All I wanted was a nice relaxing day off.
So how in the hell did I end up here?
My friends must be more cultured than me or something because watching horses run around in a circle for two minutes then waiting another half an hour for it to be done again just doesn�t seem all that interesting to me. Or maybe they just want to blow all their money from the last few shows. Who knows? Either way, I don�t want to be here. Why wouldn�t they just leave me at the hotel or something?
Oh yea, that�s right. Last time they did that, they found you half naked running around the hotel�s VIP bar with six groupies whose ages were questionable. Good going Carter.
So maybe I can�t be trusted left in a hotel by myself with nothing to do, but I could have gone somewhere by myself. The only reason accidents like last time occur is because they keep telling Marcus to not let me leave the hotel until they come back. Maybe if they�d give me the opportunity, I could find something more interesting to do with my day off than spend it with them because I�m pretty sure they didn�t want to spend it with me.
�Man, Nick, stop looking like we�re making you watch an opera or something. If you�d actually pay attention to what I�m trying to say, maybe you could get into it and make some bets of your own.�
I stopped staring through the Plexiglas and turned to the speaker.
�Maybe I don�t want to get into this. Maybe I think horse racing is unethical and inhuman. Maybe I think you have to be sick and twisted to enjoy watching this cruelty. Did you ever think of that, Kevin?�
�How long did it take you to come up with that one?�
I turned to my other side to see A.J. laughing at me as Kevin walked away, deeming me a hopeless case.
�Shut up man. You�re just as bored as I am.�
He nodded and held up a pair of binoculars, patting them lovingly.
�Yea, but I got these babies.�
�So?�
Why does everyone look at me like I�m a dumbass whenever I ask a simple question? It�s starting to get really annoying.
�So I can check out the lovely Texas ladies you idiot.� He gestured to the overcrowded general admissions bleachers. �It�s the beginning of July, meaning a huge crowd filled with beautiful women in skimpy tank tops.�
I studied him intently.
�Aren�t you engaged?�
He snorted.
�Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. You must learn the rules of being a committed man. Obviously you�ve never had a girlfriend worth committing to, but maybe your tastes will change.�
I let the insult pass. All A.J. wanted was for me to deny my bad taste in women so he could patronize me for it. After he realized I wasn�t going to say anything, he went on with the love advice from hell.
�See man, all I�m doing is looking. These girls aren�t even in a fifty-foot radius of me, meaning even if I wanted, I couldn�t touch them. So basically, this is nothing. Pure observations. No one ever got into trouble for making simple observations.�
�Tell that to Socrates.�
�What?�
I groaned and waved off the comment. It�d take way too long to explain an ancient Greek philosopher�s exile and A.J. would probably say I made it all up anyway. Sometimes these people can�t understand that I�m not as stupid as they think.
�Anything good?�
He looked at me with surprised. So I hadn�t exactly been crazy about women lately, but who could blame me? I�d dated Satan�s daughter for three very long years until I finally decided she could have my TV and my Porsche as long as she�d get out of my damn house. Groupies suited me well enough despite Brian telling me I was going to hell for it all.
�Um� no slutty blondes if that�s what you�re asking.�
�I can think that a girl who isn�t a slutty blonde is sexy.�
I recognized that look. My mom gave it to Aaron all the time when he talked about what he did on tour. That was definitely a �yea sure whatever� look.
�Really. I can! Why am I even defending myself to you? Let me see �em.�
I reached over to grab the binoculars from A.J.�s hands, but he pulled them away.
�Come on, A.J.�
I knew I was whining, but I didn�t care. This was the part where Kevin jumped in and gave me whatever I wanted, within reason of course, so I would shut up.
�Give him whatever he�s wanting.�
Hee hee, Kevin�s so predictable.
�But��
�The first race starts in two minutes. You best do whatever it takes to get him to shut up.�
For once I wasn�t going to ask them to stop treating me like I was eight. Boredom can do that to a man�s dignity.
A.J. rolled his eyes and handed the binoculars over. I smiled sweetly at him as he walked away to join Brain and Howie, who�d been arguing about who would win the most money tonight.
I love when I get what I want.
I started scanning the crowd that was forming some three stories below us hoping to find a pretty face or two. Hell, a good ass would work too, but the girls didn�t seem all that interesting to me. This was definitely more entertaining than arguing with Kevin about horses, so I continued to search the crowd as the entire VIP room jumped up with excitement as the race started.
Then the race was over.
And I found something.
In the reserved seats outside, a group of six or so people was jumping up and down while giving each other high fives and hugs. They must have won or something. Mainly it was a bunch of guys - tall, my age guys- but at the edge of them was a girl. She was being picked up and swung around, laughing the entire time as she was passed from one guy to another. Her smile brought her to my attention. Well, the jumping up and down actually brought me to look that way, but she had a great smile.
�Dude, I won.�
I looked away from the group, then up at Brian. He had this impish grin and held up two tickets.
�So did they.�
I vaguely pointed down at the crowd towards where the group of teenagers had been. Brian leaned over my shoulder to try and see where I was looking.
�There�s a lot of people down there, Nick. Which ones are you talking about?�
When I looked back to where the group had been standing, they were gone.
�Huh� they must have gone inside. A group of people were jumping up and down over in those seats.�
He nodded and patted my shoulder.
�I know you don�t want to be here man, but hold out for a little while. I�ve been told the fireworks are somethin� special.�
Yea, fireworks. Great. How could you enjoy fireworks when you were alone in doors? Fireworks were only good when you were alone with someone special� or when you at least felt like you were alone with someone special.
I turned back to my spying, searching for the mysterious girl. I didn�t get a very good look at her between the spinning around and being mesmerized by her smile. I caught sight of one of the guys walking through the crowd back towards their seats. He started sitting down when, I guess, someone called his name because he walked to the railing and hung over it. I followed the path of where someone might be standing in order to talk to him.
There she was.
She was still smiling while she yelled up to her friend, giving me the perfect opportunity to get a good look at her.
A.J. would laugh if he saw me checking her out. I did have a reputation of attracting and being attracted to girls in revealing clothing, or as A.J. so elegantly put it, �the nasty whores�. Then again, he prided himself in dating only �dirty sluts�. Wonder if Sarah knew this�
This girl would definitely not be considered a nasty whore or any other type of whore for that matter. For some reason she made her khaki shorts and stripped t-shirt look like it was the fashion world�s best kept secret. I had to admit that it helped that the shirt was a little too short so, on closer inspection, I saw a ring in her navel, and the shorts were a little too big so they hung low on her hips, but still! I was drooling over a girl in shorts and a t-shirt!
And yes, I was in fact, physically, drooling.
I snuck a look around me while wiping the saliva from my lower lip hoping no one had caught me. Observing the room I came to the conclusion I did�t even exist to the other people in here. Looking back down to the girl and her friend, I noticed she had a pair of sunglasses sitting on the top of her head despite the cloudy sky promising more rain to muddy up the track. I couldn�t help but smile when I noticed the electric blue streaks in her chestnut hair; even though the majority of it was pulled back, the humidity and heat had curled loose pieces she had to push away from her face every few minutes.
I wouldn�t mind doing that for her.
I smiled to myself. She seemed like a nice enough girl, bouncing up and down on her toes every now and again. A nod and thumbs up to the boy in the seats and she disappeared back inside.
Damn.
�What did you find?�
Looking up, I found A.J. with a big plate of nachos in his hands. He placed them in front of me before sitting down to my left. I sighed. Might as well tell him. I did steal his binoculars.
�A girl. She just went inside.�
He nodded, stuffing his mouth with chips and cheese.
�She hot?�
I smiled involuntarily. He wouldn�t think she was, but it didn�t matter. I thought she was beautiful. He took my silent smile as a yes, and instantly a perverted look crossed his face.
�The bathrooms are pretty big. You can always have Marcus bring her up.�
I glared at him. It was bad enough I was spying on a perfectly innocent girl, but for him to suggest something as vulgar as me bringing her up here to fuck her� It made me unnaturally angry.
�Woah. Man, don�t explode on me. It was just a suggestion on a way to entertain yourself for the evening.�
He pushed the nachos towards me.
�Howie told me to bring �em to you.�
�Thanks.�
I watched him walk across the room to talk to the �betting experts� the guys had met when we entered the room some� how long had we been here? Looking at my watch, I realized an hour and a half had passed since we�d gotten here. And the second race hadn�t even started? Jeez, this is going to take forever. Might as well eat.
It seemed like her guys had a similar idea. Three of them were heading back to their seats loaded with nachos and drinks. Looking back towards the door, I saw a tall, spiky blonde holding the door open for her. As I ate, I picked up the binoculars doing my best not to get them coated in nacho toppings. She was carrying three cups of� ice cream, I think. Had to be. She had a spoon sticking out of her mouth and I nearly choked as the guy she�d been walking with brushed his fingers across her lower back. Was that her boyfriend?
Dude, Carter, why are you getting jealous? I don�t even know the girl�s name! I�ll probably never even talk to her. So a guy touches her. Why should I care?
Because I want to touch her. I want to be one of those guys grabbing spoons and water bottles out of the pockets of her shorts. I want to brush my fingers against hers when she hands me something. I want to be one of those normal guys down there with one of my female friends goofing off.
I put the binoculars away when she sat down and started eating her ice cream. She was sitting at the very end of the row, next to the railing, with the guy she�d been talking to earlier sitting next to her. The blonde guy sat down three seats away� so maybe the brunette was hers?
Stop caring.
Evidently the second race started because the entire room jumped up and crowded around the windows. It made me glad I was smart enough to stake out one of the tables against the glass. I hate crowds, but at least this way I could see what was going on without having to fight for a view.
And then the race was over.
People around me either screamed with excitement or cursed even louder, but I didn�t really care. Down in the seats, mystery girl had jumped to her feet at the end and flung her arms above her head before doing a cute little victory dance. The boy next to her jumped up too and gave her a hug, causing ice cream to spill on her.
Oh boy, he�s gonna get it.
He obviously knew too because it looked like he started offering to clean up where the melted sweetness ran down her arms. It amazed me to see her wave him away and then start laughing. Not a normal laugh, but the type where you throw your head back and it consumes your entire body. Most girls would scream about how their clothes were ruined and they were going to be all sticky. Well, at least all the girls I know. She couldn�t stop laughing, despite her face turning red. I�d never had a reason to laugh like that. I wonder if she could give me one.
She danced around some more while finishing the ice cream left in the cup, handing the trash to the culprit who�d spilt it on her. Another guy tried to hand her some napkins, but she waved them away.
And then she did it.
How did something so� trivial� make me feel like I might have to take A.J.�s suggestion about the bathrooms into consideration?
A line of ice cream ran from her wrist to her elbow - and I should know because my binoculars were on extreme close up - and soon her tongue followed the same path up her arm, nice and slow like she was trying to seduce someone rather than get ice cream off of her. She followed up by licking a little more off the wrist of her other arm before sucking on the ends of each finger.
Man, Carter, you need a girlfriend.
I need her for a girlfriend.
All her friends laughed at her as she struck a pose and said something - I don�t claim to read lips, but I thought I saw �want me� in there - before blowing them a kiss. The spiky blonde handed her the napkins, which she used to get the ice cream off her shirt. Then she walked off.
I had to give these binoculars back to A.J. They were getting me into odd, unexplored female territory.
No more spying. I�ll just concentrate on the food and try to figure out the redeeming aspects of horse racing. Or why we had to have our day off in Dallas, Texas rather than somewhere closer to home or more interesting. Or what the hell that girl wanted me to do to her the other night� I shudder at the thought.
�You okay?�
�Yeah, A.J. You can have the binoculars back.�
�Get tired of your girl already?�
I paused before answering. I wasn�t tired of her really; I just didn�t want to remember the list of things I couldn�t have. No self-respecting girl would want to date a slob like me who had twelve year olds throwing themselves at him on a nightly basis. Plus, how could I not be jealous if my girlfriend went out with five good-looking guys regularly?
�Nick? You okay?�
�Yea� my head just keeps getting ahead of reality.�
He nodded, feigning understanding. I�m sick of people pretending they get me. It�s almost as bad as people thinking I�m the stupid blonde one.
�So, show me the girl you�re so hung up on.�
Woah. A.J. had an interest? Caught by surprise, I immediately pointed towards where she�d been sitting, not realizing I had just sealed my fate for the evening as the target of ridicule. Okay, so maybe I am slightly dumb. I could have at least denied being �hung up� on her.
He picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction I pointed in as I gave verbal clues to which girl it was.
�The brunette? In the tan shorts?�
�Yeah.�
He snorted. Damn it A.J. You�re supposed to be my friend man.
�She�s so not your type.�
�Yeah, I know, she�s not a slutty blonde wearing a tight tank top and shorts that don�t exist� blah blah blah. I can like something else you know.�
�Oh sure man. Wasn�t even talking about that. She�s cute. Kinda girl-next-door meets survivor. I�m talking about the fact that��
He sat the binoculars in my hand and looked at me.
��she�s reading a book.�
�What?!�
A.J. laughed and I realized how ridiculous I must have just sounded to him. It was one thing for them to think I was superficial and lacking the maturity to handle a real relationship, but now I realized how they got their �Nick is so dumb� material. I handed it out freely.
�I know it�s a new concept to you and all, but your girlfriend is down there reading a book. You know, those things that have pages and words that you look at. They tell a story��
I blocked him out while I looked at her. Sure enough, she had her face stuck in a book. She probably wasn�t getting too far in it because every few minutes she had to push the face of one of the boys out of her way as they tried to read over her shoulder. Or whisper things into her ear� No, definitely reading over her shoulder. Her legs were flung over the chair in front of her, and I caught my first glimpse of how tan she was.
�What�s with him?�
Don�t tell him A.J. Please don�t make me sound like an idiot.
�Nick�s jonesin� for a little sweetheart who has her nose in a book. He seemed a little shocked to think someone is voluntarily reading in a public place. See that girl in the cheap seats? The brunette? Next to that row of guys? She�s got her feet up and� �
Brian laughed.
�Yeah I see here. Frack, don�t obsess over the girl, okay man?�
I put the binoculars down. Why can�t they leave me alone?
�I�m not obsessing! I�m just watching her. She�s� interesting.�
I jumped at the sound of thunder and watched as lightning brightened up the sky. Not even a second later, a torrent of rain fell on the unsuspecting people outside.
�Seems we�re going to witness a true Texas storm.�
Noooo� Howie, don�t come over here too. I don�t want to have a make-fun-of-Nick session right now.
�Rain� huh. Hey, Nick you�re girlie is going to get all wet.�
Damn him. I couldn�t have suppressed the grin if I�d tried. I would have bet my life that her striped shirt would look twice as good plastered to her skin.
�Speaking of, she doesn�t seem to mind that she�s getting all wet.�
I put the binoculars back to my eyes and immediately started laughing. It appeared she was dancing around, singing at the top of her lungs, while four of her five guy friends tried to protect their hair. The other fell out of his chair laughing at her.
�Who are you talking about?�
Might as well get Kevin in on this too.
�Nick�s been watching this girl for awhile. She appears to be a little mentally unstable. See the girl jumping around in the rain?�
When Kevin responded, my ears caught a smile. Could I be hearing something?
�She�s cute.�
�Yeah.�
Did I sigh? Oh my god. I should just jump out of the window right now.
But the rain stopped and they left me alone. Another race started and then ended. My girl was soaked, her shirt clinging to her in all the right places when she turned to smile at her friends before pointing at the results board. She�s going to get cold.
I could warm her up.
Could I get any cheesier? It was freakin� July. She�s not going to get cold. I was never going to even stand in the same room with her. Why can�t I wipe this stupid grin off my face?
She sat back down as two of the guys stood up, waiting while she talked about� betting I guess. They left and she pulled the book back out of her messenger bag. Bag? Where did that come from? Well, at least she was smart enough to bring things to occupy her during the down time.
I could handle a smart girl, couldn�t I? I�d never had anyone to sit down and talk about things with. Well, besides the guys, but they still thought I was fifteen. Could I really sit down and talk to her without becoming dumb struck by her smile?
I�d definitely be willing to try.
�Hey shortie.�
Hee hee. That was one nickname I enjoyed strictly due to the irony of it all.
�Hey Marcus.�
My bodyguard is the greatest. He gives me space when I need it and protects me at the same time. And at a little over 6�10, the little teenyboppers had a hard time getting through him.
�I see you�ve stopped putting up a fight with the fellas about being here.�
He started picking at the remainder of the nachos that had basically been devoured by me and the guys throughout the past hour.
�Yeah. I guess it�s not so bad. Just wouldn�t want to make this a regular Backstreet activity.�
He grinned at me and patted my shoulder in sympathy. Without thinking I glanced down at my girl.
�Hey Marcus, could you bring that girl up here?�
Dude! What the hell just happened? I swear sometimes I think my mouth moves a lot quicker than my brain or some message connector nerves start working backwards. Hell, might as well go along with it. Marcus wouldn�t do something like that anyway. He didn�t like talking to girls for me.
�Nick, I really don�t think you should be doing things like that here.�
Things like wha�
�No no no no no no! I just� I want to meet her. Just for a little bit.�
�I�m not going to bring some girl up here for you.�
�Oh come on, please?�
I was begging again. I didn�t really want him to bring her up here. Did I? I shouldn�t be trying so hard if I didn�t want to see her up close.
�Who is it?�
Was he breaking? No! No Marcus! Don�t break on me.
�The girl in the fourth row from the front of the seats. In the khaki shorts.�
�The brunette?�
�Yeah.�
Stop sighing! God damn it. It�s bad enough I can�t control my mouth, but why must I sigh every time someone figures out who she is? Marcus looked at me like I�d lost my mind.
�Alright. Be right back.�
What? Wait! No. I didn�t really want her up here. She has five guys down there. One of them has to be her boyfriend! They�ll kick my ass! She�s going to think I�m some psycho freak watching innocent people. Work you stupid mouth! Call Marcus back!
�Dude! You�re bringing her up? Score!�
A.J. What a gentleman.
I couldn�t even respond I was so confused. And now I�m having a panic attack. She�s not going to like me. I�m just some dumb blonde who has bodyguards grab girls for him because he can�t do it himself.
Wait a second. I�m Nick freakin� Carter. I�m cool, damn it. Not to mention I look good. I don�t know what I was thinking this morning when I got dressed, but I�d actually put some consideration in my clothing choices. I�ve been told that tight t-shirts and baggy-ish pants are fashionable, so here I am in a tight blue t-shirt a few shades darker than my eyes - so I�m told because how the hell would I know that? - and my khaki cargos. I even bothered to mess with my hair! And it�s all fucked up like all those girls say they like. Who knew girls liked messed up hair? I�m good-looking and I�m a great guy. She�s going to like me, god damn it.
It�s sad when you don�t buy your own pep talks.
Why would I impress her?
She�s going to think I�m a psycho stalker.
Where the hell is Marcus? It�s been ten freakin� minutes and he�s not out there yet.
�Nick, jeez, calm down. You look like you�re about to throw up.�
Brian, help me! Make me disappear.
�I don�t know if I can breathe.�
He flopped down next to me and laughed.
�Since when did you get all nervous around girls? She�ll probably come up here, scream, ask for an autograph, and then Marcus is going to have to drag her back downstairs.�
Thanks for the words of confidence Bri.
�I don�t think so. I� I don�t think I�d be weird about it if I thought that�s what was going to happen.�
My eyes caught sight of a huge black man pushing through the crowd into the reserved seating.
�I don�t even know if she�ll say yes. She�ll probably laugh in his face.�
Marcus said something and all six of them looked up in surprise. The girl pulled her legs off of the other chair, leaned forward, and said something in response. All her friends were looking at her so I could only see the backs of their heads, but from her expression they were all a little confused.
�She�s going to say no Brian.�
I felt him look at me. I know I whined that and I wasn�t sure why.
�Nick, what�s with you?�
I sighed again. Damn it.
�I want to meet a normal girl. She looks like a normal girl. Someone who doesn�t care what I do for a living.�
Brian rubbed my shoulder in a comforting manner while I leaned forward with the binoculars. I knew he wouldn�t make fun of me for that. Brian is a good guy.
�Oh my god��
�What? What�s going on?�
�She�s standing up. Marcus just pointed up at us. Shit.�
What made me do it, I don�t know, but I jumped out of my chair and into the floor. I could hear Brian laughing at me, while the rest of the room turned to us.
�Hey Nick, she�s waving at me. She can see us.�
Why am I lying in the floor like a complete jerk?
�I�m pretty sure she just told Marcus yes.�
What???
�What???�
I climbed back into my chair in time to see her walk down the stairs with Marcus leading the way. She turned back once and looked up at us, a smile on her face, before following him inside and out of sight.
�Oh no, oh no. Brian, what am I going to do??�
�Jeez, man. First you�re going to calm down. She obviously doesn�t think you�re that much of a freak, but after seeing you jump into the floor, I�m kind of questioning her judgment.�
I couldn�t see straight. Putting my head down on the cool counter top, I did my best to breathe normally or calm my heartbeat. Neither bodily function was working correctly.
�Nick, she�s just a girl.�
He rubbed my shoulder again. Don�t do that Brian� It�s starting to creep me out.
�Relax and enjoy it man. You have about forty five seconds��
My head snapped back up and I looked at him. He had to be kidding. It took Marcus ten minutes to get down there and two to come back up? Brian stood behind me, blocking my view of the room.
�Have fun.�
I turned back to the window and pretended to be fascinated by the horses getting ready to start the next race. I could hear a melodic voice becoming progressively louder.
�Nickolas, I brought you a present.�
Marcus� shut up.
�Thanks, man.�
I muttered the phrase, hoping she couldn�t hear me.
�I�ve been told that my presence has been requested by a young man who must be pretty damn special to be hiding up here.�
Her voice fit her well. It was quiet, but strong and sounded like she had an unstoppable smile. I had to turn around and see her up close.
Was it just me or did her eyes light up when she saw me? Or was it because my eyes lit up when I saw her? She smiled at me before going into an exaggerated curtsy.
�It is truly an honor to make an appearance before you, sir.�
I laughed at the cheesy accent she picked up. I liked her already. And I was completely tongue-tied.
�Forgive me for looking absolutely horrid though. It kinda rained there for a second. I�m Kara by the way.�
As she took a few steps towards me, hand out, I could only gawked. I knew I looked like a complete idiot, but I couldn�t help it. She put her hand down and leaned towards me, scrunching up her face as she studied mine.
�Do you talk?�
I blushed five shades of red before I could clear my throat.
�I�m sorry. I� I�m just a little� surprised. I didn�t think Marcus was going to bring you up here.�
Kara� I liked her.
�And your name is?�
Woah. I haven�t gotten that in years.
�Oh� uh. I�m Nick.�
I shook her hand, all sorts of confusion going through me. Well, through most of me. A few parts of me didn�t really care.
�Yeah, I know.�
Okay, now I�m really confused.
�I kinda got that from your friend calling you �Nickolas,� but I figured it was a simple enough question to ask in cause you blanked out on me again.�
She blinded me with another one of those thousand-watt smiles before her eyes grew wide.
�Ooohh� the next race is about to start.�
I tried to keep myself from touching her as she slid in the chair next to me, the weight of her body moving it closer to mine. I wonder if her skin is as soft as it looks�
�Have you been to the races before?�
Boat racing, yes. Car racing, a few times. Horse racing, not so much, but I didn�t want to sound any more ignorant than I already did.
�Once or twice, yea.�
�Making any bets?�
�No, I haven�t really been paying much attention to the races. I�ve been watching you.�
WHAT THE HELL??? You stupid freakin� idiot! Let�s just scare the nice pretty girl away. I�m never speaking again.
She turned and looked at me, a cute blush rising up her cheeks.
�I�m not sure if I should be scared or extremely flattered.�
Thankfully I was saved by the start of the third race. I still didn�t care about the horses so I watched Kara watch the horses. She was so damn cute, leaning forward on her elbows so she wasn�t really sitting on the chair anymore and chewing on her bottom lip as the race went underway. Under her breath, she whispered encouragement to whomever she was hoping would win.
When the race ended, or I assumed it ended since the room went wild again, her eyes grew wide as the results came in. A small squeal escaped her gapping mouth and she turned to me.
�Oh my god!�
And she jumped on me. Well, not �on me�, but she hugged me. Out of nowhere. And just as quickly, she pulled away.
�Oh, man. I�m sorry. I�m all wet and you�re� so clean and� not wet.�
She giggled. I want a recording of that sound.
�I� it�s okay, really. I� I don�t really mind.�
So I�m stammering like an idiot. What else is new?
�Really? Are you sure?�
Of course I�m sure. Just a moment ago, I held her. Well, not really held her. I hadn�t recovered quickly enough to even realize she�d had her arms around me until she�d pulled away.
�Yeah, I�m sure.�
That light-up-the-world smile covered her face.
�Good.�
And she jumped on me again. Well, not �on me�, but� jeez, I�m a horn dog. This time around, after I cleared my head of thoughts that were so very not right, I still had time to wrap my arms around her.
Raspberries. Kara smells like raspberries. Yum. I wonder if she tastes like them.
�I take it you won?�
I had to say something. If we stayed like this for much longer� well, I�m not going to think about that. Disappointment still set in when she pulled away.
�Yeah. That�s the fourth time! Every race, I�ve won. Well, I haven�t. I can�t bet, but my friends have.�
A cell phone started playing the opening lines to a familiar song I couldn�t name. I watched Kara dig through her bag and pull out a phone.
�We won! Don�t you just love me?�
Yes, I love you.
�Uh huh. Um, the next race? I don�t know. Let me see.�
I watched her pull a sheet of paper out of her back pocket. It was one of those racing sheet things with all the horses on it. Kevin tried to give me one of those earlier.
�Ohh! Do number eight!�
There was a pause and she frowned at me. What�d I do?
�You have to! It�s the perfect horse. Jeez, Ryan, do I have to explain this to you? First of all, it�s the number eight horse. Second, its rider is wearing the colors purple and silver. Third, its name is Midnight Sky. How perfect is that?�
Wait a second. She was picking horses on names and colors and stuff?
�Yea, that�s the only one I see.�
She looked at me.
�Until they kick me out, I guess.�
Kick her out? I�m not kicking her out. I want another hug.
�Alright, good luck, babe. Bye.�
Babe?? No! One of those guys was her boyfriend!
When I opened my eyes back up, she was watching me, looking concerned. I probably had a pitifully crushed look on my face.
�You okay?�
I melted at the tone of her voice. She sounded like she actually cared.
�Yeah� I�m fine. Let me ask you a question.�
I watched her as she sat cross-legged in her chair, turned so she faced me, and then raised an eyebrow in question.
�Um� how are you choosing horses?�
She laughed.
�In the most materialistic, luck-of-the-draw, very unscientific way there possibly could be. Pretty much which name I like best and what colors the rider is wearing.�
Holding up the tip sheet and leaning in closer to me so I could see it, she continued. It took all I had to pay attention to what she said and not the fact that I could feel the heat radiating off her body.
�See, in the next race, my favorite name out of all of them is Midnight Sky� well, �cause it�s just cool. Plus, she�s the number eight horse, which is my lucky number. And the rider is wearing silver and purple, which are��
��Your favorite colors?�
Dude, I made her grin!
�Exactly! It�s the most impractical risky way of betting, but I�ve won them $150 so far.�
150 dollars? That�s not much. Why was she so excited about that? Wait� normal people don�t make thousands of dollars a week. I need to remember that.
�So that�s why your boyfriend called you? To get your pick for the next race? But shouldn�t he be able to pick out which horse you�ll choose based on the things you like?�
Her nose scrunched up.
�My boyfriend? Oh! Ryan? No, he�s not my boyfriend, and, if he had a memory for anything besides his own songs, he�d be able to figure it out, but all of �em think it�s better to hear me �predict� it rather than them just choose.�
Score! The Ryan guy wasn�t her boyfriend. But don�t get excited yet. It�s not like she said she doesn�t have a boyfriend. Be nonchalant.
�So which one of those guys is your boyfriend?�
Smooth, Carter. Real smooth.
Kara looked at her friends sitting below us and I believe I caught the corner of her mouth curl up into a smile.
�Oh, them? They�re all just friends. I don�t have a boyfriend.�
Double score!
Can�t show how excited that made me. She�s single and all of three feet away from me� soaking wet so that beads of water still dripped from her hair.
�Dude, Nick! I just won five hundred bucks! Well, hello there.�
And A.J. would come and screw everything up.
�Hi.�
She looked up appearing a little bashful as my flamboyant group mate sat beside her.
�I�m A.J. Nick�s cuter, wilder, more poetic friend.�
Damn it A.J. Stop hitting on my girl! You�re freakin� engaged! Don�t kiss her hand!
�It�s nice to meet you. I�m Kara.�
Woah. Was it just my hopeful imagination or did she not look impressed? A.J. turned to me to say something when Kevin and Brian came over to us.
�Hey! It�s Nick�s eye candy.�
Is it my friends� goal in life to embarrass me in every form possible? At least A.J. introduced himself instead of alienating her.
I stole a glance at Kara�s face. She looked terrified.
�Have y�all all been watching me?�
�Oh nah. Don�t worry. Nick just pointed you out to us in hopes we would come up with an idea on how he could meet you.�
Good save Brian� I think. She looked a little less scared.
�I�m Brian by the way, and this here is my not so inconspicuous cousin Kevin.�
�Hi, it�s nice to meet you. I�m Kara.�
She shook each of their hands before Howie appeared and introductions began again. Why couldn�t they all just leave? It was bad enough she had to deal with me, but all five of us? That�s torture. I think Brian caught the look in my eye because he began to herd them away.
�Come on guys. Let�s leave Kara alone before we scare her away. It was nice meeting you, ma�am.�
Kara turned back to me after they�d left earshot.
�Why were you watching me?�
Shit. I was hoping I�d get away without her asking me that.
One