“Coming from the king of doing it himself?”
“Laugh it up, Sam. You won’t be able to make those jokes after tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?” She stood up from the bush she was in front of and wiped the dirt from her jeans.
“That was Jen. She’s coming over tomorrow afternoon, and she’s ready.”
“She’s always ready,” Sam quipped, but she didn’t smile. Instead, she turned serious. “You sure she’s not messing with you? She promised you last month, too, remember? Then all of a sudden she needed to do something with her parents.”
“That was different. She told me after that she was just nervous. Nope, tomorrow is the day, Sam.”
“Are you sure you want to with her, Justin? I don’t think she’s really into you.”
“All that matters is I’ll be into her.” I laughed, walked over to the tree on my right and removed a beer bottle that was stuck in a small hole.
“Cute, that’s just the attitude your mother doesn’t want you to have.”
“Don’t give me that crap!” She was getting on my nerves again. “I’ve been with Jen for six months. She does care and she does want to.”
“I’m sure she wants to, Justin. You’re a good-looking guy who treats her better than she deserves. But I don’t think she cares.”
“Of course you don’t. You don’t like her.”
“I don’t think you care that much about her either.”
“What?”
“You like her, but do you love her? Every time you talk about her, it’s about how hot she is, not about how sweet or nice she is. I think you’re just getting horny and don’t want to wait anymore.”
“I care about Jen.” I didn’t say it with as much force as I should have.
I did like Jen. I really liked her, but did I love her? Did I know what love was? Hell, I was eighteen. ‘Really like’ was close enough, and I’d been good long enough. Besides, maybe once we slept together it would take us to that next level.
“I don’t believe you.” Sam picked up a can and tossed it in the bag. Sighing, she walked over to me. “Justin, I know you’re tired of me teasing you, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Sam.” I shrugged. “That’s what friends are for. We tease each other, you make virgin cracks, and I make tomboy jokes.”
“Yeah, but the thing is I admire you for it. I really do.”
“You do?” I raised my eyebrows waiting for the punch line.
“I do. Not so much about the sex, but the fact you made a promise to be a certain type of man, and you are.” She put her hand on my forearm. “Forget about tomorrow. She’s not the one.”
“Oh, come on!” I rolled my eyes. “You know what, Sam? Maybe you’re right that I’m not madly in love, but I do like her and we have been together a while and … Maybe this will bring us closer.”
“You should love the person first.”
“Did you?” I turned it around on her, “Were you in love with that dink, Jack? Were you in love with Derek?”
“No, but I never promised I would wait and …” She shook her head. “I … settled, for both.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If we’re going to talk, I’m getting in the shade.”
Sam sat down under the tree I had pulled the bottle from and I joined her, sitting in front of her.
“Don’t get me wrong, Justin. There was something there. Jack and Derek were both nice to me, but it wasn’t love. But, well, I figured both times, what am I waiting for? A Family Channel romance? Some perfect guy? So I decided to just have some fun. I guess that’s what it was because neither worked out.”