Read Online Admission by Travis Thrasher - Free Book Online Page A

as though he were a soloist about to go on stage. That would truly be a disaster, but this could be even worse.
    “Still waiting, sir?”
    He nodded at the waiter.
Sir
. Obviously the guy didn’t know who he was talking to. Jake sipped his water.
    He thought of their first date a year ago, a three-hour series of disasters that ended with Alyssa pushing him off her in the car and leaving without saying good-bye. Jake should have known better, but there
had
been something, and Alyssa for a moment had let herself go. He hadn’t draped himself over her and then felt the sting of rejection. It was in the heat of the moment, after an awkward dinner at a dive and then a stint at a party, when Alyssa seemed to let herself go and then get more angry at herself than with him.
    He thought about the letter he’d received from her the next day. He remembered every line:
I’m sorry for last night, Jake. Please know it was a nice night and that I shouldn’t have ended it without even a thank you or a good night. You and I are two different people. Maybe we should just leave things at that
.
    But he didn’t want to leave things “at that.” And that’s why he owed Renee big-time.
    “Get me a date with Alec and we’re even,” she’d said, to which Jake had agreed, even though he knew that task was even more daunting than the one he’d given her.
    But he didn’t feel bad arranging something like that, especially after the double-date in Chicago that ended up in drunken debauchery.
    Don’t think about that
, he thought.
Not tonight
.
    He heard footsteps approaching and straightened up, his dry-cleaned, button-down shirt a little too starchy for his liking. A figure in a black dress drifted by, then stopped by the chair across from him.
    She looked exquisite.
    “Alyssa!” he said in mock surprise. “What are you doing here?”
    For a minute she just stood there, looking around the restaurant. “This isn’t happening.”
    “Is this a joke?” Jake said, unable to keep the smile off his lips.
    “Yeah, it is,” Alyssa said, starting to walk away.
    The host who had brought her over stood off to the side as if watching an act at the circus. Jake got up and quickly ran around Alyssa to block her from walking off.
    “Wait, please, hold on.”
    “No. My ride—I have to get them before they leave.”
    The plan had been that Alyssa would be dropped off here and that her blind date—that is, Jake—would take her back to the college.
    “Alyssa, please.”
    “Did you get Renee to do this?”
    “Yes. I owe her. Sorta like a thirty-year mortgage.”
    “I’m going to kill her.”
    “I know. And that’s fine. But you don’t want to kill her on an empty stomach.”
    Alyssa shook her head and looked at him with incredulous eyes. “You’re really something.”
    “Just dinner. Nothing else. I swear.”
    Her eyes rolled over him. “I might not have even recognized you. You actually shaved.”
    “A guy’s gotta try, you know.”
    She seemed to still be deciding, then she turned around and slid onto her chair.
    Jake could feel his heart beating in his throat. He couldn’t believe she was actually going to stay.

    For a while, it had actually felt like a real and legitimate date.
    “It’s weird to think people come here on a weeknight for dinner,” Jake said as he worked on a T-bone.
    “It’s weird to think we’re joining them.”
    Jake smiled as if to say touché. Alyssa wasn’t a steak eaterand had opted for a special pasta dish that came out looking like a piece of art. Since she had decided against wine, Jake had done the same, wishing he could have something to ease his apprehension. As hard as he tried not to show it, he knew his nerves showed.
    “So, Mr. Rivers. How many ladies have you taken to The Wild Goose?”
    “Hundreds,” he said. “Then we go down the street to the Hinsdale Marriott.”
    “I knew it.”
    “You know I’m kidding. You act like I have some crazy reputation.”
    “Word gets