When To Let Go (20 page)

The following Saturday Violet stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, debating if her first ever date required makeup. She decided it didn't. Peter had never seen her wear any in the past so why start now?

Her mom knocked on the door, poking her head in when Violet answered.

“His car just pulled up. I'm not sure you want to leave him alone with your dad...”

They could hear her dad answering the door, “You're the fucking kid who called my daughter jailbait.”

The door slammed shut.

“Date's over!” Violet’s dad yelled up the stairs.

Violet cursed, moving around her mom and sprinting down the stairs to the front door.

Peter was still standing there, hesitant when she reached for his hand to bring him in. Violet was relieved to find her mom trying to smooth things over with her husband, who was eyeing Peter as though deciding the best way to kill him.

Violet couldn't help but roll her eyes, “Quit being so dramatic, Dad. Peter's just an idiot with a big mouth, you can't listen to half the crap he says.”

“Gee, thanks,” Peter grumbled.

Violet shrugged her shoulders, not caring if she offended him; it was the truth. She added in a few more, “Peter's never been anything but respectful towards me, and besides, you know if he tries anything I'll have him wrapped up like a pretzel.”

That earned a grin from her primitive father, knowing he had trained his daughters well.

“Just go,” her mom ushered with her head, “I'll take care of him.”

Violet gladly made her way to the door, expecting her date to follow. Instead he held out the bouquet of flowers in his right hand, offering them to Lily.

“I wanted to do something nice for you, seeing as we've never really met,” Peter avoided looking at Noah as he took the steps it required for Lily to accept them. Then he dashed out of there like his ass was on fire.

Violet waved goodbye to her mom, who had her nose deep into the arrangement, and her scowling dad.

Peter had the passenger door open, so she shouted for him to just get in the car and start it. They needed to get out of here before her dad changed his mind.

The car was silent for a few painfully slow minutes; the only sound was the tires rolling along pavement and vibrations of the car.

“Sorry about that,” Violet felt the need to say.

“It's cool. I actually expected it to go a lot worse.”

“Oh...why are you acting so weird right now then?”

He sheepishly glanced over at her, “It's the first date, I'm nervous.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“But we've known each other for years.”

“This is different.”

She couldn't argue that.

He took her to one of the nicer restaurants in town, where they both enjoyed themselves, talking and laughing freely.

Peter showed his more grownup, mature side. Certain smiles he gave Violet had her stomach lurching and her heart skipping beats. When he offered dessert she agreed with certainty, earning a smile that had her thinking about the end of the date and wondering if he'd kiss her, hoping he would.

The ease of their conversations came to a halt as Peter took the long stretch of road from the entrance to the property to her family's home.

Peter turned the ignition off, moving his body to face hers, “This is the part of the date where the guy is scared shitless. He usually walks her to the door, trying to get up the courage to kiss her and ask for a second date. It usually helps when the girl takes a step closer to him at her door, letting him know she's waiting for him to make the next move.”

“Hmm,” Violet pretended to ponder his words. “Good to know.”

Peter came around to help her out, his hand on her lower back as he led them to the door. He dropped it so they could be face to face.

Violet met his eyes, taking a step forward so they were almost touching.

There was no hiding the smile on Peter’s face as his hand went to hold the back of her head and he leaned forward.

Violet closed her eyes, meeting his mouth, their lips gentle at first.

Peter gradually picked up the pace, never using tongue. It didn't matter, it was one of the best kisses Violet had ever had. It made her want to bend a leg out behind her like in old fashioned movies.

As his lips began to leave hers she found herself asking, “What happens next? The second date?”

His lips stayed close to hers as he responded, close enough that his breath mingled with hers, “The guy will usually call in the next few days if the date went well, or if he's really crazy about the girl the very next day, once he musters up the courage.”

Peter dropped his hand, taking a step back, “Goodnight, Violet.”

“Goodnight,” she whispered, heading inside in a state of shock that she might possibly be more than interested in Peter, something she would have laughed at a few months ago (hell, a few weeks ago).

Her parents were on the couch, pretending to watch television.

She offered them a goodnight, heading to bed in a daze.

Her phone rang the second she reached her room. It was Peter.

She smiled while she answered, “Hi.”

She closed her bedroom door softly, not wanting to wake her sister.

“Hey, I forgot to mention that sometimes the guy is so taken by the girl he remains in her driveway, trying to clear his head. Without thinking he might call her, wanting to hear her voice one last time before the night is completely over.”

“I didn't know that,” Violet confessed, her smile widening.

“It's true,” he swore. “He might even get so excited to talk to her again he wakes her early in the morning to see if she wants to get lunch and maybe a movie.”

“Oh, I hope the guy doesn't take offense when the girl is cranky first thing in the morning.”

“Doubtful, he's too taken by her to see her imperfections. That won't come until around date number fifteen or so, but at that point he finds them endearing. It won't be until around year three of marriage that they grate on his nerves.”

“Is that so?”

“Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I watch Dr. Phil.”

Violet laughed, telling Peter a final goodnight and ending the call.

She went about her nightly rituals in a daze, replaying her first date, not able to fall asleep in anticipation of their second.

Date number two progressed to date number nine, where she had still managed to avoid Parker.

It was Friday night and Peter had begged her to come with him to see a live band at a place eighteen and over. The only problem was it would be with a group that included Parker, the very reason she had declined initially. Peter was insistent, claiming he wasn’t going to hide from Parker and he was finding out that weekend whether she liked it or not. Violet didn't fight it knowing Peter was right, that it wasn't fair to anyone if they kept it a secret all because she was scared.

So there she was, arriving early to Peter’s apartment. She wanted a chance to tell Parker in private before everybody arrived, including Peter, who had another half-hour of work.

Violet reached for the door knob.

It flew open before she had the chance, an angry Parker moving through the frame.

He grabbed her by the elbow, dragging her with him and slamming the door shut behind him. He brought her to the parking lot, enough distance away from the building that nobody could hear them.

“What the fuck!” He cried, crossing his arms, narrowing his eyes at her.

The fury radiating off of him was enough to have an effect on Violet.

She defensively matched his posture, “I was coming to tell you.”

“Why now and not weeks ago?” His fury was building into a bonfire that he was losing control of.

Violet knew the signs and proceeded with caution, “I wanted to make sure it was even worth telling you about first.”

He looked over to his apartment, “He's just using you.”

She couldn't figure out if he said that to try and hurt her or if he truly believed it. Either way, it hurt.

“He's not,” she stated with confidence, truly believing it.

He glared back at her, “You're an idiot if you believe that.”

Violet was too stunned to speak for a second, her own bonfire igniting, “Fuck you, Parker. He's nothing like you. My dad's even coming around to the idea.” It was true. He still didn't like Peter, but he was being decent to him, even carrying on a conversation when he came over for dinner the other night.

Parker's fury slipped a moment before he recovered, “Are you fucking him?”

“That's none of your business.”

Parker enunciated each word, “Yes. It. Is.”

Violet did the same, “No. It. Is. Not.”

“Yeah, it is Violet. You're...” he scrubbed a hand over his face, not finishing what he was about to say.

“Don't you dare say I'm too young!” She shouted, loud enough that it carried through the area.

“I wasn’t going to. Now that you mention it...”

She wanted to scream in frustration, and possibly punch something...or someone.

“Everything okay with you two?” Peter's cautious voice startled them both; they hadn’t heard him approach.

Violet hadn't realized that she and Parker had moved inches apart, shooting death glares at each other, both ready to explode.

Parker turned his wrath on Peter, “Whatever's going on between you two ends. Right now.”

Peter defiantly took Violet’s hand in his, entwining their fingers, “Sorry Parker, but that's not your call to make.”

“I’m not going to let you take advantage of her.”

“I'm not. I've told you my interest in her in the past.”

“Yeah, and I told
you
it was never going to happen. She's not some random pussy you can fuck and dump.”

Peter then said the words that nobody expected, ones that had Parker stepping back, not having anything more to say, “You had your chance. You blew it. Don't be a dick about it.”

Peter began leading Violet back to his place, pausing to add one last thing, “I don't want to ever hear you yell at her like that again, or make it sound like she's some cheap tramp to me, or I swear to God, Parker, I'll kick your fucking ass.”

Peter was fuming when they made it back to his place. He threw his keys and wallet onto the counter, including his phone that slid off and crashed onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. He didn't bother to see if it survived. A girl Violet recognized as one of the roommates’ weekend groupies was surfing channels on the television.

Violet stormed right in front of it, blocking her view, “Were you the one that told him?”

The girl had the nerve to flick hair over her shoulder, sticking her nose up in a superior manner, “He had a right to know.”

Violet almost pounced, wanting to strangle her, maybe practice some of the more lethal moves her dad and brother had taught her, “Not from you.”

“Well, considering I'm the one girl he's around the most, and slept with him more than anybody else, even kissed more,” she added, as though knowing about Violet and Parker's past and daring her to disagree, “I felt it was, just like any good girlfriend would do.”

“You're not his girlfriend,” Violet snapped.

The woman shrugged as though it was only a matter of time, “We'll see.”

Parker had come back at some point, sliding in next to the girl, an arm going around her shoulder.

In a deeper, sensual voice that annoyed the shit out of Violet, he spoke, “You
have
been fun to have around all week.”

The girl giggled, putting her French-tipped fingers behind his head and bringing him in for a kiss.

The two went at it as though they were the only ones in the room. Parker never would have done that in front of her in the past. Disgusted, Violet went to Peter's bedroom, who followed.

Violet twirled around, almost whacking into Peter, “How did she know?”

“I'm not sure. I think she saw us the other day, kissing before we ate dinner.”

“She only did it because none of those bitches like me around. They hate that he always ditched them to hang out with me.”

Peter grabbed her, forcing her to look at him and stop her pacing, “Are you jealous?”

She made a “pfft”, following it with an unconvincing, “No. Of course not.”

“I don't want to be a part of some twisted game between you two.”

She let out a sigh, releasing her anger, “I don't want that either. Now that he knows, can we still avoid being around him? I feel like his dickyness is rubbing off on me.”

Peter laughed, pulling her into his arms, kissing her lips, “Dickyness?”

“Yup,” she nodded, standing by the word, never liking to show anything but self-assurance.

He broke a long kiss, “It fits, and I agree. I don't want his perpetual bad mood to ruin whatever's happening between us, 'cause Vi?” He held her face in his hands, “I thought I was crazy about you before, but now...it’s way beyond that. It’s to the point that I won't go down without a fight.”