I am SO glad so many of you loved the first date last chapter. I was nervous since there was so much build up to it. I haven't had five seconds to respond to your reviews, but please know I read each and everyone of them and appreciate them all so much! I'll reply as soon as possible, promise!
This chapter is based on one of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs, "You Scare Me." I think it's pretty appropriate.
THINGS I OWN: Contact Lenses! I can see without my glasses! THINGS I DON'T OWN: Hart of Dixie
Zoe groaned and reached for the alarm clock. Instead of landing on the offending source of noise, her hand landed on Wade who was already moving to hit the snooze button.
"Turn it off," she mumbled. Moments later, the sound stopped. Wade rolled over and wrapped his arm around Zoe.
"Mornin,'" he mumbled.
"Hmm," Zoe replied. He chuckled, his eyes closed, face buried in the hair spread across her pillow. "How'd I end up here last night?" she asked.
"You fell asleep watchin' the third movie," he reminded her. "You looked so peaceful sleepin' that I didn't have the heart to wake you up and send you back across the yard."
"I don't mind," Zoe said, closing her eyes to drift back off to sleep.
"Me neither," Wade said. He kissed her shoulder then begrudgingly pulled himself out of bed.
"Where are you going?" Zoe asked, her eyes closed.
"I'm openin' the Rammer Jammer," he reminded her, buttoning his jeans. "Some people don't eat their breakfast in the Mayor's kitchen every mornin.'"
"But it's so early," Zoe moaned, blinking her eyes back open and rolling over so she could see him. "And it's Saturday." Wade pulled a shirt on and sat down on the edge of the bed to pull on his boots.
"You can sleep as long as you want," Wade said, slightly amused.
"I will," Zoe promised. Wade laughed and laid down beside her, looking at the clock to calculate how many more minutes he could squeeze out before he had to leave. His answer was not many. He smoothed his hand over Zoe's hair.
"We still on for tonight?" he asked. Zoe nodded.
"Mobile, a move in a real theater and a restaurant that doesn't have grits on the menu? I've been looking forward to this all week." Wade chuckled.
"I've really got to go," he said. Zoe could hear the longing in his voice. He kissed her quickly then sat up. With a groan, Zoe pushed herself into a sitting position as Wade stood to leave. "Stay put," he told her. "Sleep as long as you want."
"Oh I plan to," Zoe confirmed. "I just thought I'd kiss you goodbye properly." With that, she pulled him back to her and gave him a long, slow kiss that he was sure to remember hours later. He pulled away, grinned at her, then kissed her one more time. "See you this evening," she told him.
"See you this evenin,'" he repeated. He turned for one last look at her before he walked out the door. She had already pulled the covers over her head and was undoubtedly already halfway back to sleep.
He used the time it took him to drive to the Rammer Jammer to think. It had been two weeks since their first official date. He'd taken her out a couple more times and she had surprised him with dinner a few evenings ago. It had been the best Chinese takeout he'd ever eaten, sitting on her porch and watching the soft rain fall in the abnormally warm, even for Alabama, winter air. And those were just their dates. They were still eating meals together at Lavon's. Zoe was still stopping by the Rammer Jammer for lunch or an after work drink. And he was still making any excuse he could come up with to drop in on her, say hello. She had taken to doing the same which is how she'd ended up on his couch watching movies the night before.
He didn't know what it all meant. He knew what he wanted it to mean. He wanted it to mean that Zoe was his girlfriend and that he could introduce her as such. He wanted the relationship he swore he'd never find himself involved in. But he didn't know if she wanted it too. He thought she did, but his track record with women was null and void and he could be reading things all wrong.
All he had to do was talk to her about it. That's what most people did. They said 'Hey, do you want to be my girlfriend?' and then the girl said yes or no and the pair went from there. But he was bad at talking about serious things and talking about their relationship meant a couple of things. It meant they would define whatever they were which had the potential to change everything. It also meant that, sooner or later, they would have to talk about when Zoe's time in Bluebell was up. That was something he didn't like to think about.
He parked in his usual spot and found the Rammer Jammer already unlocked, his line cook, Jim, inside warming up the grill. He said a quick hello then went through the motions of getting the Rammer Jammer ready for the breakfast crowd, putting on several pots of coffee and raising the blinds. By the time he unlocked the front door to let in Rick Davenport and Martin Eisenhower who were always waiting by the door on Saturday mornings to talk sports over coffee and a hot breakfast, bacon was sizzling on the grill and the local news was replaying highlights of the high school's basketball game from the night before.
"Woo, those boys got their hind ends kicked!" Martin stated as he removed his hat and took a seat near one of the big screen TVs.
"Yes sir," Wade agreed. "Old man Jacobs is gonna have to pull that team together if he wants to keep his job."
"You dern right," Rick agreed. "He lost all but 7 games last year."
"7? I thought it was 5?" Martin said.
"No, no, it was definitely 7. The beat Red Hill Academy in overtime, remember?"
Wade left them to argue and went to fix himself a cup of coffee. He slipped into his office for a couple hours to catch up on paperwork and by 8:00, knew the place would be busy enough to use his assistance. He was topping off Mr. and Mrs. Palmer's coffee when George walked in and took a seat at the bar. Wade made his way over to him, picking up a coffee mug in route. He sat it down in front of George and poured him a mug.
"What'll it be this mornin'?" Wade asked.
"Biscuits and gravy but I already shouted my order back to Jim," George answered. He poured some milk into his coffee. "I actually stopped by to ask you something."
"Need me to talk you out of marryin' Lemon?" Wade asked. "Hope you got all day, 'cause that's 'bout how long I'm gonna need to give you my list of well-thought out reasons. But we'll have to wrap it up by 4:00. Got a date with Zoe tonight and I'll need to freshen up a bit before I pick her up." George shook his head.
"No, I don't need you to talk me out of marrying Lemon," he said.
"The offer's on the table," Wade said with a good natured shrug. George knew he was only kidding. He liked to rib the lawyer about being tied to Lemon, but the two were about as well-matched for one another as they could be. Besides, Lemon wasn't all that awful when she let herself take a break from her high horse.
"What I needed to ask you is, well, I was kind of hoping you'd be my best man at the wedding in June," George said. Wade looked at him.
"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself. The role of best man usually went to the groom's closest friend and Wade was sure he wasn't George's. Although, he realized, he didn't really know of many other friends George had outside of their high school buddies they still had a beer with on occasion.
"Yeah, I mean, you're my oldest friend and all. I know we've kind of had our own lives going on, but I still consider you one of my best friends. It'd mean a lot if you stood up next to me when I marry Lemon." Wade grinned.
"I'd be honored to," he said seriously. He offered his hand and the two men shook.
"Thanks," George said, looking relieved. "That was harder than asking Lemon to marry me." Wade chuckled. Then he raised an eyebrow.
"Speaking of Miss High Maintenance, how much does the Best Man have to deal with her?" he asked.
"Just don't complain about the tux, lie convincingly about the bachelor party, and show up to the rehearsal dinner and ceremony on time," George advised. "You do those things, you'll save yourself, me, and everybody within a five mile radius a lot of trouble."
"I reckon I can handle that," Wade said. The cook brought George his plate personally and George dug in.
"This is probably one of my favorite dishes y'all have," he said between mouthfuls.
"That gravy's hard to beat," Wade agreed. He excused himself to go help the waitress out by topping off coffee around the mostly full bar. When he made his way back around to George, he'd nearly cleared his plate and had ordered a side of bacon. "Better watch that waistline," Wade said seriously. "Don't want to risk not fittin' into you penguin suit."
"Things seem like they're getting serious between you and Zoe," George replied, opting to keep ignore Wade's comment.
"I reckon they're headin' that way." Wade picked up a rag and wiped off the counter a few seats down from George where a man had just left.
"So y'all haven't had the relationship talk yet?"
"Lemon put you up to this?" Wade countered.
"Surprisingly no although don't doubt for a minute that she's dying to know any and all details surrounding you and Zoe. I do know that your sister called her the other night to see if Lemon knew anything about the pair of you."
"It's a damn shame you don't lose your right to gossip about Bluebell citizens when you leave Bluebell," Wade commented. George nodded his head in agreement, he himself having been the gossip of choice a time or two when he'd both left for and returned from New York.
"Seriously though, is she your girlfriend or what?" George asked.
"I don't know," Wade admitted. George and Lavon were the only two people in Bluebell he could see himself discussing this with and seeing as George was the one getting married, he was likely the better choice. "We've been on several dates, spend at least some time together most every day. I'm tryin' to do this right so I guess I need to just talk to her about it, but, well, I need to grow a pair first, to be honest." George laughed.
"Just suck it up and ask her to be your girlfriend," he said. "And one more piece of advice? Be honest with her."
"Don't go there," Wade warned.
"I'm just saying that you need to be honest with her before it's too late," George said, holding his hands up in a sign of peace. "I know you think we'll sign some papers, pay some fees, and it'll all be dead and buried but stuff has a funny way of coming back to bite you in the ass. Especially around here." Wade opened his mouth to reply, but Lemon burst through the door, a woman on a mission.
"George! There you are! We're supposed to meet our wedding planner in 10 minutes! Come on, now!" George was left with no choice but to gulp down the last of his coffee and wrap up his remaining bacon in a napkin to go. "Good morning, Wade!" Lemon said in her fake singsong voice that told Wade that despite her rush, she wasn't going to let the chance to grill him pass her by. "I hear you're going to be George's Best Man. Assuming you said yes, of course."
"I am," Wade confirmed, already wondering how he'd been convinced to be a part of the production that was the Breeland-Tucker wedding. "Can hardly wait."
"Well I am just so excited!" Lemon continued. "You and George have been friends forever. It'll be just like old times! And if things keep going well with you and Zoe, maybe he can return the favor one day." And there it was, Wade thought.
"Uh, Lemon? We've got linens to pick out," George said, saving Wade from the badgering Lemon was preparing to give. "Wade, put this on my tab." Wade nodded in agreement, a half a smirk on his face as he watched George turn the high strung blond towards the door.
"Yes, we do," Lemon agreed, giving Wade a wistful look that told him she wasn't done with him by any means. "I'll be seeing you later then, Wade."
"Think about what I said," George said to Wade. He then turned and linked arms with Lemon, leading her out of the Rammer Jammer. Wade cleared George's plates and wiped up the counter. George had given him one more thing to think about – the same thing he liked to tuck away and pretend didn't exist.
Zoe shook her head in amusement as she read over the newest edition of Bluebell's weekly newspaper. It was six pages of riveting stories like a progress report on the rebuilding of the covered bridge and the most recent weather predictions by J.J. Reynolds, a local cotton farmer who based his predictions solely on old wives tales and apparently was taken seriously by all of Bluebell. She popped a forkful of eggs into her mouth and turned the page just as Lavon entered the kitchen.
"Someone had a sleepover," Zoe stated as he lumbered in wearing what she recognized as the same clothes he had on yesterday.
"I'm willing to bet you did too," Lavon said, raising his eyebrow.
"We're both adults, no need to explain anything," Zoe said with a shrug of her shoulder. Lavon chuckled. "What are you doing back here so early?"
"Didi took off to Mobile with some new friend she made to do some shopping," Lavon answered. He helped himself to the eggs left in the frying pan. "Why are you up so early?"
"Wade's stupid alarm woke me up," she said. "I had every intention of sleeping until noon."
"Which confirms the sleepover," Lavon said. Zoe gave him a look as he sat down across from her. "Things going well, I assume?" Zoe finished chewing her eggs before she answered.
"They seem to be," she said.
"Seem to be?" Lavon pressed. Zoe sighed. She'd talked about this some with Gigi, but she considered Lavon as another best friend. She knew he was also one of Wade's best friends, but surely she could trust him enough to keep her confidences.
"This stays between us?" she asked.
"Mayor-resident confidentiality," Lavon confirmed. Zoe refrained from rolling her eyes and drew in a breath.
"Okay. Things are going well. The first date? Amazing. The dates after that? Also amazing. Wade? He's pretty much amazing too. But what are we? Are we dating? Are we a couple? Are we friends? We can't be friends. We're more than friends. We have to be more than friends. So what are? And how do I find out? Do I just, like, change my Facebook status and hope he changes his too? Or do I wait for him to bring it up? Or do I…?"
"Stop talking!" Lavon said, cutting Zoe off. He knew her well enough by now to know he had to cut her off or he'd still be sitting there listening to her go on and on an hour later.
"Stopping talking," Zoe said. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly. "Okay. So, what do I do?"
"Well, first you let Lavon Hayes decide who's worse at this relationship stuff – you or Wade," Lavon said. Zoe scoffed, making him laugh. "No, really. Wade sat here and fretted over your first date like he was about to give a testimony that determined if he lived or died. Now you're sitting here, pondering the status of your relationship so hard they ought to replace that Thinking Man statue's face with yours."
"We're bad at relationships. I get it. Give me some advice already," Zoe stated, smacking the countertop to emphasis her point.
"How about you ask Wade about it?" Lavon asked. "Next time the two of you are sitting around watching TV or eating breakfast just say 'Hey, Wade? What are we?' And then see what he says." Zoe played with her fork.
"But what if he says we're just friends?" Zoe asked, voicing her fears. It was Lavon's turn to scoff.
"If you think the two of you are just friends, you best be taking yourself on back to New York to see one of those doctor friends of yours, one that specializes in messed up heads," he told Zoe. "The two of you ain't been friends for a good while."
"I really like him," Zoe admitted. "More than I've ever liked anyone." Lavon strongly suspected there was more than a little bit of 'like' going on, but he didn't say so. Zoe was already worried enough about her relationship status without him asking her just how deep her feelings went.
"Just talk to the boy, Zoe," Lavon said again. He finished off his eggs and put his dishes in the dishwasher. "And now, I'm going to shower and make myself presentable for the rest of my day." Zoe rolled her eyes as Lavon left the kitchen.
Talk to Wade. She could do that. She talked to Wade all the time. They could have that conversation, decide where their relationship was heading. They were adults and it was the adult thing to do. She nodded once, firm on her decision to talk to Wade, then picked up the paper and continued reading J.J.'s weather predictions and planning her wardrobe accordingly.
"That was the most terrifying movie I have ever seen," Zoe stated, her heart rate still straggling back towards normal.
"Oh it won't that scary," Wade said with a grin. He pushed the theater's door open and held it for Zoe.
"I'm going to have nightmares," she informed him. Wade slipped an arm around her and pulled her to him.
"Ain't like you watched much of the movie," he muttered in her ear. "You was too busy tryin' to all but sit in my lap and hide your face in my shirt."
"Which probably played a big part in why you chose that movie," Zoe told him, giving him a suspicious look. Wade laughed.
"Might have," he admitted. "That and I really didn't want to see some girly chick flick."
"I pick the next movie," Zoe said. "And the next – a lot after that."
"Deal," Wade said. He leaned in to kiss Zoe. He'd developed a real problem with keeping his hands off of her lately and often had to remind himself he was taking things slow, force himself to pull away so he didn't push too far. "You wanna get some hot chocolate or somethin' before we head back to Bluebell?" Zoe nodded and the pair set off down the sidewalk hand in hand. Zoe took a deep breath. Now seemed as good of time as any to have the conversation they needed to have.
"So, um, we should probably, you know, talk about what this is with us," she said, stumbling over her words. She felt Wade's hand tense in hers briefly.
"Uh, yeah," he agreed. "We probably should."
"So…," Zoe ventured.
"So…," Wade echoed. Zoe sighed.
"We're bad at this," she stated. "The talking thing, not the dating thing, I mean. We're good at the dating thing. At least I think we are. I don't have a lot of experience to judge by, but it seems like we're good at it." Wade stopped walking and turned to face Zoe, her hand still in his.
"We're good at this datin' thing," he confirmed. "At least for two people that ain't really done it before. And as for what this thing with us is…"
"Wade!" Wade jerked his head around at the sound of his name. He knew that voice.
"You have got to be kiddin' me," he mumbled. Zoe looked in the same direction, slightly annoyed at the interruption.
"Isn't that your sister?" she asked, recognizing the blond woman heading in their direction, her husband in tow.
"Yep," Wade confirmed. "I'll go ahead and apologize now for anything she might end up sayin.'" He kept a hold of Zoe's hand and turned to wait for Meredith and Eric to reach them.
"Hey little brother!" Meredith said excitedly. She looked like Christmas had come all over again. She reached to hug Wade who gave her a half-hearted, one armed hug, still keeping Zoe's hand in his. He wasn't about to feed her to the metaphorical sharks.
"Hey, Sis," he replied. "Eric, hey." He shook Eric's hand.
"Wade, good to see you," Eric replied.
"Y'all remember Zoe," Wade said, releasing Zoe's hand only to move closer to her and put his hand protectively on the small of her back.
"Of course!" Meredith said, giving Zoe a positively dazzling smile. Zoe could especially see the resemblance between brother and sister.
"It's nice to see you again," Zoe said politely, holding out her hand. Meredith bypassed it and hugged Zoe instead. Zoe took it in stride though Wade shifted uncomfortable. This was not what he planned on happening. He was about to ask Zoe to be his girlfriend. With luck, she'd have said yes and they'd get some hot chocolate and stroll around downtown Mobile before heading home. Instead, he was trying not to glare at his sister while Eric greeted Zoe with a polite hello and shook her hand.
"What brings y'all up to Mobile?" Meredith asked.
"Dinner and a movie," Wade answered. "What about the two of you? Where's the kids?"
"They're staying with Eric's parents tonight so we could have a date night," Meredith answered. "I wish I'd have known the two of you were coming up. We could have had dinner together. I'd have loved to have spent some time with the pair of you."
"I'm sure you would have," Wade answered.
"Well what are the two of you up to now?" Eric asked. "We could grab a nightcap."
"Oh, well, we were gonna go get hot chocolate then head back to Bluebell," Wade answered quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was subject Zoe to his sister longer than he had to.
"Oh come on, a nice glass of wine beats a mug of hot chocolate any day," Meredith said. "There's a great little bar right up the street. Who knows the next time I'll see you two, seeing as my brother isn't big on visiting his big sister?"
"I think a glass of wine sounds great," Zoe said. She squeezed Wade's hand by way of letting him know it was okay. She heard him sigh in defeat before he agreed and the two couples headed down the street. Meredith wasted no time in securing them a table and ordering a bottle of wine for the table. Wade rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance and tried to hide it for Zoe's benefit.
"Dr. Hart…"
"Please, call me Zoe," Zoe interrupted. She realized the change in herself almost as soon as the words left her mouth. In New York, she was always 'Dr. Hart' unless she was with family or her closest friends. Here, in Nowhere, Alabama, she was just Zoe unless she was in her office. And she had to admit, she kind of liked being 'just Zoe' when she wasn't working.
"Zoe," Meredith said as though she were trying out the name. "So, you've been in Bluebell for a while now, right? What do think of it?" They paused for their waitress to fill their glasses and offer them an appetizer which they declined.
"It's different," Zoe said. "It's quiet, small. Everyone knows absolutely everything about everyone else. And they base their weather predictions on a farmer."
"J.J. Reynolds," Meredith said. "His methods might be old fashioned, but he's strangely almost always right."
"Well if that's the case I reckon there's going to be a run on bread and milk next week," Eric commented. Wade grinned a little.
"Bluebell is growing on me though," Zoe continued. "Weird Dixie Christmas decorations, pet alligators and all." She glanced over at Wade. "And the people are kind of growing on me too," she added. Under the table, Wade's hand landed on her knee and squeezed it gently.
"Or my brother is growing on you," Meredith said knowingly. Wade gave her a warning look.
"How are Mac and Jake?" he asked, effectively changing the topic for a while as Eric and Meredith shared the latest stories about their kids and took turns showing Zoe and Wade photos and videos of them on their iPhones. Wade was looking for an opening to get him and Zoe out of there – though Zoe seemed perfectly content to sit and talk all night – when the subject shifted back to them.
"So how are things with the two of you?" Meredith asked. "My own observations plus my intelligence from Bluebell tells me it's getting serious." Wade had been waiting for her to bring up the status of his relationship, but he was no less caught off guard. He glanced at Zoe for direction and was met with her eyes looking at him for the same. He felt it was his place to speak for them. He sent up a prayer that he didn't say the wrong thing and end up scaring Zoe off.
"Well… We're um… You know…" He fell over his words, searching for the right thing to say.
"We're dating," Zoe answered smoothly. She put her hand over Wade's which was still resting on her knee and gave it a squeeze, hoping he'd understand that she was okay with giving Meredith that answer. At least for the moment, that was the truth. She felt Wade's hand turn over and lace his fingers through hers. He returned her squeeze in what had become their own private way of communicating.
"Well I think my brother picked a winner," Meredith said, raising her wine glass slightly to Zoe before finishing off the red liquid inside. Zoe smiled at her and picked up her own glass. She was feeling pretty confident that she'd picked a winner herself.
"I'm sorry about Meredith," Wade said for the twentieth time since they'd parted ways with Meredith and Eric. They were in Wade's car, heading back to Bluebell.
"It really is fine," Zoe said, also for the twentieth time. "I told you, I like Meredith. "
"Still, she kinda ruined the night." Zoe shook her head.
"It wasn't ruined," she said. "We had a great dinner, the movie, although terrifying, had its merits though none of them resided in the cinematic quality of the film, and we capped off the night with a good glass of wine and decent conversation. And besides, I was with you." Wade glanced over at her as he took the exit to the highway that would lead them into Bluebell.
"You do have a point," he conceded, thinking as long as he was with her, it really couldn't have been a bad night. Zoe leaned forward and turned his radio on, fiddling with the tuner until she found a country station that came in clearly. She kept the volume low and settled back into her seat. Wade grinned to himself as he drove down the quiet road. It was a mark of how much he cared about Zoe that he let her mess with his radio dial.
It was late, the highway quiet, no cars passing them in the opposite direction. Zoe kept him entertained with her commentary of the movie they'd seen, questioning just how much of it was based on actual events and debating out loud whether or not she believed in possessions and exorcisms. Wade let her talk, interjecting when he needed to and keeping a smirk on his face. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to convince herself it was just a movie, a fact made harder by the 'based on true events' tagline the movie carried.
"Zoe, come on," he said with an amused chuckle as he glanced over at her. "It was just a…" A deer darted across their path. With a string of curse words, Wade slammed on the brakes and instinctively threw his arm across Zoe to pin her to her seat. The Camaro skidded to a stop in the road and the deer ran off, leaving both herself and the car unharmed.
"Oh my God," Zoe exclaimed, her hand over her chest.
"Are you okay?" Wade asked, undoing his seatbelt and turning so he was facing her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Zoe said, even as she rubbed her shoulder where the seat belt strap had restrained her. "Are you?"
"I'm fine," he confirmed. "You sure you're okay? That thing came out of nowhere."
"I'm sure," Zoe said. She looked out the window. "Look," she said, pointing into the field on the side of the road. "There are a bunch of them." Wade looked past her to see a fairly large herd of deer grazing in the moonlight, oblivious that one of their counterparts had nearly caused disaster.
"Huntin' season just ended," he said. "They're startin' to move a little more, 'specially this late at night. We'll drive a little slower the rest of the way home." He settled back into his seat and clicked his seatbelt back in place. He kept the car just under the speed limit and twenty minutes later, he was rolling to a stop in front of Zoe's. He followed her up her porch stairs and stopped at her door, the way he always did when he dropped her off after a date. She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I was thinking," she ventured. "Maybe you should stay here tonight." Wade raised an eyebrow.
"Wouldn't have anything to do with that movie we seen, would it?"
"Maybe a little," Zoe confessed. "Plus it gets chilly at night and you know, body heat and stuff."
"You could always turn on your space heater," Wade said, even as he reached to open her door.
"Doesn't seem to quite do the trick," she replied. It was chilly out, the unseasonably warm temperatures from the first part of the week seemingly replaced by unseasonably cold ones for the weekend. J. J. Reynold's had said that would happen in the last edition of the paper. Once inside, he could feel Zoe's house was definitely on the cool side. He had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't entirely sure how to use her heater.
"You know what? I'm gonna start a small fire in the fireplace, knock the chill off. Me and Lavon checked the flue the other day and its clear, shouldn't be a problem to get one started with the kindlin' and wood out by the toolshed. It'll knock the chill off then burn out while we sleep."
"I'm not entirely sure what kindling is, but by all means, knock the chill off," Zoe told him. "I'm going to change and get ready for bed." She disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Wade went back outside, first stopping by his house and fishing out one of the few pairs of pajama pants he owned, figuring if he was taking things slow, it'd be best to dress appropriately. Between wearing them while he'd been sick before Christmas and then the last couple of nights with Zoe, they'd gotten more wear in the last month than they had in the last year or so. By the time Zoe returned, he had the first flames of a fire crackling in the fireplace.
"That should catch and warm this place right up," he said. He played with the dials on the space heater, his suspicions that Zoe didn't know how to use it confirmed, then turned to her. He let out a low whistle. "You look incredible." Zoe raised an eyebrow.
"I'm wearing leggings, a gigantic sweatshirt, and socks," she said. Her hair, which had been pinned up in a hairstyle that looked a lot simpler than it was, hung in loose waves around her shoulders and all traces of her makeup had been washed from her face. "I dressed for warmth, not sex appeal."
"You look beautiful," Wade said again. "You always do, but this is the look I like the most. When you're just you, none of that makeup and hair products and sky high heels." Zoe crossed her arms and shook her head. Wade always took her by surprise with his honesty, the way he could make a few simple words say so much.
"Come on," she said, motioning for him to follow her to bed. He removed his shirt before he joined her under the covers. Zoe turned the bedside lamp off and darkness fell, the flames from the fire providing a soft glow. She laid her head on Wade's chest. He sighed contently and started playing with her hair.
"You know, we were 'bout to have a kinda important conversation before my sister showed up," he said. Now that the topic had come up, he knew he'd never be able to sleep until they'd hashed things out.
"We were," Zoe agreed. She propped herself up on her elbow. "You said we were good at this dating thing and were about to say something about this 'thing' between us when Meredith interrupted." Wade took a deep breath and pushed himself up on to his elbow so he was face to face with Zoe.
"Well," he said, "I was gonna say that this thing between us… It's a good thing. A real good thing. And you know, when Meredith asked about, well, us, I really wanted to tell her you're my girlfriend. So I guess what I'm tryin' to say here is that I'd like for you to be… my girlfriend. If you want to be and all." Zoe couldn't help but smile as Wade fell over his words.
"Does that mean you'd be my boyfriend?" she asked.
"That's generally how these things work," he confirmed.
"I like how that sounds," she said. "So, we're doing this? Us, me and you, a real relationship?" Wade nodded and slid closer. He rested his hand on her hip.
"I ain't done this in a real long time," he told her. "And if I'm bein' honest, it scares the hell out of me. But, well, the thought of losing you scares me even more. You might have to be patient with me sometimes, but I'm gonna do my best to be okay at this." For the second time in less than 10 minutes, Zoe swooned at Wade's words.
"I'm not all that good at it either," she told him. "So that patience thing? It's gonna have to go both ways."
"Deal," Wade said, nodding in agreement. They looked at each other for several long moments, both processing what happened. Zoe was the first to break into a smile.
"I have a boyfriend," she stated.
"You do," Wade confirmed. He kissed her then reached for his phone he'd dropped on the nightstand.
"What are you doing?" Zoe asked, returning to her previous position on his chest.
"Updatin' my relationship status on Facebook," he answered. "The town's gonna be talkin' anyway, may as well get 'em started early." Zoe laughed and rolled away from him to retrieve her own phone and confirm that she was, indeed, in a relationship with one Wade Kinsella. She was sure she'd be able to hear Gigi's incredulous shriek of excitement all the way from New York.
I've lived out that deer scenario many times in my hometown. Not cool, Bambi, not cool. Everyone I know throws their arm out over the passenger seat. I do it too - but instead of bracing to hit a deer, it's usually to brace from hitting the car in front of me. Nashville drivers, I tell ya...
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