Page 19 of In the Light of the Moon

When I’d gotten back home, I’d checked that Granna was all right, then done the same with Josie by texting her and checking her location.

After showering and getting in bed with a book, I’d sent a text to Orion, telling him I got home okay and thanking him again for the drinks. Well, I sent the text right before setting my phone to do-not-disturb and focusing all of my energy on the assigned reading I had to finish before Monday’s class.

I couldn’t resist, though. By the time I’d finished the reading, assuredly not retaining much because my mind kept wonderingwhether he’d texted me back, I clicked off my bedside lamp and almost frantically checked my messages.

No thanks necessary. I had fun, Sylvie.

His message was short, but it left me smiling as I laid my head on my pillow and drifted off.

I nodded now, inviting him to sit, and pushed aside my laptop and study packet to give him room. My latte was downright cold at this point, but I threw the rest back and crumpled my napkin into the empty mug.

Then, I shrugged off my sweater, though the air wasn’t exactly warm enough for a sleeveless shirt. I just couldn’t figure out what to do with my hands with him in front of me again. And I normally wasn’t this nervous, but with his woodsy cologne wafting toward me, I couldn’t sit still.

Orion’s bright green eyes seemed soft today, like they’d been at the bar four nights ago, and I wondered if he still wanted to go on a date. “You look nice,” he said before taking a sip from his cup.

I grasped my thigh to keep my hand from running over my hair again, “Thank you. So do you.” His small smile was warm, and the skin around his eyes crinkled a little with the movement. There was another pause, an awkward silence, and my mind raced to desperately decide what to say to fill it. Not that I didn’t like silence, but… I felt like Ihadto say something to him.

But what would be the right thing? Every other interaction with him felt like a dream, and that kiss, though I could still feel it on my lips and his hands still on my body, was almost too amazing to be real.

“Uh, busy today?”And then I winced at the lame question, but he didn’t seem to blanch, nor did he laugh.

He shook his head, and I watched one of the bigger curls atop his head bounce and sway. “No, I got most of my grading done this morning before I left the house. Just needed to swing by my office and run some errands today. You?”

I relaxed in my seat, thankful that he’d picked up my pathetic attempt at conversation. “A bit. I was able to get out of the house some to study. As you can see,” I gestured at my laptop, “it hasn’t been the most successful venture.”

Orion’s chuckle was husky, and it made me lean a bit closer, “I’m sure you’ll do fine on the exam.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Papers, I could write all day long. But I gethorribletest anxiety. I could very easily choke,” I shrugged and shifted until I sat on my hands. The pressure on my fingers calmed the urge to fidget just a bit.

“Well… do you need someone to help you study? Quiz you, maybe?” His voice was gruffly hesitant, as if we hadn’t had our tongues down the other’s throat a few days ago.

“Um,” I chewed on my lip for a moment not wanting to seem too eager, but Iwaseager. He was waiting patiently for my answer, but I noticed the nervous twist of his fingers against the cardboard sleeve around his coffee cup. “If you aren’t too busy. That would be helpful.” His immediate exhale made me feel lighter.

And with that opening, I directed Orion to the study packet that had bulleted lists of definitions and information that I had only halfway memorized. Most of itseemedlike it should be ingrained in my brain from growing up in this country and being a good student all these years. But, for some reason, the information wasn’t really sticking.

“Which of these states were included in the original thirteen colonies of the United States…” Orion created his own questions based on what was included in the packet I bought from the campus bookstore, and we went back and forth for a long while.When I groaned in misery at each incorrect answer, Orion would give me a small smile and ask me to take another guess.

We worked through each page in the packet, ordering more coffee at the halfway point, and when he asked his last question, I almost rejoiced in triumph when I guessed the correct president. “Well, done, Sylvie. That was…” Orion looked to the napkin he’d been jotting down a tally of my correct responses and the number of questions, “forty-one correct out of fifty, so eighty-two percent.”

“Oh, thank goddess,” I muttered and passed relieved hands over my hair to pat it down. Orion gave another low chuckle and closed my packet to hand back to me.

While I stuffed it and my laptop back in my bag, he cleared his throat and started, “I’ve been thinking about… our date.”

I sunk my hands into my lap and gave a tentative smile, “Yeah?”

His brow was furrowed now as he stared at some space between us, “I was wondering if you’d be available tomorrow?”

I had to temper my smile. Vinny’s was closed on Mondays, so work wouldn’t be an issue. “Sure. Where were you thinking?”

He shrugged self-consciously but said, “Thai food? There is a nice place just a block from here, actually.”

“That sounds great,” I grinned. “I love Thai food.”

Orion ducked his head as he took the last gulp from his coffee, “Me too,” but I also saw the pleasant tilting of his lips in a smaller version of my smile. “I’ve only gotten takeout from there, but the food is great.” I noticed the pink color flushing his cheeks and the tops of his ears.

I nodded, and my smile grew even more at the realization that the feeling I got at the bar was correct. Orionwasbashful. But then my mind went back to that knee-wobbling kiss. In those moments between us, after he’d relaxed and joked withme over our poor billiard skills, he seemed anything but. He was more sure of himself while he smoked in front of me in silence.

His hand reached up to ruffle the back of his head and the curls that looked extra bouncy today. He shifted in his seat, not looking at me, but it only made me soften more toward him. “Orion?”

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