Chapter 8: Let Me Pay
“McCann, I’m serious. Let me pay for my stuff.” “Nope,” I said easily, sliding the bills into the black folder with the bill in it. I hadn’t even let her look at it, let alone pay for any of it. “Jason McCann, I’m serious. Let me pay for my food.” “Ooh. We got a first and last name in there. I must be doing good.” “Jason,” she whined as I waved Aaron down.
“Will you relax? It’s not even that much.” “You just told me about how you had no money, and I’m supposed to let you pay for lunch? No, I think not.” I laughed and kissed her temple. “Yes, I think so,” I told her, pushing the folder towards Aaron. “Keep the change.” He smiled as I helped Julia out of the booth. Again, be the perfect gentleman I am. I paid for dinner and I was helping her out of the booth. I was pretty proud of myself.
Julia stopped me as I went to walk out. “Hey, don’t you to go Millbrook High?” she randomly asked Aaron. He nodded. “Junior this year. You go there?” “Yeah. I’m a Junior too.” She grinned toothily at him. “Aren’t you the quarterback?” “Yeah. Starter all three years. My popularity’s been going down though, being in the Glee club and everything.” I stared at him. Did he honestly just say Glee club? Well, that’s masculine. “You’re in Glee? That’s awesome!” He laughed. “Thank you. Have a nice afternoon.” “Thank you. You, too,” Julia said as we walked out, me linking our fingers together.
Alex and Brian met us at the truck, and I couldn’t believe the way Alex was smirking at me. “So, what are you two going to do?” Brian asked, leaning against the door and crossing his arms. “Well, we were going to head back to his place and have some pretty hot sex, probably for a couple hours, if you want to plan around that,” Julia said easily, laying her head comfortably against my shoulder.
“What happened to Miss Religious?” I asked her. She smiled. “She’s still up here.” Her finger tapped against her temple. “I have a feeling she’ll come popping up right about when I’m taking your pants off.” “Perfect,” I groaned, and she laughed. “Wait… are you two serious?” “No!” we blurted at the same time.
“Gosh, Brian, what kind of girl do you think I am?” Julia asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. He started stuttering out an answer as she laughed. “Dude, I’m kidding. And, no, Jason and I aren’t going back to his place.“ “We were going to head to the mall,” I said, even though we hadn’t made any plans. “We are?” “Yeah.” “Okay.”
“Alex and I need to work on some blueprints, just for some stuff, so you guys go do whatever.” Brian waved us off, starting to walk towards the car. “Alex, wait,” I said as he went to walk away. “You need advice on things, little bro?” he asked me, laughter in his voice.
“Nah. I’m good.” I stepped forward and hugged him, clinging to him like I used to when I was little. He still smelled the same, crappy aftershave and Axe, and he was still a heck of a lot bigger than me. “Uh, Jase, you okay?” he asked me, hesitantly returning my bro-hug. “I told her about mom and dad,” I mumbled, stuffing my face into his shoulder. “Oh.” His hug suddenly wasn’t so hesitant. I stepped back from him and looked away, so he couldn’t see the tears welling in my eyes.
