Page 43 of When You Smile

“—when one of her students interrupted.”

“She teaches, too?” Caz asked and fanned herself. “This just gets hotter and hotter. Maybe I need to start swiping right on grad students so I can have hot and sophisticated problems, too.”

“Hot and sophisticated is not off base.” She shifted her lips to the side. “Can’t vouch for other grad students, but with us? Everything feels very close to igniting. Yet it doesn’t, and there are good reasons for that. Did I mention she’s practically engaged to a guy who thinks he’s a better writer than she is?”

“We hate him,” Sasha said automatically.

“Well, we’re definitely not rooting for him,” Caz said, a little more tempered. “I think you set up another time to speak with her.”

“I do, too,” Taryn said. “I need words, though. An angle that’s considerate of her feelings, but honest about my own. I also need courage, because Charlie is someone I like most in this world, but also someone who intimidates the hell out of me.”

“Because you’re vulnerable to her,” Sasha added, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “She’s capable of stomping on your heart in a way no one else is.”

They swiveled to her.

“Yes,” Taryn said, amazed at the wisdom from an unexpected source. She hadn’t been giving Sasha enough credit. She plopped down, mulling over her feelings. “I’ve been ignoring-slash-burying my feelings for months. Now I have this little kernel of hope, and it’s causing all sorts of problems.”

“Damn the kernel,” Caz said. “But also, what if it leads to an awesome bowl of romantic popcorn? Who doesn’t want their boring kernel to explode into wonderful?”

Taryn dropped her head back. “I just have a hard time believing that it could. At the same time, I don’t want to give up my kernel now that I have it.”

Sasha scrunched one eye closed. “I think you have to. Don’t you?”

A big pause. They were giving her the space to answer for herself. “Yeah. I have to risk the lost kernel.”

“You have to risk the kernel!” Caz yelled back in celebration. “Let’s gooo!”

With a deep exhale for courage, Taryn nodded and carried her phone into the hallway. She could text Charlie, but a phone call seemed more personal. She waited as the call went through, aware of her own heartbeat and its vigor.

“You’re calling me?” Charlie asked, her voice friendly. She was definitely smiling. “That’s new.”

Everything in Taryn relaxed. There was nothing to be afraid of. This was Charlie. “I wanted to hear your voice.”

A pause. “Oh. That…makes me happy.”

That had to be a good sign, right? “I was hoping you had time for a conversation. I could meet you for dinner or swing by your place.”

Another pause.

Maybe she’d caught Charlie at a bad time. Maybe Charlie didn’t want to continue their conversation. Her suspicion said otherwise as she flashed on Charlie in front of her classroom, imparting knowledge with a gentle confidence. She pressed her nails into the palm of her hand as she awaited a response, the pain holding her attention and keeping her from panicking. “Or we can skip it.”

“No, no,” Charlie rushed to say. “Um, we should. Right? Why don’t you come over?”

“I can be there in fifteen minutes. Should I bring, I don’t know, a bottle of wine? What’s fitting?”

“I have wine. Get over here.”

Taryn remembered to breathe. All was well. They would talk. Things would clear up, and at the very least, she’d know more than she did now. “On my way. Not at all afraid.”

“Hey. Just me.”

Warmth settled in the center of her chest. “You’re right. And that’s the best part.”

“See you soon, Taryn,” Charlie said, her voice a tad quieter.

When she opened the door to her room, she smacked straight into Caz and Sasha, who had been pressed against the door.

“Owww. How about a little warning?” Sasha asked, hand to her forehead.

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