Until Then (Cornerstone Book 2)

by Noorman, Krista

  She shrugged.

  “What do you know?”

  “That he’s a good kisser.” She grinned behind a look of guilt.

  He put his arm around her and pulled her into his side for a hug. “What am I gonna do with you?”

  I can think of a few things.

  They drove to the nearest McDonald’s for sundaes — hot fudge for Simon and caramel with peanuts for Michelle. She wasn’t sure how it began, but they started talking about their hometowns and their families. Michelle found herself opening up to him about her home life, telling him things she had never shared with anyone, and he seemed to be doing the same with her. Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

  “Do you miss California?” She scooped some ice cream and made sure to get a little caramel and peanuts on the spoon.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I miss the ocean sometimes.”

  “What about your family?”

  “Yeah, I miss my mom.”

  “Not your dad?”

  Simon shrugged again. “Let’s just say my father has high expectations when it comes to his son.” He paused for a scoop of ice cream. “I like living here. My Uncle Pete is cool, and he’s been more of a dad to me than my father ever has, really.”

  “So your uncle lives around here. Is he the reason you chose Cornerstone?”

  “That was part of it. I knew I could visit him or stay with him whenever I wanted to. And they have a great photography program here. He recommended it.”

  “Is he into photography, too?”

  “He used to have his own studio.”

  “Oh, that’s very cool.”

  “Yeah, he’s taught me everything he knows. He’s been my biggest inspiration. My dream is to someday run my own photography business, maybe have a studio one day.”

  “You’ll totally get there, Simon. I know it.”

  “Thanks, Chelle. That means a lot.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “So, what about you? Are you missing Chicago yet?”

  She pondered that for a second. “You know, I was. But not so much right now.” Her lips turned up in a little smile.

  He smiled back at her.

  “I was missing my friends, mostly. My family, not so much.”

  “You aren’t close with them?”

  That was the understatement of the year. “Not at all. I don’t really know my dad. He wasn’t around much when I was growing up. He traveled a lot for work.”

  “Sounds like my dad. He didn’t travel much, but he worked long hours. The up before dawn, home after dark sorta thing. We don’t really get along. He doesn’t treat my mom very well.”

  She felt a special bond with him over this commonality.

  “What about your mom?” Simon asked.

  “My mom worked all the time. She wasn’t there for me like a mom should be. When she was there, she wasn’t really present. I think she was just too tired to be.”

  “If she and your dad were both gone so much, who took care of you?”

  She shrugged. “I took care of myself. And my friends looked out for me.”

  “No brothers or sisters?”

  “Just me.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been rough.”

  She didn’t have a response to that. Life had never seemed particularly rough when she was with her friends, but she could see how someone on the outside would think growing up without parents was totally tragic.

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Just me.”

  She liked that they had yet another thing in common.

  “Are your parents still together?” he asked.

  “No. Yours?”

  “Yeah, they are, actually. Sometimes I don’t know why, though. They don’t seem to like each other very much. And my dad’s never been one to stick around and fix what’s wrong. When things got rough in the past, he would just walk out.”

  “But he came back, right?”

  Simon nodded. “Yeah, he always came back.”

  “You’re lucky.”

  “I guess. I don’t know. Sometimes I thought it might be better if he didn’t come back. Do you think things would have been better if your dad stayed?”

  “I doubt it.”

  There was a long pause in conversation while they finished off their sundaes, which were more like soup at that point.

  Simon pushed his empty sundae cup to the side. “Can I tell you something?” He suddenly looked very serious.

  “Anything.”

  “When we first met that day in the gym, I thought you were really hot.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And I’m not hot now?”

  “Oh, you are.” He gave her a cocky grin.

  She laughed and blushed a little.

  “But now it’s more than that.”

  She held her breath.

  “I’ve never met someone I feel so comfortable with so quickly. I feel like I can tell you anything, like I’ve known you for years.”

  She understood exactly what he meant. “Me, too.”

  “Really?”

  She grinned and nodded, nearly bursting with the anticipation of what he would say next.

  “Wow!” He sat back and looked at her in awe. “I’ve never had a girl best friend before.”

  And just like that, her hopes of more than friendship with Simon were shattered.

  4

  Michelle hadn’t worn roller skates since she was ten years old, and now that she was standing atop a set of wheels, she was sure this was a colossal mistake. She rolled slowly onto the floor, pushing forward with her right foot, then her left, until she had a bit of a rhythm going. A very slow rhythm.

  Her gaze moved away from her feet to the rink ahead. Emma, who had convinced her to come, took off across the floor like a pro, swerving left and right around slower skaters, followed closely by Simon. They seemed to have a race going on.

  Michelle attempted to increase her speed, but her feet suddenly slipped out from under her, an expletive escaping her lips when she hit the floor. Skaters flew past, and she folded herself up and covered her head.

  “Are you OK?”

  She peeked from behind her arms to see a guy standing over her with hands extended. She took them gladly.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked as he helped her to her feet.

  She held securely with one hand and rubbed her back side with the other. “I did that on purpose.”

  He chuckled, then grabbed her other hand and, skating backwards, led her across the floor.

  “Oh, I don’t know about this.” She squeezed his hands so tight she was sure he had lost all circulation.

  “Trust me.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “I don’t even know you.”

  “Hey, I saved your life back there.”

  She laughed, then wobbled as he began to move faster. She looked down, mesmerized by the way his feet were moving back and forth, somehow propelling him backwards. This caused her to teeter forward.

  “Look up.”

  Her eyes met his.

  “If you keep looking down, we’re both gonna fall.”

  He had hazel eyes like Simon, only deeper, and his hair was a darker brown than Sean’s, almost black. He was like a nice mix of the two of them.

  “What’s that look for?”

  She hadn’t realized she had a goofy grin on her face, and she shook it off.

  He spun using some kind of fancy footwork and was suddenly skating next to her. The motion threw her off balance, and she tumbled onto her left hip taking him with her. They were a jumble of arms and legs, the stranger sprawled across her mid-section.

  They couldn’t stop laughing.

  He helped her up again and guided her off the floor to a bench on the sidelines. “I think we need a break.”

  She sighed. “I think you’re right.”

  “Do you want something to drink?”

  “A Pepsi would be great.”

  The sweet
stranger skated off and returned with two drinks and an order of nachos and cheese. He plopped down beside her on the bench and offered her some chips.

  “Thanks.” She helped herself.

  Emma and Simon skated past just then, and Simon gave Michelle a thumbs-up, like he was giving her his approval or something, which irritated her.

  She also spotted Wes and Sean skating not far behind them. Sean’s expression showed no sign of approval.

  A couple of girls skated by and waved at her new friend.

  Her gaze followed the girls. “Are you here with someone?”

  “You mean like a date?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Well, that’s still to be determined.”

  Their eyes met again, and the intensity of his stare made butterflies go wild in her stomach.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Are you ever gonna tell me your name?”

  “Only if you can guess it.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded.

  “Fine.” She chewed the inside of her lip while she tried to come up with a name that fit him. “Carl.”

  He laughed heartily. “You think I look like a Carl?”

  She chuckled.

  “OK, then, you must be Carla,” he teased.

  “You guessed it.” She laughed. “Carl and Carla. That’s us.”

  Their flirty guessing game went on for a while. “Carl” eventually tried to get her back onto the skating rink, but she refused to go through that humiliation again. So, they turned in their skates and walked outside to get a little fresh air.

  Other than a couple small groups hanging out by their cars, the parking lot was empty. They found a quiet spot near the front corner of the building that was barely illuminated.

  “I’m glad we met,” he told her. “I wasn’t expecting to have any fun tonight.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s what you call fun?”

  His arms suddenly snaked around her waist. “This is.” He pulled her close, covering her lips with his.

  It wasn’t the soft, sweet kiss she expected after their light banter. No, this kiss was firm and deep and presumptuous. This kiss felt like the ones from the guys back in Chicago. Not that she didn’t like it. She did. It simply surprised her.

  They kissed until things started heating up between them. It was obvious he wanted her, but she felt uneasy and confused. What had she done or said to make him kiss her this way? Why did it even matter? She liked guys, and guys liked her. So why was she questioning this at all?

  She pulled back, out of breath. “I should probably go find my friends soon.”

  It was the first time she had ever stopped herself from going all the way. Back home, she would not have thought twice about doing it against a brick wall with people walking in and out of the building forty feet away. But here … something made her stop.

  “OK. That’s cool.” He released her, and they walked toward the door. “Do you happen to know what time it is?”

  She shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “I need to find a clock.”

  “Are you late for something?”

  “I might be if I don’t find a clock,” he replied with a wink.

  They walked inside, and he checked the time. “I’ve gotta go, but it was nice meeting you …” He paused as though he was waiting for her name.

  “Michelle.” She filled in the blank for him. “My name is Michelle.”

  “This was fun, Michelle.” He had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  “Yes it was … Carl.”

  He let out a loud laugh at that. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

  “Maybe.” She watched him walk away, unable to shake the uneasiness.

  Michelle scanned the room for her friends. Emma, Jill, and Darcy were seated at a booth in the snack bar.

  “Hey!” She sat down and bumped Darcy’s hip with hers to get her to scoot over.

  “Where have you been?” asked Emma. “With a guy? Simon said you were with a guy.” She seemed very excited that Michelle might have met someone.

  Michelle grinned. “Maybe.”

  Then the girls’ questions came. What’s he like? Is he cute? What did you two talk about? Did he ask for your number? Are you gonna see him again?

  As she answered their questions, the grin slowly disappeared from her face. A strange, unsettling emotion came over her, an overwhelming need to hide what had just happened between her and a total stranger. She felt oddly embarrassed, like she had done something wrong. And suddenly, she hoped beyond hope that they would stop asking questions about him.

  Simon skated to their table just then. “Come skate with me, Chelle.”

  Relieved, she took his hand and went to retrieve another pair of skates, pushing the unfamiliar feelings aside and forgetting all about the mystery man.

  On her walk back from chapel Wednesday morning, Michelle spotted Simon with his roommates heading in the direction of their dorm. She jogged along the sidewalk to catch up with them and called his name.

  Simon looked over his shoulder just as she jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms and legs around him. He spun around and pretended to stumble toward the pond, threatening to drop her in with the geese.

  She screamed, and one of the professors walking nearby reprimanded them.

  Simon placed her back on solid ground, the two of them cracking up at themselves. He put an arm around her shoulders.

  While they walked, Michelle caught Sean’s eye for a moment, and a flash of something resembling anger crossed his face.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I didn’t say anything,” he snapped and moved further ahead of them.

  Her relationship with Sean, if you could call it that, had not progressed past their kisses in the park. She’d made out with plenty of guys and never seen them again. Heck, she’d done much more than kiss with guys she barely knew. Maybe that wasn’t something to be proud of, but it was a fact.

  She liked Sean, but it didn’t bother her that nothing else had happened between them. They had kissed once, weeks ago. But she wondered if it bothered him, because he was obviously upset with her.

  She glanced over at Simon, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

  As they approached the dorm, Michelle sped up to Sean’s pace. “Hey! Can we talk?”

  He let out an exasperated breath. “Fine.”

  They walked to a nearby bench and sat down.

  “Are you mad at me or something?” She searched his face.

  His eyes met hers. “You and Simon are embarrassing.”

  Her forehead creased. “What does that mean?”

  He looked away uncomfortably.

  “Sean?”

  “You’re all over each other all the time.”

  She stopped herself from laughing, but a little giggle managed to escape.

  His eyes darted to hers.

  “Oh, you’re serious? All over each other?” Only in my dreams. “Simon and I are just friends.”

  “Yeah, that’s what he said, too.”

  That was disappointing. “It’s true. He likes Emma.”

  “Among others,” Sean replied.

  “Well, that may be,” she stated, “but I’m not one of them.”

  He was silent.

  She looked him in the eye. “Sean? What’s going on?”

  “I thought maybe this was going somewhere. You and me.” He seemed shy and at a loss for words all of the sudden. “After that night at the park … well, after we kissed, I thought … I mean, I wanted … and then you and Simon …”

  She grinned at him. He was cute when he stumbled over his words.

  “Well, you and Simon were together all the time.”

  He finally got to the point, and he was right. They had been inseparable since Celebration On The Grand.

  “And then I saw you making out with that guy at the rollerskating place.”

  Her heart leapt into her throat. “You saw us?”

  �
��Yeah, I left early, and I saw you in the parking lot. You seemed pretty hot and heavy.” He stared at the ground, and she was surprised by how dejected he looked.

  “He was nobody,” she explained.

  He glanced her way. “So what does that make me?”

  She didn’t know what to say. It didn’t look good, her making out with a complete stranger after kissing him at Celebration. She could see that now.

  “It’s fine. You’re not into me. I get it.”

  “But I am,” she blurted. She had his attention now. “That guy at the roller rink … that was a huge mistake. Please believe me. I really do like you, Sean.”

  He seemed to soften. “I like you, too.”

  The sweet tone in his voice made her lips curl into a smile.

  “So, how ‘bout a date then?”

  “OK,” she replied without hesitation.

  “OK?” He seemed a little surprised at her quick response.

  “Sure.”

  He smiled, and her heartbeat picked up the pace.

  She leaned in close until their lips were mere millimeters apart. “Then I can show you what all over each other really looks like.”

  He swallowed hard.

  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and departed with a smile.

  It was Michelle’s first real date. Never had she been picked up at a set time, never had doors been opened for her, never had she walked hand in hand with a guy. It was sweet. Sean was a total gentleman, and he made her feel special in a way no other guy ever had.

  The air was brisk on this October evening, but that didn’t stop them from exploring the grounds at Frederik Meijer Gardens, just a short walk from the college. They wandered the paths that wound through the outdoor sculpture park and fell into easy conversation, mostly about basketball.

  When they reached the koi pond waterfall, they sat together on a bench and listened to the sound of the water flowing over the rocks. He rested their joined hands on his thigh, softly caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. She glanced over at him, feeling suddenly content in the moment.

  “So, you didn’t tell me you’re from Chicago.”

  “You didn’t ask.” He tilted his head.

  “I’m from Chicago, too,” she revealed. “Where do you live?”

  “Oak Brook. How ‘bout you?”