it was date number two since we were planning to watch a movie after he was done playing his music.

So, I decided to focus my conversations on people that I already knew, this way I wouldn’t accidentally do something that would scare Patrick away... such as him seeing me giving my information to another guy.

I noticed a few girls that I knew standing by the food table, so I walked over to say hi.

It was a fun party, there was a great turnout and the backyard was filled with college students. The music was great, people were dancing, and the food was delicious. I ran into a few old friends, so I spent most of the evening catching up with them hearing about what was going on in their lives.

The band stopped playing around 10:30 pm, so they wouldn't disrupt neighbors that may be going to bed. The band members started cleaning up equipment, so I walked over to say hi to Patrick and see how I could help.

"You guys sounded great tonight, as always. It seems like a pretty good group, and it looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Is there anything I can help with?"

"It was a blast, I really enjoyed myself! I'm so glad you could come." Patrick reached down and started unplugging the extension cords. "Yes it would be great if you could help, start unplugging the extension cords and wind them up so that we can store them in this box."

I followed his directions and worked on one extension cord at a time, wrapping them around the length of my forearm and placing them neatly in the box. There were many people helping with the cleanup, and before we knew it, everything was loaded into the cars.

"Are you still planning to watch the movie with us tonight? I think they're going to turn on the new Star Trek movie inside."

"Yes, I'm planning to stay, I haven't seen that Star Trek yet. I was hoping to catch it in the movie theater, but never got around to it." The truth was that I wasn't a die-hard science fiction fan, but I didn't mind watching those types of movies in a social setting. I was hoping to keep things going with Patrick, so I was willing to watch anything that he was interested in.

Patrick opened the house door for me as we walked inside, and there was a big group of people congregated on the couches and floor, getting ready to turn on the movie. Luckily, there were two seats left on one of the couches, so we settled in and got comfortable for the show.

Movies weren't necessarily my favorite date activity, because of the fact that you don't get much time to talk with the guy. However, I did like the idea of sitting close to Patrick for two hours, and we’d had a little bit of time to talk outside while we were loading up the equipment.

A few minutes into the movie, he reached his arm around me and I snuggled into the nook of his arm. I lay my head on his shoulder, and could feel his calm, steady breathing. Feeling his breath and the closeness of his body was quite distracting to me, and I found myself working hard to pretend like I was paying attention to the movie... when in fact, all I could concentrate on was him.

When the movie was over he walked me out to my car. "Thanks again for coming tonight, it was great to see you. I wish that we would've had more time to talk, hopefully we can get together again sometime soon... just you and me."

"I would love that," I agreed. "My schedule’s pretty flexible over the next few days, so let me know what works best for you."

"I think we can work something out, I'll check my calendar when I get home and let you know. Have a great night."

He leaned in to give me a hug and I wrapped my arms around him just like Tuesday night. We hugged for just a moment, and then he quickly pulled away as if he suddenly needed to go somewhere. "I'll see you soon," he said quickly, as he started fumbling for his keys in his pocket.

I climbed into my car and turned on the ignition, "Thanks, sleep well tonight!"

It was a short drive home, but again I found my mind running a million miles an hour. Every time I saw Patrick, I enjoyed myself... but I always came out of the evening feeling a little confused and conflicted at the same time.

It was fun to hang out with him, and he seemed like a great guy. But there was just something that I couldn't put my finger on. I couldn't decide if the conflicting feelings were just about the bet, or if there was something else going on with him that I didn't understand.

*****

I didn't hear from Patrick all day Sunday, I was hoping that maybe he would text me... but nothing came through. I thought about sending him a text to initiate a conversation, but I didn't want to seem overeager and scare him away.

Kendra and I were both sitting in our front room, I was reading a book and she was looking at
Facebook
on her phone. I looked up and broke the silence, "Sometimes this dating game is such a pain in the butt!"

"Tell me about it. Guys can be so complicated sometimes. Well, maybe it's us girls that are complicated." Kendra laughed and set her phone down on the coffee table.

"Good point, I'm probably making the situation more complicated than it really is, huh? I'm laughing at myself, because I haven't heard from Patrick all day today, and I keep telling myself that I'm won't let myself text him until I hear from him first."

"Why don't you want to text him first? I'm sure he would talk to you. You could even call and say hi if you want to."

"I know, he always seems happy to talk to me. But, there's this weird thing going on: we talk and he seems to be having a good time, but then suddenly it's like a switch is flipped in his head. He goes from warm and welcoming, to deer in the headlights in three seconds flat. I keep wondering if I said something that scared him, but when I rehearse the conversation in my head, I can't figure out anything that would've been unusual."

"Maybe it's not you, maybe it's him. This sounds like a bad combination: a guy and a girl who both have serious commitment issues."

"Oh boy, I'm in for it, aren't I?! I'm hopeful that I can win this bet, because I only need three more dates this week to win. You better be ready to buy me an iPhone next weekend! But I'm feeling a little conflicted about what happens after the two weeks are up."

"We'll see how things go," Kendra said challengingly. "You're off to a good start, but this is usually the point where you find something wrong with the guy and come up with a reason to not date him anymore. Just sayin'..."

"Good point. It probably has nothing to do with him at all, I'm probably just reading into things. My main concern right now is that if there is something going on, I don't want to hurt him if he finds out about the bet. I started out simply wanting to prove to you that I could win the bet, but the relationship has become a lot more complicated than that. Why does he have to be such a great guy? This bet would be a lot simpler if I was just putting up with him for two weeks!"

Kendra and I both laughed at the irony of the situation. Neither of us had anticipated that I would get emotionally involved.

"Well, let me know how it goes. And you know that I'm always here to talk if you need someone to listen to you. It's amazing how talking can help sort out those types of feelings."

"Thanks Kendra, I appreciate it. By the way, how are things going with you and Liam? I haven't seen him over here in a few days."

"He's doing good, and we’re doing okay."

"Did he make a decision concerning the new position at his job?"

"Yes, he decided not to take it. He knows it’s the right decision for where he’s at right now, but he also really wanted the extra income. The last few weeks have been kind of hard, we haven’t had as much time to spend together and he has been really tired all of the time.  I don't know, sometimes I wonder if your commitment issues are rubbing off on me! He's a great guy, and I think I could see myself with him long-term, but there's always that 'what if' question in the back of my mind. I have to remind myself that many times moving forward with the relationship is taking a big leap of faith."

"You are totally right. Maybe we need to buy a trampoline or a pogo stick, because both of us need to make some big leaps right now."

"If only it were that easy..." Kendra sighed as she stood up to walk into the other room.