My First - Jason & Katie (13 page)

But, as he walked up to Great Oaks Middle School that brisk September morning, he saw something that hit him like a punch to the gut. Katie Lawson was holding hands with some blond haired kid and giggling whenever he said anything.

Nick was the ‘new kid in school.’ At first Jason had befriended him because he wanted to know exactly who this guy was that had swept in and stole 'his girl.' It had been a 'keep your friends close and your enemy’s closer' sort of a thing. But, the thing was...Nick had actually turned out to be a great guy. He and Jason had quickly became best friends.

Jason had honestly never expected Nick and Katie’s relationship to last as long as it had. I mean what ‘couple’ that got together in middle school managed to last all the w
ay through senior year of high school? Jason had initially thought that he was just biding his time for the few weeks or month it would take for the novelty of the New Kid to wear off for Katie, or for Nick to meet some girl that he hadn't come across yet when he had asked Katie to be his girlfriend before even setting foot in the school.

Yeah.

So, needless to say, neither of those things had happened.

As the years went on, Jason’s feelings for Katie did not diminish one iota, in fact they only grew stronger. He knew that Katie and Nick’s relationship was not going to survive through their college years. I mean...come on! Nick loved Katie in his own way, but Nick loved Nick more. Jason was of the firm opinion that, as great of a guy as Nick was, Katie still saw him through rose colored glasses, and that her vision would clarify once she started getting to know the big, wide world outside of Harper's Crossing.

But, as it turned out, the metaphorical manipulating eyewear that Katie wore when she looked at Nick was more like blinders than rose colored glasses – and they never got a chance to see if life experience would have removed them, because Nick died before Katie ever got to leave Harper's Crossing.

One of the many gut-wrenching consequences of Nick's death for Jason was that now he would forever be clothed in the protective, softening cloud of memory where Katie was concerned. How could Jason compete with a saint?

Before the accident, there had been so many times that Jason had almost confessed his true feelings for Katie. Something always stopped him though. Katie seemed happy. Not just with Nick, although he was a funny and cool kid. Still, there were a lot of ways that Jason did not feel that Nick treated her right, and told Nick so. He would not have let the relationship alone stop him from telling Katie how he felt.

No, it was that Nick had something Katie needed, and it was something that Jason could never give her. Nick had a big, happy family that had adopted Katie as their own. He knew that was something she had always wanted.

Sure, Jason had his dad and brothers, not to mention that Uncle Pete and Aunt Sandy were around with his four cousins pretty often. But Nick had the perfect Norman Rockwell fantasy family to offer her: a mom and a dad, a little sister who adored Katie, and (the cherry on top), Grandpa J.

Jason couldn’t compete with that, and he didn’t want to take that ‘family’ experience away from Katie. She always went on and on about how fun their family dinners were. Jason knew it was true. Once or twice a week, he would stay at the Hunter’s for dinner and witness first-hand just how much Katie enjoyed her time there.

He could see the happiness written all over her face, glowing from within her, causing her to shine the way only basking in love and acceptance can. He wasn’t going to be the guy to rob her of that joy.

Now, as he watched Katie walk from the store to the truck an odd sensation swept over him. He wasn’t quite sure how to describe it or categorize it, even to himself. He just knew, now more than ever before in his life, that the feelings he had for Katie were not puppy love and they weren’t going away – so he had better decide what, exactly, he was planning to do about it.

He had always operated on the assumption that the straightforward approach was the best and most effective in any given situation. Say what you mean, mean what you say.

The only problem with that plan of action was that Katie seemed very skittish at the moment. Going with 'straightforward' might just send her running for the hills.

He needed to pace himself. He had the whole weekend to wear her down, and that is exactly what he planned to do.

Katie could feel her heart pounding out of her chest as she made her way back to the truck. She automatically started reciting her handy-dandy mantra inside her head.

You can breathe. Just breathe. Breathe in and out slowly. You can breathe.

Oh. Dear. God. In. Heaven.

Why...why...WHY did he have to look so gorgeous in the sun? It was like God himself was Jason's own personal lighting technician.

How in the world was she going to make it through this weekend without a repeat of what happened the night that she left Harper's Crossing? She was just going to have to keep focused on the wedding and try to not focus on how amazing that kiss had made her feel.

“Did you get everything you needed, Kit Kat?” Jason pushed off from where he had been leaning against his truck and opened the passenger side door for her.

“Yep, I’m all set,” Katie’s jaw tensed, but she made a valiant attempt to sound as unaffected by the ridiculous nickname as she possibly could. She knew that part of the reason (MOST of the reason!) that he insisted on calling her by it was that he loved getting a rise out of her.

Reaching under the seat and feeling around as she got in the truck, Katie realized the program had not fallen out in Jason’s truck. She asked, a touch of despair
tingeing her voice, “Jas have you seen my itinerary? I need to know what time the luncheon is.”

“The luncheon is at 1:00 and, no, I haven’t seen your itinerary. Do you think that you could have left it at Mona’s? Maybe it fell out of your bag during your fitting,” Jason sounded matter of fact and logical, but also distracted as he pulled out of the CVS parking lot and made a right onto the parkway.

“Yeah, it probably did,” Katie sighed, looking at her watch and already knowing the answer to her next question, “So...I guess I don’t have time to get freshened up before heading over to the luncheon, do I?”

“Not unless you want to show up fashionably late. But, if I recall correctly and I believe I do, you were always somewhat anal when it came to punctuality,” Jason replied with that challenge-hiding-behind-a-tease tone to his voice that he knew was always good to get her riled up.

Well. She wasn't going to oblige him. She was going to keep it calm, cool, and collected.

“Just because I enjoy being on time for things does not automatically equal being anal,” Katie responded, her tone measured and even...although it DID kind of drive her crazy that he always had to make such broad statements about her. Yeah. Come to think of it, that was
really
aggravating.

“No, I guess it is not fair to call it an anal,” Jason teased, “I know
lots
of girls that show up to the prom by themselves because their date is fifteen minutes late to pick them up.”

“Oh, come ON now, you can NOT be serious! Just because I didn’t want to be late to my senior prom does
not
mean that I am anal about being punctual. And can we
please
stop using that word. I’ve always hated it.”

Katie saw a flash of amusement cross Jason’s face, and that frustrated her even more.

“I thought 'panties' and 'moist' were at the top of the 'perfectly valid words Katie hates' list.”

“Those too. But don't try to distract me when I'm on a roll.”

“Is that what you're on?”

“Yep! And might I point out, while we're on the subject, that it was a certain Mr. Jason Sloan that was responsible for the aforementioned tardiness incident. I do believe that
someone
forgot to pick his date up a corsage and forced the limo that ALL of the guys – my date included – were riding in to go into town and stop by The Flower Pavilion so he could pick up flowers for his date. Sound familiar? Hmmm?”

Katie felt unreasonably pleased with herself that for ONCE Jason was going to have to take responsibility for something. Ha! Let’s see you charm your way out of that one, Mr. Sloan.

To this day, she couldn’t quite believe that on prom night, of all nights, Jason would forget something as important as picking up a corsage. Nick had made her promise not to harass Jason about it at the time because he didn’t want their night to be ruined by her and Jason fighting. But, what the hell? They weren’t at prom now, were they? And, truth be told, she was relishing the opportunity to finally confront him about it.

“I mean, really, Jason? REALLY? There were four other couples taking that limo, and the fact that you would disrupt everyone else’s night just to get yourself out of the doghouse is beyond me. Really and truly beyond me.

“And don’t even
try
the 'I was too busy with sports' excuse because Nick was in just as many sports as you, and HE managed to find the time to pick me out the most amazing wrist corsage, made of the most incredible and beautiful Calla Lilies I'd ever seen.

“But, nooooo! Mister ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ couldn’t be bothered to plan ahead, even for senior prom. Even when NINE other people were counting on him.

“Didn’t you even consider the fact that I might want to show up to my senior prom on time? Did that thought even cross your mind?”

“Are you finished?” Jason asked dryly as he pulled off the road and into a parking lot that Katie did not recognize.

“Yes. Yes, I think I am,” Katie confirmed, not even bothering to hide her self-satisfied grin.

“Well, then let me set a few things straight, counselor,” Jason turned to face Katie after parking his truck in an empty space at the very corner of the lot. They were hidden under a canopy of trees, and it felt…intimate. It felt like they had entered another realm – a fantasy forest filled with wizards and fairies, where she was the beautiful princess and Jason was the dashing knight.

The cab of Jason’s truck suddenly seemed very small and very warm. Jason’s eyes bore into hers, and as much as she knew she ought to, she could not bring herself to look away.

Good night nurse! How was it possible that this man had such a hold on her? He was just a PERSON, for God's sake – he wasn’t supernatural! No one else in the entire world affected her this way!

Katie prided herself on always being in control of her environment, and
especially
of any conversation she was a part of. She wouldn't have made it very far in the legal profession if she couldn't get the upper hand in a conversation with an untrained civilian – this was literally how she made her bread and butter! Stay in control, never let the power balance shift, don’t get flustered...these were all techniques she had mastered.

Being a lawyer, you could say that she was, in a sense, a professional argument winner. Yet with Jason, she never quite felt in control of anything, and from that look in his eye, she already knew she was going to lose this argument.

“I bought Krissy Anderson, my date, a pink pin-on rose corsage the Wednesday before prom,” he began, calmly but intensely, “and when Nick got to my house to get ready for prom I asked him where his corsage for you was. He said – and I quote – ‘Katie doesn’t even like flowers and the corsage that I bought her for junior prom just got in the way all night, she couldn’t stop fidgeting with it.’”

Jason lowered his hands from the air quotes that he had been shaping and his right hand came to rest on Katie’s thigh. Her breathing quickened. She wondered if the placement of his hand had been deliberate, but then stopped wondering and simply started panicking, because, oh boy...the weight of Jason’s hand felt waaay too good resting on her leg. She could feel the pressure of his long fingers as they wrapped around her thigh and it felt...amazing.

“There was no way I was going to let you go to your senior prom without a corsage just because numb nuts Nick didn’t bother to get you one. So I had the limo driver stop at The Flower House, Flower Emporium and finally at The Flower Pavilion. Want to know why we made more than one stop Kit Kat?”

Katie simply nodded because she was unable to speak, distracted by the reaction her body was having to Jason’s touch.

“We made more than one stop because I didn’t want to get you a simple rose corsage. I remembered that in fifth grade, we were walking across Lincoln Park on the way home from school, and I picked you a rose. You said that you thought roses were overrated and common. And I was not about to settle on anything that you considered ‘overrated and common.’ I did find a Chrysanthemum corsage at The Flower House but it was a pin-on and I knew that you had a chiffon dress and that you wouldn’t want to put holes in it. Plus I remembered that you had a pin-on for junior prom and that was probably why you were fidgeting with it. So I made the driver take us to one more stop and that is where I found the Calla Lily wrist corsage.

“Oh and as far ‘considering the fact that you would like to be on time to your senior prom’ - I bribed the driver $50 extra to speed to your house, and I wouldn’t let any of the other guys pick up their dates, or my
own
date for that matter, even though two of them were on the way to your house. Why? Because I knew you would be pacing the floor every minute that we were late. How did I know that? Because I know YOU, Kit Kat. You can believe that or not, but it's true.