My blood approves

“As I recall, if I hadn’t been around, you would’ve gotten yourself killed.”

He rested his arms on the table, leaning more towards me. “What did you think you were doing anyway? Walking around in a parking garage in the middle of the night?” He trailed off, but there was genuine concern and almost a protective edge to his voice.

“We were trying to get into a club, but my feet were killing me and I just wanted to get home,” I explained. He looked at me for a minute, the serious expression looking out of place on him, and then shook his head and refilled my cup of coffee.

“Well, don’t do that again,” he said finally, and added the cream and sugar to my drink. I noticed that he had yet to touch his own cup, but I decided not to say anything. As it was, I’d probably annoyed him with my game of twenty questions.

“Yes, sir.” I saluted him, and he laughed at me, breaking the uneasy moment of gravity. His laugh was so easy and contagious that I couldn’t help but joining in.

“What club were you trying to get into?” Jack inquired.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. Honestly, I hadn’t even really been paying attention. I just let Jane drag me wherever she wanted to go, and hoped that by the end of the night, I managed to make it home in one piece. “Hey, what were you doing downtown? Clubbing it up?”

“Hardly,” Jack snorted. “I was… getting something to eat.”

“At midnight?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m kind of a night owl.” Time must’ve just occurred to him, because he glanced over at a clock hanging on the wall and exhaled deeply. “It’s getting really late. I should probably get you home.”

“I’m wide awake,” Jane chirped, but unlucky for her, I didn’t feel the same way. Even with the coffee and the adrenaline rush from earlier (or maybe because of that), I suddenly felt very tired. Admittedly, I wanted to continue hanging out with Jack (although, not for the same reasons as everyone else), but my whole body had started to ache, especially my legs and ankles.

“I’m starting to drag.” As if to punctuate the statement, I yawned loudly.

“Yeah, we should get going.” No sooner had the words left Jack’s mouth than the waitress appeared with the check. She smiled coyly at him, making another comment rife with innuendo, which Jack ignored. I made some kind of tired play to pay for the check, but he wouldn’t have any of it. I knew it was only like a three dollar tab, but considering he’d saved my life, it was the least I could do.

When I stood up, my legs fought to give out underneath me, but I managed to stay up on my feet. For a second, though, I thought Jack was going to pick me up and carry me out to the car. Jane must’ve gotten the same idea, because she inserted herself between us so he couldn’t reach for me. I had stabilized myself enough, otherwise he probably would’ve pushed her out of the way. For the first time ever, a guy preferred me to Jane, and I couldn’t help but feel a smug satisfaction about it.

Almost the instant I sat in his car, I fell asleep. I remember a brief discussion about who he was going to take home first, with Jane insisting on me and Jack leaning towards her first. Before I could find out how it turned out, I fell asleep. It was probably for the best because then I got to miss out on Jane’s whining.

I woke up just as Jack pulled up in front of my apartment building. Jane was already gone, so I guess that he had won. I’m not sure how he knew where I lived, but it didn’t seem important then. He got out of the car first so he could open my door and help me out. Sure, I was tired, but more than that, my legs felt stiff and uncooperative. This time, he actually did offer to carry me inside, but I knew how that would look to my mother, who would most likely just be getting off her shift from work.

So I left Jack standing outside the entryway of my brownstone, and I waved forlornly at him. Part of me instantly regretted going inside. We had obviously made some kind of connection, but I would probably never see him again. That definitely made the most sense, considering he was older and everyone randomly seemed to be in love with him except for me, but it still saddened me.

Fortunately, my mom wasn’t home yet so I wouldn’t have to deal with any of her questions, and my younger brother Milo was already asleep in his room.

Painfully, I stripped off the ridiculous short-skirt get up that Jane had dressed me in, and pulled on an oversized tee shirt. I normally would’ve opted for sweats, but my legs felt too sore to push through pant legs. Then I pulled my cell phone out of my skirt pocket with the full intention of plugging it in, but I collapsed onto my bed with my phone in my hand before I had the chance.

Just as I started passing out, I felt the phone vibrate in my hand, startling me awake. I assumed it was Jane, but I knew that I should put it on silent and plug it in so I could sleep undisturbed.

Sweet dreams:) — Jack The text message was from Jack, and I felt my heart beat faster.