Page 51 of We'll Meet Again

He watched the mist form over her eyes before she blinked it away. For a moment, he thought about kissing her. Showing her just how much it meant to him that she showed up for him. But he realized it would have been selfish, so he held back. If they were going to kiss, it needed to be about both of them, not just for himself.

“Have you been watchingLord of the Ringsall day?” she asked suddenly with a glance at the TV.

“I have, it’s something I gotta do when I’m feeling sad,” he told her.

“Would you like some company for the last one?”

“I’d love it.”

They parted, and he held back a rolling shiver at the loss of her touch.

“I’ll just pop back home and change,” she said, starting for the door.

“Nonsense,” he replied, taking her hand to stop her. “You can borrow something of mine if you’d rather not go back out into the cold.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Darlin’, I just served my heart to you baked at three-fifty degrees in a honey glaze,” he said. “You help yourself to whatever you want.”

She chuckled and, with one last soft look at him, disappeared into his bedroom. He tried not to think too hard about the fact that she was in his bedroom. Getting undressed. Shaking his head, he got fresh glasses of tea and ordered some pizza on his phone. She emerged in one of his Stanmore FC sweatshirts and joggers, both of which were greatly oversized on her, but she looked adorable. To his pleasure, she had also helped herself to a pair of fuzzy socks. The urge to kiss her was even more powerful.

“Not how I imagined I’d look on our second date, but I am quite comfortable,” she joked.

He shook his head. “Oh, heck no, this ain’t a date.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No, this is just…a friendly hang out,” he said. “With that being said, you look plum cute.”

“Thank you,” she said, tucking her hair back with a laugh.

He followed her over to the couch, setting their drinks down on the coffee table before taking a seat beside her. Their thighs were touching, which sent a bolt of electricity up his spine, but he took a deep breath before his mind went places it shouldn’t.

“So,Lord of the Ringsis your version of self care, is it?” she asked, and he was immensely grateful she spoke first.

“It's one version,” he said. “My other major one is country line dancing.”

“Country line dancing?”

“Yeah, like you’d do at a honky tonk or -” he stopped himself at the blank look on her face. “You have no idea what that is, do you?”

“Not a clue,” she admitted.

He smiled. “Well, a honky tonk is really just a bar. But a lot of them have a dance floor, and different songs have different dances. Like…the electric slide, but country music specific.”

“And that’s how you make yourself feel better?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “My grandma used to take me with her all the time, and it was a blast. I declare, it’s impossible not to smile when you hear Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”

She stared at him. “Are you taking the piss?”

“No!” he laughed. “Why would I be doing that?”

“I just refuse to believe there’s actually a song called…Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” she said, and he saw her struggle to get her mouth around the words. It sounded so wrong, but so cute at the same time.

“It’s very real,” he assured her. “If we were in Charlotte, I’d drive you out to Coyote Joe’s right now.”

“Okay, you’redefinitelymaking that up,” she teased.

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