Chapter twenty three:
Christy and Isaac had decided to go for a walk to sort through their problems.
So far they had both been silent. They made their way to a nearby park.

Christy finally took his hand and stopped him. ”Isaac wait.”
He turned and looked directly into her eyes.
She but her lower lip. “I’m sorry, last night was my fault-“
”No, if anything it was my fault-“ He said.
”But baby, I-“
”You see, I-“
They both stopped and laughed at having spoken over each other’s words.
”Let me talk first?” She smiled.
”Sure.”
”Last night… I don’t know, it’s just difficult because… because I’m falling for you, and that scares me.” She looked away at a flock of pigeons several feet away. “It’s just weird that I like you so much and being in your bed and kissing you… I just automatically assumed that would lead to sex and… I don’t know, I guess I’m just a whore-”
”You’re not a whore.” He tugged at her hand lightly to catch her attention.
She drew in a deep breath. “I just feel like… maybe you don’t want me… in that   way…”
He tilted her chin back up to face him. “C, that’s not it, believe me. I really… want you in that way… which makes it so much harder…”

Her cheeks turned slightly pink with suppressed laughter.
”That’s… not what I mean.” He felt himself blush. “I meant it’s difficult because you’re so pretty and perfect in every way and I know how much you want to and I want to too, but… I just think we should wait a little.”
”Okay.” She nodded. “Let’s not let it ruin our day.”
He smiled and bent to kiss her.

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Becky was watching Zac play pool in the private games room next to the lobby. He circled the table and lined up his cue for another shot.
She watched curiously from her spot leaning against a leather sofa.
He looked up at her and she smiled brightly.
”Ever played pool before?” He asked.
”Once, and not well. I mean, I barely know how.”
He shrugged. “It’s all simple geometry.”
”I suck at math.”
He laughed. “Come here.”
She pushed herself up from where she was leaning.
She made her way around the table. “What?”

“Come here.” He handed her his cue. “Line up a shot.”
”Um…” She cleared her throat gently and copied his position from before. She paused. “I don’t want to mess up your game…”
”It’s okay. Go for it.”
She drew in a deep breath and made an attempt, without hitting any other balls and barely moving the one she was trying to hit.
”I suck.”
”Nah, you’re a rookie. Here, try this.” He positioned the cue in her hands and adjusted her body into a better stance. “Now… lean…” He moved his hand over her stomach and she immediately jumped spinning around between him and the table.
He gave her a confused look. “What?”
”Umm… nothing. I’m just extremely ticklish. I mean, I always have been… the slightest thing that goes anywhere near my stomach or… what?”

He grinned at her. “Really?”
”Oh no… don’t even think about-“ She could tell from the look on his face he was not about to sympathize and took off running from him.
She circled the sofa before he caught up to her, looped his arms around her waist and practically tackled her to the sofa, giggling as he tickled her.

“Stop, stop!” She gasped for breath. “This isn’t fair!”

“Yeah, but it’s fun.” He smiled and stopped tickling her at last. “Sorry. I just can’t resist. You’re so cute.”

Becky burst out laughing again. “I’m cute?”
”Yeah. I think you are.” He smiled and got up from the sofa, helping her to her feet. “I have a friend coming over today. He’s flown out from Tulsa for the week…”

“A friend? Is he cute?”

Zac laughed. “I don’t know…”

“Well, what’s he like?”

“What do you mean? He’s like me.”

“Like you?” Becky laughed. “A guy?”

“Yeah. I don’t know, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember, we get a long pretty well. We like the same stuff.” Zac shrugged.

Becky nodded. “What are you going to do today?”

“Well, we were going to go to Bubba’s Burger Joint for lunch, then to the mall and hit up the arcade… why?”

“Maybe Jen and I could go with you. It could be like a casual… double date.” Becky suggested. “I mean, if they want to. We could just kind of hang out.”

“Alright, sure. Sounds like a plan to me.”

Becky smiled and hugged him. “You’re the best! And wouldn’t it be cute if my best friend met your best friend and something serious came as a result?”

Zac laughed. “They haven’t even met yet. What if they hate each other?”

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Jenna wandered down into the lobby of the hotel. She’d gone in search of Taylor because she wanted to apologize for the night before, even though she couldn’t remember what exactly she had done. She had been unable to find him anywhere, and looking in his room had been the last resort. However, he wasn’t there either.

She sighed and stepped off the elevator and immediately found Becky.

“Have you seen Tay? I’ve been looking everywhere for him and I-“ Jenna stopped in mid sentence when she noticed Zac was also there with one of the cutest guys she’d ever seen. “Hi.” She smiled.

Becky cleared her throat and spoke up. “Jen, this is Zac’s friend Luke. Luke, this is Jen…”

Luke smiled politely and extended his hand to shake hers. Jen couldn’t help herself but to smile back shyly.
”Um… we were going to hang out…” Zac offered. “We were going to go for lunch and then to the mall for a bit…”

“Do you want to go?” Becky finished.

“Umm… sure.” Jenna said. “Just let me grab my purse.”

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