My Butterfly

softly said.
    She was smiling with that temptress smile of hers. It was beautiful, but, God, what did it mean? Did she want me to pull her against my body right now and finally touch those lips of hers I had been dying to kiss? Was I supposed to just sit here? Woman, what do you want from me?
    “Come on, Jules,” I protested instead. “I know you like me. And you’re gonna love me, someday,” I added for effect, while throwing a piece of bark into the flames.
    “Love?” she questioned.
    She had this surprise in her voice. I expected it.
    “Jules, just let me take you to Donna’s,” I pleaded.
    She laughed, and I watched her long curls fall from her shoulders to her chest as she shook her head.
    “That sounds like a date, Will,” she said.
    I paused for a second and pushed my lips together.
    “Yeah, it kind of does,” I admitted, smiling and nodding my head.
    I glanced at the fire for a moment and then returned my eyes to her, but her gaze was already planted on me. She wasn’t smiling anymore, and her face had grown sincere.
    “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked.
    I was speechless, while I thought about her question.
    This girl must be completely and utterly out of her mind. Of course, I was serious. Why wouldn’t I be serious? She was gorgeous; she was smart; she thought Jeff was an idiot; and she was the sexiest woman I had ever met. Done. Done. Done. And done.
    “Jules, I was always serious,” I finally said.
    “Will, you threw rocks at me in third grade.”
    I couldn’t help my smile turning up a little more. I tried to hide it by sending my eyes to the ground at my feet.
    “It was out of love, I promise,” I assured her, as I met her eyes again. “You could think of it like Cupid’s arrows, only they were rocks.”
    She pursed her lips, and her pout refused to waver. Could I kiss her now?
    “No?” I asked. “Not Cupid’s arrows?”
    And the pout disappeared.
    “I guess I just had a funny way of showing it back then,” I said.
    “Will, you purposely got my favorite volleyball stuck up in the gym’s rafters,” she went on.
    I laughed once and shook my head.
    “You still remember that?” I asked.
    She glared at me through her sexy, green eyes.
    “It was last week, Will,” she said.
    I took a deep breath and then slowly let it out, allowing my eyes to come to rest in hers.
    “Can I just take you to Donna’s—to make up for all my past wrong-doings?” I asked again.
    She hesitated as silent seconds drew on.
    “You know, you kind of owe me,” she said, as a soft smile found her face.
    My heart fluttered, and I couldn’t help but smile too, but before I could get another word out, a group of girls appeared on the other side of the fire from out of nowhere. They were giggling and seemed to have no clue as to what epic moment they were interrupting.
    “Will, sing us a song,” a girl’s voice commanded.
    My eyes reluctantly followed Julia’s gaze to Rachel, standing directly across from us. I found a piece of bark on the log I was sitting on then and pulled it free.
    “Rach, I can’t sing,” I said, throwing the bark into the fire.
    “What?” Rachel asked. “Then why was THIS in your car?”
    She pulled out an object from the dark shadows behind her and passed it around the edge of the fire. I knew immediately what it was.
    “My car?” I asked.
    “Yep, that little SUV next to all of those other cars in the field back there,” Rachel said, pointing into the darkness behind her.
    She was wearing a proud smile. I kept my stare on her.
    “It’s a truck, Rachel,” I said.
    “What?” I heard Rachel ask. “Does it have a bed? No. It’s definitely an SUV, Will. But don’t worry; SUVs can be just as manly, even if they do have girly names.”
    She playfully rolled her eyes, and I sent her a sideways smirk and returned my attention to Julia.
    Julia was giving me a strange look too now, but I brushed it, along with Rachel’s comment, off.
    “Jules, remind me to lock up next time,” I said under my breath.
    The object finally reached me, and I extended my arm and took a hold of its neck. And with my other hand, I grabbed its body.
    I smiled then and shook my head.
    “Play us something,” Rachel demanded again.
    I let a steady breath pass through my lips as my eyes fell back onto Julia. She was smiling up at me with that beautiful, sexy smile of hers.
    “The girls want a song,” she said.
    I let my eyes linger in hers, forgetting for a second the