I didn’t feel the same way, and my gaze would still drift back to Jace when we were all hanging out together. Lauren was still giving me the death g...are when she saw me, even though I always showed up with Troy, and spent the entire time sitting by his side. I even tried to act like a typical girlfriend, going out of my way to act against my nature, like sitting on his lap, and calling him by ‘pet’ names. But even though I was showing her that I was clearly with Troy, she would keep Jace. Two independent lives, souls apart, and now they are joined by this small physical sign. He squeezes her hand in response. ~ Outside the entrance to her building it is time to say goodnight. He does not expect to be invited up, not on their first real date, and what with her sense of propriety. The hold both hands standing apart from each other. She looks up into his face with bright, brown eyes. ‘It was a wonderful evening tonight.’ ‘For me too.’ ‘I hope that I am not being too forward.’ She. “Yeah alright, Dad.”He got up and left me to my thoughts, which, although I was determined to be angry, had left me kind of curious.I spent most of the next day talking to my mates and Naomi. They all tried to play it down like I wasn’t going to miss anything but I knew they were just playing nice. So it was with a heavy heart that I headed home. What made it even worse was the fact that Naomi had kissed me for the first time just before I left.“I’ll be here when you get back, Nate. I’m not. She took a few steps back toward me, looked me up and down, and with a nod of her head said, ‘Okay Michael, two-o’clock!’ She formed a slight smiled and shook her head, like she couldn’t believe that she agreed to meet me. She turned again, and I watched her as she walked away. Well, there it was! That’s how I met her! It was clear to me right from the start, that she wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing would be easy with Claire, but she was worth the effort. What’s the expression from the movies,.