My Guardian Angel

Chapter 8

Tobias pulls up in his truck and I'm about to run out when my dad stops me.

"A real gentleman will come up to the door to get you."

I scowl at my dad, but when I look out the window I see he's already parked and is walking towards the door.

"Hmm, I might really like this guy, Beatrice. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will Dad, stop worrying," I say just as the doorbell rings.

"Worrying about you is my job," he says as he opens the door.

"Hello, sir," Tobias says, unfazed by the fact my dad answered the door.

"I thought I told you that you didn't need to be so formal," my dad says.

"I wasn't trying to be formal, just polite. I need you to like me if there's any hope of Tris liking me. Anyone can see how much she respects you and values your opinion." I'm floored listening to the two of them. I didn't think guys my age actually still spoke like this.

My dad looks at me with his eyebrows raised in shock, apparently he's not use to guys talking like this either. I don't think I've ever seen my father at a loss for words. It takes him a moment to compose himself for a response.

"I'm trying really hard not to like you, but you're making it extremely difficult." He still has a look of disbelief on his face when saying this, despite the joking. "Well, I better get back to work.  Have a good time today." He seems to come back to his senses, "Beatrice, remember what I said."

I give my dad a kiss on the cheek, Tobias shakes his hand and we head to Tobias' truck. He holds the door open for me and I get in.

"You don't have to act like that, you know," I say once he joins me on the other side and he looks hurt for a moment.

"I wasn't trying to act, it was how I was raised. With everything I told you about my dad, do you really think he'd tolerate me behaving otherwise?"

"I'm sorry, I've just never met a guy like you before. I'm not used to it."

"It's not a problem, you'll just have to get used it," he says throwing me a quick smile. I'm glad to see he doesn't appear to be angry with me.

"So where are we going today?" I ask as we head off base.

"I've got a couple things planned for us. If at any point it's something you don't like, just tell me, ok?"

"Yep, though I'm pretty easy going so I'm sure I'll enjoy it. How long till our first stop?"

"Probably about 45 minutes. Nothing is close around here," he says with a chuckle.

"So... Since we have time, you want to get some of the awkward stuff out of the way?" It's weird, it's like I simultaneously know nothing about him, but I know everything about him at the same time which is why I'm ok bringing this up. Though who knows how he feels about it.

"The awkward stuff, huh?"

"Well, I feel close to you because of all of our emails so I don't mind being open with you, but there's some things I'm curious about," I admit shyly. I know it's probably too early to talk about this stuff, but I want him to know how inexperienced I am. I'm scared about rushing things and I feel like he should know that right away, in case he has other expectations.

"Like what?" he grins at me. I'm getting the feeling he knows exactly what I'm talking about, but he's enjoying teasing me. I decide rather than ask him about his past relationships, I'll just tell him about mine.

"I've never really had a boyfriend," I say while staring at my hands, embarrassed. Christina loves to tease me about this. "I moved around a lot during high school, so I had a hard enough time making friends, much less actually getting a boy to like me."

"What about now that you're in college?"

"I just never met anyone that interested me." I wait to see what he's going to say, nervous for a response.

"I've never had a serious girlfriend.  There were a couple of girls I 'dated', but none that actually meant anything to me. My dad wanted me to fit in with the rest of the football team so that often meant going places with a cheerleader at my side."

Seeing him now, I wouldn't picture him as the date-the-cheerleaders type of guy, but obviously he was. It makes me nervous to think that he must have much more experience than I do. I know what the guys on the football team were like, but I'm surprised because he doesn't seem to fit the stereotype. I guess I was wrong. The important thing is to not think about it, he's obviously a different person now from the guy he was 5 years ago.

I don't really have anything to say, so I just nod, anxious to move past this topic. We ride in silence for a few minutes and I feel guilty knowing that I'm the one that started the conversation, though I don't regret bringing it up. It was a discussion that needed to be had and I'm glad it's out of the way.

"You're awfully quiet Tris," he says looking apprehensive.

"I'm just thinking about where we could be going."

"I can tell when you're lying, you know. You can tell me the truth, I swear I'm a nice guy." He looks at me and smiles and I feel like I melt. I decide I should just be honest.

"Fine, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed that you were the stereotypical jock. The whole idea of dating someone is very new to me so I'm not sure why you'd be interested in me when there's other girls out there like the cheerleaders you dated in high school. " He looks a bit confused for a minute, and maybe even a little hurt.

"I don't really know what you think I've done in the past, but this is all new to me too. Any girl I would have been interested in I stayed far away from. I never  would have wanted to drag any decent girl into the life I had at home. Once I came here I was too focused on training to notice anyone. You're the first girl I've ever felt this way about." He takes my hand as he says this, and I squeeze his in return. We sit in silence again, but this time it's a comfortable one and I'm focusing on the feeling of his warm, calloused hand in mine.

"So are we good now, Tris?"

I look up and him and smile, nodding in agreement that we are most definitely good.

"That's good to hear, because we're at our first stop," he says with a big grin on his face. I'm shocked, and pleasantly surprised, to see where he brought me, and I can't help but return his grin.

Paintball