Page 6 of Beyond our Forever

A couple of minutes later, as they returned I heard their voices from where I was sat on the sofa, still mystified—and excited—by the unexpected visit.

“I completely forgot,” Bruce exclaimed. “These are for you.”

Bruce gave me the bouquet, and when he saw how thrilled I was to receive them, he gave me a smile that lit up the house, even though the sun was still shining outside.

“Would you like something to drink, coffee, sweet tea?” I asked, belatedly remembering my manners. The poor guy had been walking the street for several hours looking for me, and even though it was almost spring, the heat in Tucson—the city where we lived back then—was overwhelming.

“I have a better one. Have dinner with me.”

What? Dinner at this hour?

“It’s too early for dinner,” I replied, which was true, it was only four in the afternoon.

“I can’t help that,” he replied, staring at me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Warren trying to keep from laughing, so I gave him a look that could kill and after, thankfully, he left us alone. “It’s your fault because I came with the intention of inviting you to lunch, but you made it difficult for me to find you.”

“And I’m still not going to make it easy for you.” After all, I knew as little about him as he did about me. Sure, I wanted to fix that, but we still had a long way to go.

His laughter echoed off the walls of the living room.

“Well, that’s going to be fun,” he agreed. “But I hope you will at least agree to go eat something with me.”

“As I said, it’s too early for dinner,” I insisted. “But if you give me some time to get ready and then invite me to watch a movie, maybe I’ll agree to spend some time with you.”

“Yes, to the second,” he exclaimed. “But I don’t see the need for the first, you already look beautiful.”

His compliment made me blush to the tips of my ears. What the hell was happening to me? I never got red, never.

In the end, I decided not to do much to my appearance. If he liked it, it was fine with me. I just changed my shoes for espadrilles, threw on a couple of accessories, a few drops of my favorite body mist, and I was ready to go out.

I went to living room to find my brother talking sports stats with Bruce, both immersed in a discussion about the next super bowl. Jeez, the season hadn’t even started and they were already placing bets.

The explanation was simple.

Men!

“Ready,” I announced and Bruce jumped to his feet, cutting the conversation with my brother, his eyes locked on mine.

“Let’s go then,” he replied, extending one of his long hands which I didn’t hesitate to accept. I allowed him to lead the way, not realizing we were setting on a path that would lead us to our ultimate destination, and that he would be my tour guide.

The sweet illusion of first love, they call it.

Those two hours became several more, because when we left the cinema neither of us wanted things to end there, so when he spoke of a Mexican restaurant he knew and mentioned tacos, I was unable to resist.

But that was just an excuse. What I really wanted was for the clock to stop marking the hours and for the guy with the dark hair and brown eyes to continue enchanting me with those dimples that appeared every time he smiled.

I wanted those hands to link with mine and never let them go.

???

“Architecture?” I asked as I swirled the iced tea in my glass. “Sounds like you have a bright future ahead of you.”

He laughed out loud before answering, “God, I hope so, because right now all I have is a lot of blueprints to draw, gallons of coffee to drink, gastritis, and impossible deadlines. I should submit the proposal to the dean to change the name of the faculty to architorture. Don’t be surprised if I show up at your house one day wearing my shirt inside out, as some days I forget that I’m even human.”

Somehow he had convinced me to go to a small restaurant with him, where I’d ordered an iced tea and a Tres Leches cake, and we’d been talking for a long time.

“I can always help you get dressed,” I replied, and the moment those words left my mouth, I regretted them, the desire lingering in the syllables leaving things suspended in the air, floating between us.

We looked into each other’s eyes for a few moments, not knowing what to say. Maybe if we had been in a more private place with fewer people around…

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