“Are you unhappy?”
“No. It was my doing. She’s been seeing Ross, our quarterback, but that’s not why I called it quits with her. She just made life miserable for me.”
“I thought you seemed more relaxed this afternoon.”
“You read me like a book, Bess.” Art stared at her for several seconds more, then closed his math book slowly and drew a deep breath, opening his mouth in the most unhappy downturn Bess had ever seen from him. Then he continued. “There’s something else.”
“I see it’s causing you a lot of pain. You don’t need to tell me,” Bess said. She dared to grasp his hands with hers for a few seconds.
Art looked at her hands on his, smiled, and looked her straight in the eye. Her heart broke at the pain, the self-condemnation in his expression.
“You’re a perceptive person, Bess. I think you already know what I’m going to say.” Bess looked down, unable to bear seeing him down on himself. She gave a gentle positive nod.
“I need to say it anyway, and it’s hard to say. Angie made me believe it would be to my advantage to date her because her father is my department head. It felt like a dark, threatening cloud over my head, but I hoped otherwise. The more I dated Angie, the more I felt like I was violating my conscience.” Art stopped and then leaned his head back against the couch.
“You don’t need to go on, Art,” Bess said, staring at his profile, his twitching jaw, his slightly bared teeth, his closed eyes.
“I actually thought Professor Samuelson could be influenced by my going with Angie. Boy, was I wrong.” Art sat up straight and gazed at her.
“You broke up with her before learning that, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That says a lot about your character, Art. You weren’t afraid to be bold and hold to your true convictions no matter the cost.”
“What a nice thing to say. But still, I fell into that horrible trap.” Art again leaned back, this time a bit less down on himself.
“That’s behind you, and if how I feel about you as a friend means anything to you, it doesn’t change my feelings one bit.”
“Of course it makes a difference,” Art said, this time initiating the touch of their hands. Bess opened her lips slightly, looking at his large and marvelous hands. She felt suspended in time with his loving gesture.
“Before you leave, I have something for you,” Bess said, pulling her gaze from his hands, and looking at the gift-wrapped book sitting on a shelf beside her grandpa’s clock.
“Oh?” Art made no effort to gather his books.
She pushed herself up from the couch and stepped to the shelf for the gift. Handing it to Art, she sat closer to him, hoping not to make the couch creak when she settled.
“A gift? But why?”
“It’s near Christmas, and I... Well. Open it.” She could not contain her sigh.
“Where did you get this wrapping paper with all the chemical symbols, mostly metals?” Art chuckled and carefully unwrapped the book, not tearing the paper.
“A novelty store.” Bess wondered if that was the way he unwrapped all presents, or was he going to keep the paper because it was from her? Boy, she sure was putting a positive spin on things regarding Art. She thanked Milla for that.
After taking the gift paper off, he wasn’t as careful with the underlying brown paper. His expression told Bess she need not tell him how she felt about him. He ran his hand over the clothbound volume, briefly leafing through it.
“It’s Rosenheim’s Introduction of Physical Metallurgy. You remembered me wanting this. For 1919, it’s really in good shape.” His voice was soft, and his look at her took in her hair, her eyes, and her lips. She would treasure that look in her mind always.
“I was lucky to find it in the basement of River Front Bookstore. Kinda smells musty, though.” She looked at him, and then, swallowing, glanced down at her hands in her lap.
“It’s perfect.” Art set the book on the coffee table and reached to take her hands with his. She stared at those massive hands again, relishing his touch. Her heart quickened. He spoke again, his deep voice lower pitched than she had heard before.
“I lied to you sometime back.”
“Oh?” Bess knew her eyes widened and her mouth remained partly open. What could he possibly mean?
“I labeled you as a good friend. I wanted to say something much stronger.” Bess’ breath caught, as it did so many times around him, but this time the sensation exceeded all others.
“But I’m not even pretty. I’m too—”
“No, you’re not pretty. You’re beautiful inside and out. I appreciate that more than ever now.” Art leaned to place an arm around her shoulders.
Bess’ heart thudded and her face stung like it had been burned. She tried desperately to slow her breathing as he brought his free hand up and touched her hair. She uttered, “Oh,” softly and yielded to his gentle pull, concentrating on his lips, closing her eyes as he sealed her lips with his. She allowed him to control that moment with his tender kiss, and it was more than enough for her.
Their lips parted and she leaned her head against his as they rested on the couch side by side. Art took her hand, squeezed it, and planted a kiss on her palm. She failed to stifle a moan. Of course he knew that gesture threatened to unglue her. She couldn’t conceal anything from him. He released her hand and lightly stroked her hair.
“Your hair is so soft and beautiful, like you. Oh, I think I said that before.” Art grinned.
“It’s okay to repeat that.” Bess giggled briefly, holding his hand against her hair a few seconds longer and closing her eyes. She swallowed.
“I want you to help me with those tough aerodynamic courses next semester, but I’d like to see you at other times, too. Will you be too busy?” Art leaned forward slightly.
Bess looked at him and replied, “I can manage that.” She didn’t care how over-anxious her reply might seem.
“Good. We can explore our feelings for each other beyond our facial expressions.”
“I hope that means more talking, kissing, and hugging. Oh, my, I shouldn’t have said that,” Bess said, trying to figuratively suck back those words that had already escaped.
“If you hadn’t said it, I was going to suggest it.” Art laughed.
Everything is so right, Bess thought, and she wouldn’t mind Milla proclaiming, “I told you so.”
A word about the author...
Larry has been writing science fiction for over 35 years, and more recently sweet romance. He has several short romance ebooks with The Wild Rose Press and one story at another website. He has several novels, both science fiction and romance, for which he is seeking representation.
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