Close to Perfection

Chapter 7

"Shall we go?" he asked, his smile widening.

"I can't," I mumbled, my gaze glued to the floor. If I looked at him any longer, especially those dimples, I was certain my mind would go blank.

"Sorry?" Rock asked, sounding like he didn't believe what he'd heard the first time.

"Okay, here's the thing," I began, rambling. "Everything's been going wrong since this morning. I broke my favorite cup, sent an embarrassing email to the wrong person, and to top it all off, I accidentally witnessed my neighbor's dog's doing it...well, you know. It was gross! I get that it's natural, but do they have to do it in public? Humans have privacy, shouldn't dogs too? In fact, if I ever have any spare cash, I'm building a place where animals can do their deeds privately!"

"Like a Sex Club?" Hailey asks while Art bust out laughing and Rock is looking at me like I've sprouted second head.

"Yes! No, wait, that's not what I meant!" I blurted out in a hurry.

"The point is... all these bad things happening to me are a sign from God that we shouldn't go on a date! Bad juju, you know?"

"So, you're religious?" Rock inquired.

"Nope she isn't" Art replies helpfully

"Is it because you are having a bad day cause I can make it better"

"Not exactly" I answered before Art can

"Is it because you saw dogs doing it and that is turn off for you cause let me assure you its just a date and I don't expect anything from you" Rock says trying to convince me

"No that's not what I meant..."

"Okay, enough of this nonsense!" Art declared, stepping between us. "Aidan, darling, Sadie's clearly scared and making excuses to avoid the date. But hey, since you, me, and Hailey know what's best for her, I'm throwing her out of here! You are going to take her out and make sure she has a fantastic time. Don't bring her back before midnight, or better yet, keep her all night if you catch my drift."

Art shoved me out the door before I could even process what was happening. The door slammed shut behind me, leaving me speechless.

"Let's go, squirrel, we've been summoned." Why does he look amused while I'm dying of shame?

"she didn't just do that cause that's insane even for her" I said still shocked at this ridiculous situation.

"It is insane, but sane is boring," he said, opening the door of his car.

I recognized it as some kind of sports car, but that's the limit of my car knowledge. My cousin Jason helped me when I bought mine – all I knew was that I needed a black car that fit my budget.

"So, you saw a dog doing it today and decided you're going to open a sex club for dogs? That's pretty ambitious and creative, huh!" he said with a teasing smile.

Damn, I'm alone in the car with Rock, and he's talking to me. What should I reply? Is it too late to respond? Should I just smile and look out the window? Maybe I should just stay put and he'll forget about me. Why is he looking at me?

"Are you okay? You're looking pale. Did I just offend you? Because I swear I thought it was okay to joke about it," he said, looking at me with concern.

My face is heating up, and my hands start shaking. I don't want Rock to know how dumb I am. What kind of person couldn't talk like a normal person? Shit, I'm starting to panic.