Page 5 of Only One Bed: Anthology Vol. 1
He was searching my face for something.
I was searching for something to say.
Everything Jules was saying was everything I wanted to hear but I wasn’t sure how I should respond. This intense and heavy moment felt like I was being offered a delicate priceless treasure, but terrified to accept it for fear of breaking it.
“I was…waiting for you to call.” I’m not sure why those are the words I chose, but that’s what I said.
“Shit,” he whispered. “No cap?”
I shook my head.
“Damn.” He reached up and scratched his head. “What would you have said if I did call?”
“Hi.” I tucked my lips between my teeth to stifle a laugh. Julian laughed in response and the tension in the truck shattered like a pane of glass. “I guess we would’ve gone to lunch and taken it from there…” I shrugged.
“Wow.” Julian reached up and scratched his head again. “I need a minute.” He opened his door.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
“Look, I know where my head’s at. It’s been there for years and I’m a little tight that it’s took me this long to tell you, but things will be complicated with us from jump. Your brother is my best friend. Our families are close.” He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Honestly, I don’t care about that. I’m ready to risk it all for you, but I want to make sure you feel the same way before we cross a line.”
“So why are you leaving?”
“Because, you need time to process this and I really wanna kiss you but if I start kissing you I’m not gonna wanna stop.”
My eyes went wide with shock. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. So, I closed it again. Julian smiled.
“Nadirah, you don’t have to say anything. Even if I just made a complete fool of myself, it felt good to get it out. I’ll respect whatever you decide.”
He released my hand and left the truck, closing the door softly behind him. A minute later, I heard the click of the tailgate opening and felt the truck bounce slowly as he climbed into the bed.
Three
Wow.
Just, wow.
Jules had feelings for me. Real feelings.
He felt the way I felt about him all these years and he never acted on it. This wasn’t a hard decision. No other person I’ve dated, woman or man, has ever come close to making me feel the way Julian had in the last half hour.
I slowly opened my door, jumped out of the truck and walked around to the back where I found Julian sitting on the tailgate staring at the photo. My sneakers crunched over leaves and twigs. The noise made him turn.
“Hey.” I called to him.
“Hey.” He jumped down and lifted me by the waist to sit before hopping up beside me.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Well, I’m not sure exactly,” I said in a chuckle. “It’s a lot of information to take in.” I put my hand on his thigh and he covered it with his own.
“Yeah.” He nodded. I reached for the photo in his other hand and held it up.
“Why this picture?” I asked. “You must have taken dozens of photos that night. Why is this one your favorite?”
“When your brother told me what happened, I borrowed a suit from my roommate and hopped in my truck. I had zero expectations and I was fully prepared for you to shoot me down. My intentions were pure. I couldn’t bear the thought of someone I cared about being let down when there was something I could do to help. But when you came down those stairs…” He sighed. “You were all light and beauty and optimism. No one would have blamed you if you were angry but you weren’t. Not only that, you cared about me.”
