Page 8 of Lovesick
“Yeah, but I would have just gone for a degree in business administration or something. I would have spent a ton of money for a degree I don’t need when my mom can teach me what she knows on the job. And I don’t have to worry about getting hired because it’s a family business. I’ll inherit it one day.”Nothing’s changed,I reminded myself again, downing a third of my beer in two gulps. Maggie would go back to Tulane in a few hours, and I would go back to work.
We could keep the illusion going a little longer, though. Maggie was clearly on the same page. “Remember when we went to the theater and watched three movies in a row? And we only left ‘cause we got caught on the fourth?”
I grimaced at the memory but couldn’t keep myself from breaking into a grin. “And my mom’s friend’s daughter was the one who caught us.”
“And she was mad at you for turning her down when she hinted you should ask her to the prom, and she told her mom, and then your mom found out.”
“She didn’t really care that much…. Which was kinda amazing, now that I think about it. Just told me that it was dishonest and not to do it again.”
“Oh my gosh,” Maggie giggled. “I just remembered that we got hungry after the second movie and texted my friend and asked her to bring us snacks since she was coming to the theater to watch something else. Do you remember that?”
“Vividly. She walks in, and we’re making-out in the back row,” I chuckled. “But there was no one else in there.” We were just two teenagers in the darkened theater, sitting in the back row for hours… alone… with no one else to tell us not to shout warnings to the good guys and laugh out loud at anything funny and plenty of things that weren’t. Loud, booming sound effects, dim lights, privacy… The perfect environment for naughty activities.
But that had been our second or third date. While we were both openly fine with making-out in an empty movie theater, and we had been friends for a while before dating, I hadn’t felt comfortable sneaking my hands any lower than her waist. I didn’t want to make a mistake and screw up the good thing we had going with typical horny, high school male decision making. I had been just grateful for the dark theater and handled the problem in my bedroom later.
We swapped stories, testing each other on what we recalled from our short summer after our senior year. The answer? Everything. Those had been our last times together before Maggie went off to college and I started learning our business in earnest. After that special summer, everything had changed for both of us - not in a bad way, but things had still changed.
I could tell, nursing school had been good for Maggie. She used to have a habit of always voicing her opinions straight out, the way she saw things, unafraid of how it might sound to people around her. It was true, she had annoyed me at times with her direct attitude, but it had also been one of the things I liked about her. I couldn’t stand all those girls who batted their eyelashes, flirted nonstop and played hard to get until you bought them a gift or did them a favor.
Insensitivity couldn’t be good in a hospital setting with sick patients, though. And it seemed her nursing training had taught her not to speak heedlessly without considering others. But Maggie had spoken up when I called the waiter over to order that second beer, and she tried to talk me out of it.
Maggie was right, I had to drive. But I also knew my tolerance - two beers were perfectly fine. I couldn’t convince her of this, and she only dropped the issue when the waiter arrived with another beer. It took another few minutes for her to drop the tight-lipped expression and return to her cheerful self.
Yeah, Maggie could be a little bossy, but she was that way partially because she was a caring person. She just didn’t want me to crash into oncoming traffic on the way home.
Home. I glanced at the watch I always wore and winced when I saw the time. Maggie’s eyes widened when I checked it, and she craned her neck around to see its face. “Oh my gosh, I have to get going. My mom and I are supposed to go shopping before I leave today.”
“And my mom might just beat my -” I stifled the word ‘ass.’ “Beat me with the bouquet of thorny roses because I was supposed to bring her lunch.”
“She might,” Maggie agreed giggling, clearly picturing my fiery, businesslike mother with a large bouquet of roses thrashing my ass. “Maybe you’ll be spared if you leave right now.”
We had long since finished our meals and paid the bill, so all we had left to do was get up and leave the restaurant. “I’ll walk you to your car,” I decided as we stepped out into the pleasant afternoon. The walk turned out to be an upsettingly short one - just around the corner of the building to a row of parking spots. I watched while Maggie unlocked the door and set her things inside her car.
She straightened up, her eyes two blue forget-me-nots basking in the spring sun. A gentle wind bounced wayward curls against her cheeks as she gazed up at me, and for the first time since the accident had brought us together, she looked…unsure. Hesitant. Like she didn’t know quite what to say next, or she wished there was no need to say anything at all.
It was too adorable for me to handle. One hand encircled her waist, and one absorbed the warmth from sun-heated glass as I stepped forward. Pinning her against the car with my body, I held her there with a kiss.
I didn’t want to end the kiss. I didn’t want to start a second one. I just wanted this one to last forever, making up for every second of the years we had spent apart.
I wanted this one - the taste of her lips, the softness of her hair, and the way she melted into my arms - to stay with me forever and remind me of her when she left again, and I stayed behind.
Chapter Five
Maggie
I wasn’t back at the university for a week before I missed my cat. How hard would it be to convince my sorority sisters and the alumni who technically owned the sorority house that I needed a companion animal to live here with me? If there was room for several sorority girls in this house, there was room for a single cat. It could have the run of the house during the day, and come sleep with me in my room at night. Zoe and Abigail wouldn’t care; they liked animals. It could work…
Except that I had already been living in this house for three years without incident, so it wouldn’t make any sense if I tried to request permission to have a pet now. And I was about to graduate and move out in a few short months.
There was something so simple and calming about animals. As long as they were cared for properly, they led a stress-free life full of naps, snacks, sunbathing, and affection from animal lovers like me. They were never too busy for you, and they never judged you or asked questions. Animals could hang out right next to you forever, sleeping or handling personal hygiene, and not need a single thing from you.
I gazed around my decidedly catless room with a sigh. This was all just wishful thinking anyway. Cats hated change, and they didn’t like to be uprooted and shuttled from home to home, especially not when a house full of loud women was involved. My cat was also used to going outside, which she could do in our large yard at home. Technically, the sorority house had a yard - but it was small and had busy streets on two sides. This would be no place for an indoor-outdoor cat. My precious black furball would be much better off staying at home with my mom and grandma.
I listened. The house was quiet. Most of the girls were home, chilling in their rooms or the living room and winding down for Ash Wednesday evening before classes resumed tomorrow. Neither Zoe nor Abigail was home - Abigail was probably at work and Zoe… Well, Zoe was probably out doing Zoe things.
I lay on my back and stretched out on my bed. I wasn’t tired, but I didn’t want to waste the rest of my short break…but what was there to do? If I didn’t find something to do, I would start-
Thinking about Marty again. Too late. Now, I wouldn’t be able to get those strong, calloused hands and mind-blowingly soft and scratchy kisses out of my mind.
