"Okay, then. Right now I feel like being serious. And I'm telling you that I love you."
Whoa. That sure sounded serious. Was I supposed to say it back, or could I have some time to think about this leap in our relationship?
"Will you wear my senior ring?" He took it off and held it out.
"Wow." Hesitating for a moment, I finally nodded and let him slide the heavy ring onto my right ring finger. But the cold chunk of metal felt all wrong. Maybe because I'd imagined this happening with someone else.
His hand cupped the back of my head as he ducked his head to kiss me. But Mrs. Daniels had a strict team policy against public displays of affection at any team or school function. Kissing at this dance was definitely PDA. I leaned away from him.
"Savannah, it's traditional for a couple to kiss after they say I love you." Greg almost sounded angry. I must have bruised his ego. Probably not a good time to point out that I had, in fact, not yet repeated those three little words back to him.
"I know. But Charmers can't have public displays of affection at team or school events," I explained, nervous for the first time in months with him. "I'll get into trouble. It makes the team look bad."
He scowled, his eyes darkening to the color of bittersweet chocolate. "That's a stupid rule."
Actually, I'd always thought it was a good one. But Greg's expression was angry enough as it was; I didn't want to add fuel to the fire by arguing with him. So I didn't reply.
"Maybe you should quit."
My mouth dropped open. Had he really just said that? He knew more than anyone how much I loved being a Charmers manager. I glanced around to see if anyone had overheard him, but everyone seemed lost in their own worlds.
Thankfully the song ended, and so did the dance itself. Time for me to help the other Charmers and cheerleaders clean up. "I have to go. See you in a little while?" He'd driven me to the dance. But if he was too mad, I could grab a ride home with one of the Charmers instead.
He gave a terse nod and stalked off.
Wow. Were all boys this weird when they gave a girl their senior ring? I watched him go for a minute, then shook my head and waded through the exiting crowd toward the concession stand.
By the time the team finished cleaning up the building an hour later, Greg's strange mood still hadn't changed. We drove to my house in silence. I was too tired to think of anything to talk about, and apparently he was still mad about the PDA rule. At my house, he walked me to my front porch.
"Hey, you're not wearing my ring," he said.
Blushing, I searched the pockets of my denim jacket. Wait, this jacket didn't have any pockets. Then I remembered. "Oh, yeah, I put it on my necklace while I was cleaning. It's kind of big for my fingers and I was scared I would lose it." I lifted the chain out of my shirt.
He touched his ring where it lay along with my gold locket on my chest at the top of my cleavage, his knuckles grazing my skin. The intimacy of his touch made me uncomfortable, but I held still for now, waiting to see what he would do. After a long moment, he nodded. "I like it there. Lets everyone see that you're my girl."
I lifted my face for our usual light kiss goodbye, more than ready to end the night, only to find myself trapped within the coil of his arms. His tongue stroked across my lips, making me gasp. We'd never kissed like that. He seemed to take my gasp as an invitation; his tongue slipped inside my mouth then aimed for my throat. He moaned as his hands rubbed my back.
This was supposed to cause all those fireworks and stars I'd read about?
"Savannah," Greg whispered against my lips before he trailed kisses over my cheek and down the side of my neck.
Whoa, too much. I leaned back and tried to ease out of his arms. "Uh, okay, down, boy." I forced a laugh.
He stared at me with intense eyes, his breaths coming out fast and harsh. "I love you, Savannah. When you look at me like that, you make me feel things I've never felt before."
"Uh..." Realizing I was making direct eye contact with him again, I jerked my gaze away. Too much of a good thing there apparently. I'd have to limit his exposure to my gaze again. Thankfully today was a Saturday. He'd recover overnight like those algebra boys had, and be back to normal by Monday. Maybe I should try smaller doses of the direct gaze on him in the future, let him build up a tolerance to it.
"See you Monday." I pasted on a smile as I slipped out of his arms.
But he held on to my hand, stopping me from escaping into the house. "Hey, let's go out tomorrow."
"On a Sunday?" Sundays were strictly for church and family at his house.
But he didn't even hesitate. "Sure. We could go on a picnic."
No way would the gaze-daze effect wear off if he saw me again tomorrow. He needed space and time away from me so he could recover. "Um, I'm sorry, Greg, but I've got stuff to do with my grandma tomorrow." I'd find something to do with Nanna so it wouldn't be a lie. "But I'll see you on Monday, okay?"
"Okay. See you then, Savannah." He stood there staring at me.
Okaaay. I went inside the house with a sigh. Apparently it still wasn't a great idea to make eye contact with a male. Even a really nice one.
CHAPTER 9
Savannah
Unfortunately, Greg was anything but back to normal by lunchtime on Monday when I joined him and his friends at their table.
"You ready to go grab some lunch?" Greg said, already getting up from his chair, not a smile in sight on his face.
Feeling nauseous, I shook my head. I was anything but hungry today.
He frowned, his eyes growing even darker and more intense. "You really need to eat, Savannah. I'll get you something." He took off at a jog for the food line.
"Hey, guys, does Greg seem different today?" I asked his friends.
"Now that you mention it, yeah," Mark said before taking a large bite of his nachos. "I think it's cuz he's in l-o-v-e."
"Dude," Peter punched his arm. "You're not supposed to reveal a dude's secrets like that, man."
I gave a half smile. "It's okay, he already said the big three words at the homecoming dance this weekend."
Peter looked relieved. "Figures. The guy's been talking about you nonstop ever since."
"Is that...normal for him?"
"No. Not that he hasn't talked about you before. But this is something else. The dude woke me up at two in the morning after the dance, calling me to rave on and on about your eyes."