Hye guys! Enjoy the chapter! I worked uber hard on this one since I appreciated all the amazing comments and pleading for me to upload :)
~~Infatuated
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Outside for September in Colorado was actually surprisingly warm, not the normal chilly weather that Coloradians normally had to suffer through. A soft wind blew as Garrett opened up the door for me and I slipped in, grateful that the breeze hadn't flipped my dress over. He came over to the other side once I was situated and hopped in, easily turn on the soft, purring engine.
"Um Garrett?" I asked once we were going down the highway.
"Yeah?" He replied, looking at me for a brief second before focusing back on the road.
"I hope you do know that people seeing us together will raise suspicion. I mean, especially if any of your students get the wrong idea."
"Wrong idea?" Garrett's eyebrow quirked as he grinned.
I blushed, not wanting to say the exact words. "You know, that we're, um, well you know, um, dating. It is illegal and you could go to jail."
His grin turned to a small grimace as he turned around a corner in ease. "Don't worry, if my parents don't convince them otherwise, they can always pay them."
There we go again.
Swallowing nervously, I muttered, "You heard Toben and my conversation, didn't you."
He frowned as we abruptly stopped at a red light. "What conversation? What did I miss? Don't tell me Toben went on another fashion rant. Those things get so darn annoying sometimes."
His tone seemed genuine enough that I relaxed back into the leather seat. "Oh it was no big deal, just some aimless chit chat. Nothing to worry about."
"To answer your earlier question, we will be going to a restaurant pretty far away so that you don't have to worry about us getting in trouble. Also, paparazzi currently think I'm in Italy for a short break so it's not necessary to worry about that either. I am a good planner. Plus, it's not illegal. You're an adult. It's technically not but the whole moral thing with the student teacher relationship is still rather forbidden."
"Ah, okay."
We fell at a loss for words, though the silence wasn't awkward, just quiet.
Thrity minutes later, we pulled into an empty parking space in front of an expensive looking Greek restaurant called Constantine's.
Garrett put out his elbow for me and I took it graciously, teetering in my heels as we made out way up the wooden steps. The air conditioning blew in my face as we entered the building and were greeted with two hostesses.
"Do you have reservation tonight sir?" One of them with a daringly low neckline asked, smiling sweetly up at him. I couldn't help but eyeroll at her comment. How cliche could that get? Hot hostess flirts with hot guy, while rather plain date waits awkwardly.
Garrett cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, under the name Garry please."
I shot him a surprised look and he just silently shook his head, leading me to a corner table that was lit with old-fashioned oil lamps and grape colored wicker candles.
"Enjoy your meal." She muttered in a sticky sweet voice before departing with a couple of hip sways.
"How pathetic does that get?" Garrett asked, disgust clear in his voice.
I raised my eyebrows at him as I spread out my napkin. "Don't guys just dig the whole willing sexy female look?"
Garrett gave me a strange look before browsing over his menu. "I don't know what male company you've been in Kirsten, but the guys I know don't exactly appreciate girls that will bend over backwards figuratively, or forwards for that matter, if you know what I mean. I mean the view can sometimes be rather not, but guys like their girl a little more conservative. Especially for a guy who looks like me."
I snorted and rolled my eyes as Garrett gave me a smirk.
"Right," I muttered dryly. "It's not like many guys look as devilishly handsome as you do."
The second I said that I wanted to take it back.
"Was that suppose to be sarcasm there?"
"Um, yeah, um, couldn't you tell silly?" I said with a nervous smile on my face.
"Yes I could tell.... that you were not being sarcastic.... and that you're currently trying to hide your blush and lie to me."
I gave him a glare. "Jerk."
"Don't even go down the name calling lane." He teased, gently bumping his foot with mine under the table. "For once, I will take your innocent comment back there as a compliment and will try to supress my ego."
Surprised, I looked into Garrett's eyes. Today, unlike many others, he looked nice, kind, more like the old Garrett that Toben had talked about. He appeared more relaxed and mature, acting more like his age. I could feel myself leaning forward, not breaking my eye contact, but then I felt something slightly gooey under my elbow.
Just then a person cleared his throat from above, saving me from another immenent embarressment.
********************
"Hi! My name is Harrison and I will be taking care of y'all tonight. Can I start you two with something to drink?"
I tried not to grimace as I realized my elbow had now found a new home in a pile of cold butter. Trying to gingerly remove it, I hastily wiped off the oily mess on my napkin in my lap before looking up with a sheepish smile, hoping no one had spotted my blundering error.
For some reason, the waiter that was currently smiling down at me looked very familiar but as he began talking about the appetizer specials, I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen him before. He had curly brown hair, was around 6' 2", and had familiar hazel eyes that seemed to strike a chord in my memory.
"Um excuse me miss?" He asked, a pleasant smile on his face. "What would you like to drink tonight?"
I blushed as Garrett looked at me then at the waiter, then back at me, before scowling a bit. "Um, I'll just take water, thanks."
The waiter shot me another smile before turning to Garrett and muttering, "I will be right back with your waters. In the meantime, enjoy the bread and choose an appetizer. The mozerella cheese sticks are actually just fresh out of the oven."
As he walked away, I stared openly at his backside, trying to figure out where I recognized him. The lack of knowledge was starting to irk me.
"So, how are you Kirsten?" Garrett asked pleasantly, cutting the loaf of bread into smaller sections. I shifted a bit uncomfortably in my seat, swiftly hiding the small tin of butter to the side, as the waiter disappeared into the back of my mind and the thoughts of Garrett's past romances resurfaced. Before answering, I took the time as he concentrated on cutting the bread to stare at him, trying to figure out my feelings for him and his possible feelings for me.
From what I felt in my heart was that I was starting to really appreciated the man across from me. From his good looks to his kind heart, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him except for his jealous attitude and horrible fortune with women. And the fact that he could a bossy jerks at moments when he was grumpy.
Who was I kidding? I never imagined that I could have feeling for a person like Garrett, but ever since the funeral and I first met him, I felt a fairytale spark between the two of us, as cheesy as it seems.
Then there was the issue with Garrett and whether or not he liked me in the way I liked him. At one moment he was gentle and kind with me but at the next he was the guy that shielded his emotions with sarcastic jokes and lame catch phrases. On a more technical note, he was my teacher. Though I was of legal age, I didn't know if I wanted to have a relationship with a superior leveled guy that may not even share the same feelings.
I groaned, burrowing my head into my hands and thought, "I wish I could crawl into a hole and just hiberate."
"That bad, eh?" Garrett asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.
"What?"
"Are you really not happy to be on this da- dinner with me and would rather hiberate in a hole?"
I looked at him with mild horror. "Oh god no, Garrett. I'm just um.. you know... really tired. Cooking takes a lot out of me."
He didn't look convinced but just then, our waiter reappeared with our water and a plate of steaming golden mozerella sticks. "On the house for the couple." He said with a smile, gently placing the hot plate between us. We sat there awkwardly, neither of us mentioning anything about the fact that we weren't really actually dating until the waiter muttered... "So are you ready to order?"
Garrett looked up at me and I nodded affirmitively. "I'll take the Greek Pasta with extra olives please." I said, handing him the menu which gave me an excuse to look closer at his features.
God, somehow he still looked familiar.
Garrett muttered something before the waiter left, and we were left to sitting slightly uncomfortably across from each other. After a few seconds of silence, Garrett cleared his throat and muttered, "You look... pretty tonight."
"Thank you." I replied softly, giving him an easy going smile.
"Toben really does know how to use his magic."
I looked at him, "What's that suppose to mean? That I don't look always this pretty?" I teased, laughing as he looked at me slightly bewildered.
"Haha, aren't you just the little comedian." He muttered dryly. "All I was saying that he is really good at dolling people up. Anyways," he said with a small smirk, "I only chill with attractive people."
I rolled my eyes, feeling a little more comfortable after hearing him sound like his normal cocky self. "So..." I muttered slowly, taking a sip of my water.
He looked up at me. "I was wondering why part of my debt was to go out to dinner with you. I mean, was there any purpose other than just taking me out to dinner?"
Twisting my purity ring, I looked up to see him looked at me, surprise written on his face as if I had caught him off guard. He looked down at the mozzerella sticks and took one, a look of sadness and confusion on his handsome face.