Page 42 of Give In To Love
“Last I heard, he was heading to Purdue for college, but I lost track after that. I didn’t bring it up today. It’s an awkward topic since they broke up.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“She gave me her number though. Told me to keep in touch.”
“Do you think you will?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I caught him sneaking a glance at me. “I’m trying this new thing where I don’t shut people out.”
“Oh yeah?” I glanced at him with a teasing smile. “How’s that going?”
“Well, I got a pretty great boyfriend out of it, so…”
I pulled his hand up and kissed the back of it. “Said boyfriend’s also pretty glad you’re giving it a shot.”
We rode the rest of the way in comfortable silence, arriving back at the dorms a little after nine o’clock. Exhausted from the long day, we got changed and brushed our teeth, then climbed into my bed. It pleased me that he didn’t even ask this time.
I pulled him into me, the little spoon to my bigger one, sighing contentedly as he sank into me. “Thanks for coming today,” I mumbled sleepily into his hair.
“Thanks for inviting me. Your grandma is a real special lady.”
“She is. She liked you. Pulled me aside and lectured me about making sure to treat you right.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That I wouldn’t dream of treating you like anything less than the king you are.”
“You’re so full of shit.”
“Maybe. But it’s true.”
“Go to sleep, baby. I’m tired.”
Baby.Jimmy called me baby.
It was the last thought I had before we were both lost to sleep.
* * *
If I thoughtthings were hectic before, our lives got impossibly busier over the next several weeks. Because we were both education majors, we had practicum hours to complete, which meant scheduling time around our other classes to go into school classrooms to observe and work with students in small group settings. Jimmy picked up more hours at the library, and musical rehearsals occupied pretty much any of the time I had left. I missed him more than I thought it possible to miss someone. Especially when you considered we were roommates. We slept in each other’s beds every night, sometimes indulging in a quick make-out session before succumbing to sleep, but more often than not, we crashed before we got to the good stuff.
Still, Jimmy was opening up more and more in little ways that I was so thankful I got to witness. He was sneakily funny and quick with a perfectly timed comeback. His dry delivery took me by surprise on more than one occasion and left me aching with laughter. He initiated contact with me more and more—reaching for my hand, leaning in for a quick kiss or a hug. They were like little gifts, and I treasured each one. I still hadn’t met his brother or friends, but our schedules hadn’t really allowed for it.
Jimmy walked in late in the evening one Sunday in October, looking even more pale than usual and exhausted. I was sitting cross-legged on my bed, trying to catch up on the mountain of homework I’d gotten behind on while he’d been at work at the library. We both had midterms coming up this week, and I was down to a week and a half before opening night. We were both feeling frazzled.
Jimmy tossed his backpack on the floor next to his desk, then collapsed face-first on his bed, groaning into the pillow. I set my laptop and textbook aside and climbed onto his bed. “Rough shift?”
He turned his head in my direction and opened one eye. “With midterms this week, everyone is stressed and taking it out on everyone else. People were frustrated when books they needed were already checked out, study rooms were occupied, technology wasn’t cooperating, and I was the person sitting in front of them that they could yell at. In the meantime, I couldn’t get any of my own work done because we were too busy and I was constantly needed to help someone else.”
“I’m sorry, sunshine. Did you eat?”
“Yeah. I ate a sandwich about an hour ago. And I took something for a headache just before I walked home, but it hasn’t fully kicked in yet.”
I sat up and swung my legs over his so I was straddling him, sitting on the back of his thighs. I slid my hands beneath his hoodie, rubbing my palms up and down the smooth skin of his back.
“Mmm,” he mumbled into the pillow.
“Take this off.” I leaned over so my face was next to his and yanked at his hoodie while kissing his nose.
