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personally invited by a five-year-old , ” she lightly laughed, “ so I need to be here.”
    “Oh, that’s fine. I understand. What about tomorrow? Are you still available?”
    “ Do you want me to be available? ” she seemed to tease.
    I loved the sound of her voice.
    “Absolutely,” I answered. I couldn’t even think of anything clever to say.
    “Then yes, I’m available.”
    “Okay, give me your address and I’ll pick you up around eleven. Is that time okay?”
    “Eleven… in the morning ?”
              “Yeah .” Was that being too anxious? I didn’t care; I wanted to see her. Oh man, what if she worked at that time or she just wasn’t able to—
    “Sure, that works fine. But…you can just pick me up here. I won’t be at home.”
    “O h, o kay.”
    She gave me an address, and even though I wanted to keep talking to her, I thought she probably wanted to get back to the party.
    Before she hung up I said, “ Oh, and Jayden? Wear comfortable shoes.”
    “Oh, like sneaker s? So you mean no high heels or flip flops , right ?” she teased .
    I guess those could be comfortable; I should have been more specific. “No, no high heels or flip flops,” I smiled.
    “Okay, see you tomorrow, Ty.”
                  I loved hearing her say my name.
    Without the possibility of seeing Jayden that night, I didn’t feel like going out with the guys anymore. I sat back and just enjoyed the quiet of an empty house for once. Aaron called to see where I was, but I told him it was late and I was going to bed soon.
    “You’re lame,” he informed me.
    I didn’t care. I was excited for eleven a.m. …

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    “I still can’t even believe you got her number,” Aaron laughed. “I’m impressed, Huntington. You must know how to work some magic.”
    I scoffed to myself . Magic? Is that why I had felt so awkward around her? I didn’t dare tell him that, so I chose to remain quiet. It didn’t do any good because he kept at it.
    “So, what’s she like? She didn’t turn you down, so obviously you’re somehow worthy in her eyes.”
    I shrugged. I hardly knew what she was like. My time talking to her consisted of about five minutes total. “I don’t really know that much about her. She sou nds really nice, like Jack said. She’s kind of quiet in the way she talks, but she smiles a lot… She’s got perfect teeth, beautiful blue-green eyes—”
    “And a nice rack , huh ?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
    “Oh, brother,” I mumbled, putting my hat on.
    “What? You didn’t bother to check out something other than her face? You’re lame, man. I’ll give you a head start. She is fine —everything about her. When you get a chance, just take those brown eyes of yours and look behind her…”
    I left out the front door before I could hear anymore.
    I drove across town to the address she gave me. It was a really nice neighborhood, nothing like what I grew up in. Her friend must come from a well-to-do family , and it caused me to think Jayden did too . I gave her a call as I pulled up to the house, just as she had asked, but she was already coming out the front door with a smile on her face and a sweatshirt in her hands . I got out to greet her just as another figure appeared in the doorway at the house. I immediate ly recognized him from the game; the guy she had been sitting with both times.
    “Hey,” she said cheerfully .
    “Good morning. How are you?”
    “I’m great. Are you ready to go?”
    “Uh, sure.” She climbed into my truck before I could say anything else , so I got in behind the wheel. “Is he wanting to come with us?” I asked, nodding to the guy still standing in the doorway.
    She laughed. “Chris? No. He’s just being my father right now.”
    “Oh. Should I go introduce myself?”
    She laughed again. “No, let’s go.”
    I paused for just a second, but said, “All right.” I pulled onto the road and glanced her way. She looked