"Can you please take us to the French Restaurant on 5th street?" Austin asked the driver and he nodded and put the divider back up.

"Austin! That French restaurant is really expensive and you have to make a reservation like 6 months in advance to even get a table," Bailey scoffed.

"Yeah well, you can thank Ryan's Dad for that. I talked to him last night and he apologized for what Ryan did and said he still considers me his second son. He knows the owner of the French restaurant so he hooked us up and said that our meals were on him."

"Wow. That was really nice of him," Jolie said.

"Really nice," Blaze said. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a metal canister and said, "I'm not going to drink too much. Since it's a special occasion I figured I'd have just a little bit to take the edge off. Dancing in public just makes me nervous," he said pouring some whiskey into one of the fancy glass champagne flutes from the wine bar in the back of the limo and then he filled it the rest of the way with Coke.

He took a sip and said "Mmmmm. Do you want some?" he asked Bailey and she said sure and drank from his glass.

She made a disgusted face and said "Blech," making them all laugh. "That stuff is terrible. No thanks."

"What about you two?" he asked, holding out the flask in Austin and Jolie's direction.

Austin shook his head. "I've been in enough trouble here lately to last me a lifetime. I'm not trying to get arrested for underage drinking to add to the list," he laughed. "Thanks anyway though."

He held the flask out to Jolie and she said, "No I think I'm good."

Blaze rolled his eyes and said, "F*ck I'm hanging out with the Brady Bunch here."

Everybody laughed and Jolie said, "Oh Blaze you know you love us," with a smile.

He looked over at Bailey and said, "Well at least one of you," making her smile and blush.

"So Bailey and I were talking about it last night after our little dinner at the diner and we were betting that you two gave in and did it last night. You guys looked pretty cozy in that booth. So were we right?" Blaze asked.

Jolie was getting really irritated about having to answer that question all the time.

"I know you've got money bet on us but that's kind of a personal thing to ask somebody. Like what if I asked if you two had done it yet every time I saw you?" Jolie asked, pointing at Blaze and Bailey.

Blaze said, "Well then I would tell you yes. We did last night for the first time."

Jolie's mouth dropped open and she looked at Bailey who was blushing like crazy.

Bailey smacked his arm and said, "I can't believe you just blurted it out like that! Geez Blaze!"

"What?" He asked innocently. "It's not like it's that big of a deal."

Jolie said, "Well, we haven't yet but we plan to soon."

"Hey you know what? I haven't looked at the website in a long time. I wonder how much the money is up to now?" Blaze said, pulling out his phone.

"I haven't looked in forever either," Jolie said and Austin said he hadn't looked either. Blaze pulled up the website and scrunched his eyebrows.

"That's weird. Man. The pot of money is up to $22,000 now! Damn! Everybody must think you're gonna do it tonight because of the dance. If the person running the site doubles it like they said they would that would be $44,000! Dude!"

Jolie was really shocked. If she went through with sleeping with Austin tonight he could get $44,000. They could use that money towards furniture and everything for their apartment at college. But then she felt an ache in the pit of her stomach that none of this was right. She shouldn't feel coerced into sleeping with someone for money or pressure from her friends or guilt because she told him she would. She should only do it because she feels in her heart that it's the right time.

Austin's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Let me see!" He reached out and took the phone from Blaze and looked at it for a minute before handing it back.

Jolie looked at Austin and wondered what he was thinking.

"Well I guess you can seduce me and finally get your money and then you can stop pretending to like me."

Austin scrunched his eyebrows and said, "What? What are you talking about?"

Jolie laughed and said, "I'm just kidding," playing it off but in the back of her mind a little part of her brain had it's doubts. She tried to shut those doubts out though because she didn't want to mess up what she had with Austin if it wasn't true.

Austin said, "That's not funny!"

"It was a little funny. Just admit it," she said, leaning forward and giving him a kiss.

"Not even a little," he said, kissing her back.

"Hey did you guys hear who Mandy's going to Homecoming with?" Bailey asked. They all shook their heads and Bailey said, "Chaz the perv! Seriously!"

Austin laughed. "That's crazy. She's literally always hated him and said he was just always trying to copy off of me. She called him the "wannabe Austin."

"Can you blame him for wanting to be you? You are pretty awesome," Jolie said smiling at him.

They pulled up to the French Restaurant and everyone got out and when they got inside Austin walked to the podium and said, "Party of 4 for Fox."

"Oh yes! We've been expecting you. We've got a very special table reserved for your group!" He said with a big smile, grabbing some menus and leading the way to a secluded back corner table far away from anyone else. It had padded wooden booths, dim lighting and a fancy linen table cloth, lace napkins, and tall champagne glasses.

"This is perfect. Thank you so much," Austin said.

A waitress came by and said, "As the special guest of Mr. Gentry tonight he wanted us to give you the message to enjoy yourself and get anything on the menu you like, no matter the price. He hopes that you all have a great time tonight. Take a look over the menu and I'll be back to take your orders."

Blaze raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Didn't you literally just beat up his son so bad he's in the hospital and now he's doing you favors and buying you and your friends expensive meals? He must feel really bad for what Ryan did."

"Yeah. I think he does," Ryan agreed..

"As long as our food isn't poisoned I'm down with it," Blaze joked.

Blaze wrapped his arm around Bailey's shoulder and she scooted up against his side, looking up at him with a look that can only be described as infatuation. It was obvious that she loved him.

Jolie could tell how much closer they seemed since yesterday and she wondered if it was because they had slept together last night for the first time. Would her and Austin be the same way tomorrow? she wondered. She looked over at him and his blue eyes gazed into hers and she studied his gorgeous face. Looking at him made her feel an ache in her chest and she couldn't help but smile. She was so in love with him, that just looking at him made her insides flutter and her face get flushed.

He smiled back at her, looking down at her lips. She waited for him to kiss her but they were interrupted by the waitress asking for their order. They all ordered steaks and had dessert since it was a special occasion and Jolie had a rule that it was ok to cheat on her diet on special occasions and holidays.

The waitress was a young woman that looked close to their age, probably 16 or 17, and she kept eyeing Austin as she was taking their orders and giving him a sneaky flirty smile or sideways glance, making Jolie feel a little threatened and uncomfortable. He seemed clueless to it and when the waitress walked off Blaze said, "Dude what was that all about?"

"What?" Austin asked.

"What do you mean what? That waitress. Do you know her?" Blaze asked.

"No why? Am I supposed to know her?" Austin asked, confused.

Jolie, Blaze and Bailey laughed and Austin didn't get the joke.

"She was flirting with you like crazy. I thought I might have to jump across the table and kick her ass," Jolie said, and they all laughed again.

"Oh yeah Babe, you're really scary," he said sarcastically. He had never called her Babe before and that made her smile and her heart melt.

Austin leaned forward and whispered against her hair, "You know you're really cute when you're jealous," and that made her heart beat a little faster and her face flushed red.

She looked up at him and he pressed his lips softly to hers. It wasn't a hot, passionate makeout type of kiss but the gentleness of it made her love it even more. It wasn't a sexual type of kiss. It was a kiss of love. It was sweet and soft and warmed her heart.

He wrapped his arm around her and she leaned against his side laying her head on his shoulder, breathing in his familiar smell of manly cologne and mint gum.