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  He grunted. “Hmm . . . probably.”

  Nora was all smiles as she pulled into a parking lot and cried out in a taunting, sing-song voice, “Oh, look! We’re here.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, and I think Tony did too.

  It was awkward when he helped me get out of the car, but he was pretty big about it. I mean, he seemed less embarrassed than I did.

  He grinned ruefully. “Hey, sorry about Nora. You okay?”

  “Me? Yeah, I’m fine. Are you?”

  “Wow. That’s refreshing.” His light brown eyes sparkled into mine.

  “What is?” I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Are you always this nice?”

  “Nice? I don’t know. Isn’t everyone?”

  “Ha!” He shut the car door behind me. “You are nice if you think that.”

  “I am?” For some reason, the thought of Tony thinking I was nice wasn’t weird at all.

  “Yeah.” He glanced down at me, then out toward the park. “And to answer your question, yes, I’m fine. I’m actually kind of relieved. Nora could’ve done a lot worse, had she wanted to.”

  “She could?” I couldn’t imagine anything more embarrassing than what he’d just gone through.

  His eyes caught mine again. “Oh yeah. She’s got a lot more ammunition to use. I’ve given her a ton of grief over the years.” He sighed. “I guess its payback time. But something tells me you’ll be worth it.”

  “Oh.” My heart melted. In fact, my whole insides resembled something just short of jelly.

  “Will you two knock it off and get over here?” Nora hollered from behind me.

  “That’d be our cue.” I smiled.

  “Is it? Do we have to go?”

  How cute is he? “I’m thinking so. If not, she may start whippin’ out the big guns.”

  “Big guns?” He chuckled. “Is that something they say down in New Mexico?” He held out his hand and took mine. I didn’t resist.

  His hand was a bit colder than mine, but warmer than marble. “My ancestors were gunslingers.”

  “Really? Like outlaws?”

  “Some of them.” His hand was warming up really fast. I brought it up to see it properly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Your hand.” I turned it over. I never noticed before, but with my fingers interlaced with his, I could see he was about as tan as I was.

  “What about it?”

  “It’s warm.”

  “Yeah? It usually is in the summer.”

  “And it’s darker than I expected.”

  “Really? You had expectations about my hand?”

  What?

  “Does this mean you’ve been thinking about holding it?”

  Ugh! How do I get myself in these situations? “Um . . .” I felt my face go as red as a tomato.

  Tony laughed and tugged me forward. “Now, come on, before Nora throws something at us.”

  So I was surprised again—completely surprised—when we passed the baseball diamond and headed toward the playground equipment.

  “We’re going to the swings?” I asked.

  “Nope.” Tony chuckled. “You’ll see.”

  I raised my eyebrows as we passed the playground equipment altogether. Where are we going? We stopped in front of a huge drinking fountain that looked like a bear. I was a bit concerned. “We came here to get a drink?”

  “No, silly.” Nora laughed. “We came here to play on that!”

  I looked over to where she was pointing. Beyond the drinking fountain and to the left a bit was a ginormous zip line. “Wow! Are you kidding me?”

  “Do you guys have these in New Mexico?”

  “I think they were banned like twenty years ago. I’ve always wanted to try one, though!” I had already begun walking toward it, Tony easily keeping pace.

  “Well, this is your lucky day!” Nora exclaimed as she jogged to catch up to us.

  “How do they work?” The zip line seemed longer the closer I came to it.

  “It’s easy,” Tony said. “You’ll catch the hang of it right away.”

  “Yeah, and I bet Tony won’t mind helping you at all,” Nora teased.

  There was a little girl climbing onto the zip line with the help of her father as we approached. I watched her sit on the circular seat and wrap her legs around the chain that attached it to the line. Her dad pulled her slowly to the top of the little hill and then counted to three. With a swoosh and a squeal, she zipped past us in a flash and then slowed once the line made it to the other side and started climbing that hill. In no time at all, the swing had lost its momentum, and the girl started to glide back toward the center of the line. Her father met her there, and when she begged him to let her go again, he announced, “No, you’ve had your turn. These people want to play, too.” He pointed at us, and the little girl glanced over. “See? It’s their turn now. Besides, it’s time for us to head home.”

  I could see she wanted to argue more, but with an audience, she kept quiet.

  “Thanks.” I smiled and waved, hoping she would feel better.

  I think it worked. She smiled and waved back as they walked past us. “Hold on real tight, ’kay?” she said to me.

  “I will,” I promised with a chuckle. I glanced at my friends. Both of them were staring at me. “What?”

  “You like kids, too, don’t you?” Nora asked.

  “Uh, sure. Doesn’t everybody?”

  Tony smiled a huge smile, and Nora groaned. “Would you have one flaw, please? Please?” she said. “You’re making me feel like an ogre.”

  “An ogre? Why?”

  “Don’t mind her.” Tony gave my hand a squeeze. “Kids drive Nora crazy.”

  “Oh. Do they bug you, too?” I asked him.

  Nora huffed. “Tony? Mr. Youth Club Volunteer Extraordinaire? I wish. That’s why you haven’t seen him this last week, by the way. He’s been out volunteering the past few days. He would’ve been gone today, but they didn’t need him.”

  He shook his head. “Come on, stop boring her. Let’s get moving or Claire won’t have time to try it out.” He turned to me. “Do you want to go first?”

  “Me?” I squeaked. “Uh, why don’t I watch you guys, and then I’ll try it.”

  “Wahoo! I’m first!” Nora shouted as she ran to the swing.

  She was a natural. I could tell she’d been playing on the zip line for years. She and Tony made it look easy. By the time it was my turn, I was positive it was the simplest thing I’d ever do.

  That was until I tried to balance myself on the little disk they called a seat. I actually fell off three times just getting on—to the delight and laughter of the Russo twins—before I was able to gain my balance enough to head up the hill.

  Nora and Tony pushed me up to the top, and we were all laughing.

  “How did you guys make this look so easy?” I gasped as I felt the jolt of the glider hit the top of the zip line.

  “It’s because it is easy.” Tony chuckled. “It’s just that you Southwesterners have to do everything the hard way.”

  “Hey. I’m not as tall as you guys,” I protested. “There was no way I could get on up here, and you know it. My only chance was getting on below and having you guys push me up.”

  “Excuses, excuses,” Nora said with a grin. “Now, are you ready?”

  No. I squealed and hung on to the chain with all my might, my eyes closed and everything. “Okay.”

  “One,” Tony said near my ear. “Two, threeee—”

  They let go, and I flew down to the bottom of the zip line and back up the other side—screeching like a banshee the whole way. The metal clinked against the top, and I jolted to a stop and then was slowly dragged down to the middle again.

  Nora and Tony raced down the hill to meet me. “How was it?” he asked. “You want to go again?”

  “Are you kidding me?” I gasped as I opened my eyes for the first time. “That was awesome! I never want to get off!”

  Honestl
y, this is way better than watching someone else play baseball, even if they are vampires and can run at the speed of light. It’s much more fun to swing at the speed of light than to watch someone else do it, right?

  Ten

  Overruled

  “You know, you might actually get your text messages if you took your phone with you and not mine,” Cassidy announced as I walked through the front door. She was sitting on the couch in the little living room, waiting for me.

  “What?” I took my purse off my shoulder and tossed it onto the end table next to her, then pulled my phone out of my back pocket. “I’ve got it right here.”

  “Really? Open it up.”

  I did. Cassidy’s background picture flashed on the screen. Oh, no. I looked up. She was holding my phone out in front of her, dangling it between two fingers.

  “Of course, I’m awfully curious to find out who this ‘J’ is who’s been texting you all night.”

  “Shut up! Are you serious? Jaden’s been texting me?” I threw her phone at her and dove for mine. She was quicker than me, keeping it just beyond my reach. “Hey! Give me that.”

  “You know, he’s been the most interesting thing to happen to me all day. Well, that and finally finishing your book.”

  “Cass, hand me the phone. You’re not funny.”

  “I will, once you tell me about this kiss he’s been going on about.”

  “You’ve been reading the texts?”

  She giggled and scrambled to her feet as I lunged toward her again. “And writing back to him.”

  “What?” Ugh. “That is seriously not cool. What have you been saying to him, anyway? Give me that!” With one final lunge, I yanked my phone out of her hands.

  “See for yourself.” She was still giggling. “He sounds pretty hot.”

  As quick as I could, I pulled up my messages. “Did you tell him you were my sister?”

  “Nope. He thought I was you the whole time.” She smirked evilly as she plopped back on the couch. “Serves you right—taking my phone so I couldn’t talk to any of my friends.”

  In disgust, I wandered over to the matching chair and plunked down. As far as I could tell, they’d had quite a huge conversation. Jaden alone had sent at least ten texts.

  I can’t believe my sister is such a loser.

  “You’re so rude,” I grumbled as I scrolled to the beginning and started reading.

  hey, wantd 2 say srry agn. miss u already. cant wait 2 touch ur lips agn.

  J

  Aw. How romantic is that? I grinned and then read Cassidy’s answer.

  It’s nice to be missed… So what are you talking about? What do you mean touch my lips again? —princessC

  Did he tell her? I quickly scanned his reply.

  u no what. the kiss. its all ive bn thnkn about.

  Really? I bit my bottom lip to stop the smile that was spreading across my face, then quickly read the next message from Cassidy, worried she’d freaked out. Thankfully, she was cool about it.

  Good grief. Boys. *rolls eyes* —princessC

  lol. so what ya doin now?

  Reading. You? —princessC

  really? me im playin a game w my lil bro.

  No way! He has a little brother?

  Cool. How old is he? —princessC

  hes 10 and kickn my butt. what book u readin?

  I chuckled as I read Cassidy’s reply.

  Lol. You probably need your butt kicked. I’m reading Twilight. —princessC

  ug! twilight? my sis wood luv u. its all she reads. Lame

  Huh? Whatever, dork! I know he did not just say that!

  Seriously. You think it’s lame? —princessC

  come on. u have 2 admit it. don’t say u like it 2

  She better have said I liked it.

  You’re treading on thin ice. I suggest you change the subject. You don’t want to deal with the wrath of Claire. Trust me, it’s not pretty. —princessC

  Lol. Fine. I give, you win. So what r u doin 2morrow? Wanna hang?

  Oh my gosh! He asked me out?

  Sure. Gotta see if you deserve another kiss or not. —princessC

  Kiss? Kiss? She would have to say that. I glared up at her then quickly read his reply.

  great. c u at 6 then. whats ur addy? ill pick u up tomorrow.

  Are you kidding me? “No!” I turned to Cassidy. “I have a date with Tony tomorrow night. He’s taking me to his youth club for a game he’s coaching. Dang it, Cass. Why’d you tell Jaden I’d see him?”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the couch. “Will you knock it off already? If you’d think about it, I totally did you a favor.”

  “How? You can’t set me up with someone else. Seriously, that’s not fair.”

  “Just tell Tony you can’t make it and you’ll go to his next game. I’m sure there are tons. Besides, J’s already got the tickets. You can’t back out on him.”

  “Got the tickets for what?” I scrolled down to the next text.

  k ur never gonna blieve this. i jst pict up tkts 4 mariners game! U like bsbll rite?

  Ugh. Only when it’s vampire baseball. How much did those tickets cost?

  Wow! Cool. Baseball rocks. It sounds like fun! —princessC

  awesome! c u later.

  J

  This is not happening to me. This is not happening to me! When I looked up again, my sister had left. Man, why didn’t I bring my stupid phone with me? I really didn’t want to cancel on Tony, but it looked like I had to.

  In frustration, I scrolled through my phonebook for the number he’d just given me. It took two tries before I realized I had saved his number to my sister’s phone. “Cassidy!” I called, bolting up the stairs. “I need your phone!”

  By the time I had Tony’s number safely stored on my phone and erased from Cassidy’s, I noticed it was almost nine o’clock. Completely nervous, I selected his number and pressed “send.”

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Tony? This is Claire.”

  “Oh, hey, Claire. I just told my dad about you coming tomorrow.”

  “You did?” Good grief. How much harder does this have to get?

  “Yeah, he thinks it’s cool. What’s up?”

  “Oh, well, I—uh, I can’t go with you tomorrow. I got home, and Cassidy had already planned stuff for me that I didn’t know about. I’m really sorry.”

  “Oh, hey, no worries. I hear you on the family involvement issues.”

  “You do?”

  “Yep. Mine is always planning stuff without asking first. Drives me nuts.”

  “I really wanted to go, though. Can we do it another day?”

  “Sure. The next game is Saturday. What are you doing then? Can you make it?”

  “Um, nothing that I know of. Hang on.” I put my hand over the mouthpiece, then walked down the hallway and knocked softly on the Hadleys’ bedroom door.

  “Yes, dear?” came the reply.

  “Sorry. It’s Claire. Are you guys awake?”

  “Yep. Come on in.”

  Hesitantly, I pushed the door opened and poked my head in the room.

  Roger and Darlene were both wide awake and watching a crime show on TV. Their room was even bigger than ours and had its own little cozy sitting room off to the side.

  “What did you need?” Darlene asked. “Did you have a good time today with Nora?”

  “Yes. And actually, I’m talking to Tony right now.” I held up the phone so she could see. “He was wondering if I could go with him to the youth center on Saturday. We’re not doing anything, are we?”

  “Not that I know of.” She turned to her husband. “Do you know of anything going on Saturday, dear?”

  “I have a luncheon meeting, but that’s it.”

  “See, perfect,” Darlene said. “Tell Tony you can go with him.”

  “Okay, thanks! Good night.”

  “Night,” she called out as I shut the door.

  “Okay, Tony, I can go.”

  “Great! You’
re going to love it. The game’s at eleven on Saturday, okay? So I’ll be there around ten.”

  “Sounds great. I’ll bring my umbrella, just in case.”

  “Yeah, soccer in Washington can get wet. Very wet.” He chuckled. “Did you have fun today?”

  “Of course! It’s been one of the craziest, most fun days I’ve had since coming here. I had a blast.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot. You got kissed today, too, didn’t you?”

  I decided not to answer that.

  “I’m going to have to meet that guy someday.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t quite picture Jaden and Tony in the same room together. It sort of terrified me, actually.

  “What’s he look like?”

  “Who, Jaden?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Um, I don’t really remember.”

  Tony burst into laughter. “You’re kidding me. You don’t remember what the guy looked like? Not much of a kiss then, was it?”

  All at once, Jaden’s kiss came back to me full force. I remembered every bit of it. And it was a pretty darn good one, thank you very much. “He has brown hair and dark brown eyes, and he’s a bit taller than you. There. That’s all I remember.” And he’s totally hot. Not that Tony wasn’t hot, because he was. It’s just that Jaden was a different sort of hot—a more shocking, outrageous, brave sort of hot. Tony was definitely the more cautious of the two.

  “Well, I guess I better let you go,” he nearly choked into the phone.

  Oh my gosh! I wonder if he heard my thoughts? Dang. “Okay. I’ll see you later. Sorry again. I’m looking forward to Saturday.”

  “Good night,” Tony answered right before I heard the phone click.

  “See?” Cassidy smiled from her bed as I walked into the bedroom. She must’ve heard everything I’d said. “That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?”