Page 29 of Courting Clemson

“Noted.” I nodded and dried off a bit too before lying down on my towel to let the sun dry me the rest of the way. “This has been a great day. I can’t remember the last time I went this long without thinking about work.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled across her shoulder. “Are you one of those guys who works too much?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes there’s no way around it. Sometimes it’s just out of boredom. I’d rather work on a campaign or something than watch TV.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Not a big TV watcher either. My roommates, however…” She rolled her eyes. “They watch a lot of reality crap. I can’t stand those shows.”

“It’s garbage. Mostly, if I have the set on, it’s the food channel,” I told her.

“Do you like to cook?”

“A little. I like to eat more.” I laughed. “Since I’m alone, it’s either figure it out or order in. I get tired of eating out of to-go containers, you know?”

She nodded, then leaned back to enjoy the sun. Since she had her eyes closed, I took in the long line of her body again before closing my eyes too. A nap sounded perfect, but if I fell asleep in the sun, I’d definitely regret the burn later.

I really wanted to ask her out. How much hell would I catch about the age gap, though? Did that even matter? Honestly, I was pretty tired of caring what other people thought about how I lived my life. I spent my whole life people-pleasing, and look where it had gotten me.

Sure, I was successful in my career, but my personal life sucked. I was tired of being alone, and worse than that, being lonely. Even though my parents were gone, I could hear their voices in my head during every big decision I made. It was time to get out from under that mental scrutiny and live my life the way I wanted.

As the sun went down, and we all packed up our stuff, I watched Clemson from several yards away. I waited for a chance to catch her alone again so I could try to set something up.

The group walked in different directions to our cars, but luck was with me because she was parked just a few cars down from mine. I tried to help her carry her stuff to her car, but she was fiercely independent and refused. Instead, she was loaded down like a pack mule carrying her stuff and half of Grace’s. The roommate drank a bit too much and was stumbling through the parking lot alongside her, catching more attention than I preferred from passersby.

Clemson got her friend settled in the front seat after starting her car and getting the air conditioning going. After she closed the passenger side door, it was time to make my move. I’d kick myself if I didn’t at least try.

“Hey, wait up a second,” I called to her as she reached for the handle of the driver’s side door.

I strolled over to her so I wasn’t shouting and asked, “Can I get your number? I’d love to see you again.”

“Umm…” She shifted her gaze around the immediate area. “Is that a good idea?”

I had no clue what to make of that question. “What do you mean?”

She looked around quickly before asking, “Won’t you catch a lot of shit with our age difference?”

“I don’t really care what other people think, and I really enjoyed talking with you and hanging out today.” Not to mention how smoking hot she was, but I wouldn’t make the exchange uncomfortable by blurting that out.

“I had a great day too. And you’re a really nice guy.”

I knew what was coming next.

But before I could say anything to let her off the hook from having to turn me down directly, she continued.

“I’ve got a lot of balls in the air right now. I don’t know how great of a date I’d be.”

Okay… It seemed like hope was still alive here. “Why don’t you let me decide that? I’m just talking about a date. See where things go from there.”

“How about this? You already figured out how to get in touch with me. Maybe we can set something up. I just have so many irons in the fire, as they say.” Worry creased her brow, and I was getting the feeling there was more to this than a casual brush-off.

“Do you need to talk about it? I’m told I’m a great listener…”

She was shaking her head before I could finish. If I wasn’t mistaken, tears were flooding her big blue eyes too.

She inhaled deeply like she was trying to regain her composure. “I wouldn’t want to unload all my nonsense on you. I’m sure you have way more important things to occupy your gray matter.” She plastered on that fake smile, and once again, it made my stomach turn on itself.

“Well.” I sighed. “The offer stands. And I will message you if that’s the way you want to do this. I’m not giving up. I really enjoy hanging out with you.”

“You’re sweet,” she said and touched my arm.

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