Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Eli

"I'm stuffed," she declares, sitting up in the booth.

"I could still eat another one," I respond, taking another bite of my burger.

She giggles. "It's crazy that you can eat so much."

I pause mid-bite and sit up straight. Covering my mouth, I say, "Have you seen me? How do you think I got this big?"

This makes her laugh even more. "I guess you're right." She slides her plate toward me that still has half of the cheeseburger that she cut down the middle before she took a bite and a good amount of fries. "Dig in."

My eyes open wide. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." She chuckles. "I'm full and not a fan of leftovers."

I reach for the burger and move it to my plate. "We might make a perfect match after all."

My words cause her lips to grow into a beautiful smile, which makes me smile, too, just seeing hers.

"So, what do you do in these small towns for fun?" she asks.

"Nothing," I state right before taking another bite.

"Nothing? I know that's not true. There has to be something."

I wipe my face, then stick a fry in my mouth, thinking while I chew. "If I'm not at some kind of practice, I'm either chillin' at home or at my friend Ben's place. He has a huge barn we all hang out at."

"You hang out in a barn? With, like, animals and hay?"

Now, it's my turn to laugh. "No. No animals or hay in their barn. Leighton River is a little more on the higher-end side of things than other towns around here. The Spencer Ranch is the only place I know of that even raises animals in Leighton River."

"Oh, yeah, my aunt told me about TimeLand being headquartered there."

I stop mid-chew with my back stiffening at the mention of TimeLand. Everyone in town knows my dad is listed as one of the creators, so it's common knowledge, but I kind of liked the idea of this girl having no clue who he was.

"What else did she tell you about Leighton River or TimeLand?"

She shrugs. "Nothing really. Just that it's a small town, like Mason Creek, but on the ritzy side."

"Did she know who I was?"

"No, but maybe she knows your parents. She asked me your last name, but I never got it to tell her."

I've never been so happy to have a very common last name. "Jones," I say with ease, knowing there are three other families with the same last name so it won't automatically tie me to my dad or TimeLand.

"Eli Jones, huh?"

"As simple as they come," I tease. "What's your last name?"

"Hernandez," she states.

"So, are you Mexican? I guessed you were Latina of some sort."

"Yep, my mom is white, and my dad is Mexican. My mom has always been jealous of my skin color, compared to her paleness." She holds out her arm to show me.

I hold mine out so our arms are next to each other. Her skin is slightly darker than mine, but my tan is due to from being outside so much.

"Just wait until the end of summer. I'll be tanner than you. Spending all that time on the baseball field, I get tan as hell."

"You must get one hell of a tan line then," she teases.

I raise my eyebrows, nodding my head. "You have no idea. I look like I have a white shirt on compared to my arms. I try to spend my days off at the lake to even it out some."

"I heard there's a lake around here. Tucker has a houseboat there."

"Nice. I take our Jet Skis out sometimes or just chill on the boat. Depends on how exhausted I am from playing."

"Jet Skis? Boat? Your truck?" She tilts her head. "I guess my aunt was right, saying Leighton River was a little ritzier than Mason Creek."

I shrug. "My dad and I like our toys. Work hard, play hard." I wink at her and love the grin I get in return.

Lucy sets the bill down on the table, and I instantly grab it. "Oh, here, I have?—"

Liza reaches for her purse, but I stop her.

"It's okay, I got it. This is our first date. Of course, dinner is on me."

"Please, let me pay half. It's not like you're a full-grown adult with a real job. Wait, do you even have a job with all the sports you play?"

She hands me cash, and I place my hand over hers, feeling her soft skin for the first time.

"It's okay. I appreciate the offer, but I got it."

She nods, then moves her hand from under mine and places the money back in her purse.

"And, yes, I do have a real job, well, kind of."

I place my card on the end of the table for Lucy to come get, which she does in seconds.

"Kind of?" She tilts her head in question.

"I umpire Little League games and give private lessons to some of the kids as well."

I don't tell her that I don't charge the families of those I give lessons to, but she doesn't need to know that part. I am paid for the umpiring at least, so, yes, I do have my own money and don't just leech off my parents' money all the time.

"Do you—what's it called for basketball? Referee for basketball? Or how about kids' football games?"

I shake my head. "No. Just baseball."

"Do you give private lessons in either basketball or football?"

I shake my head again, wondering where she's going with this.

"Well, I think that's three things in the short period of time I've known you that proves you like baseball better than the other two sports."

I pinch my lips together and raise my eyebrows in surprise. People have asked me to ref for basketball, and kids have asked for lessons in how to throw the football better, but I always feel like I don't have the time to do so. I seem to find the time for baseball though.

I nod my head slowly. "You might be onto something there."

Lucy brings the card and receipt back. I sign it, put the card back in my wallet, then motion toward the door.

"Shall we?"

"Thank you for dinner," she says as she slides out of the booth, looking up at me.

We're only inches away from each other, and I swear I've never wanted to kiss someone so bad in my life. The pull between us is strong as we stare at each other this way. I'm a good foot taller than her, but the way I could wrap my hand around her neck and bring her lips to mine is so tempting that I can barely stand it.

Thankfully, she blinks and steps away, breaking the trance I was in, and we head toward the door.

I'm not sure what's happening between us, but I do know I don't want this date to end.

"Want to get some ice cream?" I suggest.

"You can still eat more after all of your food and mine?" She giggles at the thought.

I place my hand on my stomach. "There's always room for ice cream. Come on."

I hold my hand out to her and love that she grabs it without a second thought.

Hand in hand, we walk down the street to Twisted Sisters, which has the best ice cream around.

Once we arrive, I open the door for her, but am sad when she lets go of my hand to enter the building. I instantly want to grab for it again as we look for ice cream, but decide it's probably too soon for that and place my hands in my pockets to keep from doing so.

We both order our ice cream, and she's quick to pull out her wallet. "Please, ice cream is on me."

Seeing the sincerity in her expression, I agree, but don't hesitate to lean in and place a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."

She blushes, and I swear it's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

We take our ice cream outside, and I point toward town square. "Want to just walk around?"

"Sure."

I take the opportunity to hold her hand again as we both lick our ice cream cones and head toward town square.

"I love how close by everything is here," she says. "Stockton was such a big city; you could never do things like this—or rather, you probably wouldn't want to."

"Really?"

She sighs. "Yeah, not the place you want to just stroll around, unless you want to pass the homeless guy sleeping on the sidewalk or have someone asking you for money. I mean, there are some nicer parts, but nothing like this." She takes in a deep inhale. "Nothing that smells this good, this fresh."

"My parents took me to San Francisco a few years back, and I do remember there being this smell that I couldn't put my finger on."

"Oh, yeah, San Francisco is even worse than Stockton."

I nod. "I remember my mom being so sad, seeing how bad it'd gotten. She said she used to love going downtown when they attended Stanford, but then, she didn't even want to get out of the car at one place we planned on going to, so we just left altogether."

"Yep. I don't blame her. Sad really. Stockton isn't as bad, but pretty dang close in some spots."

"Are you glad you moved here?"

She gives me the biggest grin. "So far, yeah."

We finish our ice cream and head back to where my truck is parked. I open the passenger door for her and allow her to walk by. Before she climbs in though, I stop her.

"Hey," I say.

She steps back down where she was about to hop in and turns to face me. "Yeah?"

"I know I'm supposed to wait until the end of the date to say how great this was and ask to see you again, but I don't want to drive home, thinking about what you might say."

She giggles at my words, so I reach out to hold her hand again. We stare at each other for a few seconds, and then I raise my eyebrows in question.

"What?" She laughs.

"I'm waiting for you to answer."

She steps closer to me, a playful grin on her beautiful face. "I'm waiting for you to ask."

I know, originally, I was asking to see her again, but now, I want nothing more than to kiss her.

I close the small gap between us, looking down into her eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

She gives me the slightest nod, and it's all the permission I need to let go of her hand, wrap both my palms around the nape of her neck, and bring her mouth to mine.

When our lips meet for the first time, I swear sparks fly through my body, and when I open my mouth slightly to swipe my tongue with hers, I feel like my heart is exploding—it's pounding so hard.

Even though it kills me to do so, I keep our kiss short and wrap my arms around her, bringing her into my chest, hoping she hears my heart and what she's doing to me.

As I pull back, taking a deep breath, she places her hand on my chest, her silent motion that she heard it pounding as hard as it was. Nothing else is said as she steps inside my truck. Nothing needs to be said. I know she felt it too.

This girl is special, and this is about to be one hell of a summer.