Page 47 of Fall Twice

I pull her finger away and gently keep hold of it and slide my fingers to her wrist. “I know. You made your point clear that I should think about the bigger picture.”

“Good.” Lena stands taller.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I promise, and my tone is serious. “I want to do right by you.”

We both stand and stare, with a silence looming around us.

She tries to avoid my gaze. “Apple butter. I saw a stall for that, should probably check that out.” She attempts to steer our conversation in another direction.

“Avoidance much?”

She rolls her eyes at me and smirks, and I’m relieved we can insert ease into the conversation. I let her wrist go so we can continue to stroll along the line of stalls, and I appreciate how much I enjoy this. Just walking, watching, and breathing in the air. But undoubtedly, it’s having Lena next to me that I know is causing me the most bliss.

“Want to know something funny?” she asks.

“Surprise me.”

“I was at the grocery store and there were two girls picking out ice cream, along with their cans of White Claw, and they were talking about this mean professor who has been grumpy all week, but they’ll allow it because he has searing eyes worth every 9am lecture.”

I smirk to myself. “Let me guess. The mean yet good-looking professor was me?”

She shrugs her shoulder. “I mean, they never mentioned names, but I think we know you are the prime suspect.”

“Will you ever surprise me again in my lecture?”

She laughs. “No way. I was mesmerized for the hour but have zero interest in what you talk about.”

“Oh, thanks.” I slide my hands into my pockets.

Now she gives me the taunting look. “Uh-oh, did I offend you? Someone actually doesn’t want to follow your class?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I can handle it. I’m sure my lectures to you are the equivalent of your knitting skills to me,” I tease her and immediately she pinches me. “Ouch. You have a claw there.”

I grab her wrist again, and we find ourselves in an awkward yet intimate position where her eyes peer up at me, and if I moved an inch then I could capture her mouth. And I want to.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

I have no clue why she says that. “What for?”

“Making me laugh. I needed that for so many reasons.”

“Am I a reason?” I thread my fingers through the end of her strands of hair.

“Yeah… you are.” Then her smirk widens. “Not necessarily for the right reason.”

I want to kiss her, but she isn’t mine to kiss, not yet anyway. “Lena…”

She pats my shoulders before breaking our embrace. “I see my friend. I need to go. It was good to see you.” I hear the sincerity in her tone.

“Yeah… you too.” I reluctantly drop her arm as she vanishes faster than a shooting star.

I curse to myself as I watch her head into the distance. I take a breather before I return to the stall where both Prudence and Johnny are giving me a stern look.

“That was some sexual tension,” Prudence blankly says before holding out a stick of herbs. “For your aura. It might need some clarifying because you seem to have a blockage between your heart and mind.”

“No shit.” I’m frustrated with myself and grab the stick because all options are on the table to get me out of this mood.

Johnny just shakes his head at me. “You get one life, kid. Don’t think for too long. You more than anyone knows how it can change in a second. You survived for a reason, so grasp on to your second chance at happiness.”

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