Page 42 of Rewrites of the Heart

“Yeah, what about him?” She turned to look at him. His brown eyes met hers. She sighed.

“That’s Justin Lambert.”

“Justin? Our Justin from the conspiracy class?”

“Yep. One and the same.”

“Yay, Justin!” JJ shouted. Unfortunately, her late cheer echoed through the stadium at an unusually quiet time and sounded louder than she had intended. She tugged at Kenn’s sweatshirt and apologized.

“No need to.” He smiled down at her, hesitantly placing his arm around her. Surprised, but by no means upset, she sidled a little closer to him, enjoying the moment.

Chapter 30

From the sidelines, Alex ran over to Blake, who was in the final stanzas and antics of a cheer. She pointed to where the two professors were standing.

He took the best hard look he could, considering the combined restraints of his finger costume and the knuckle head cover. He punched his arms out of the holes and placed his arms around the love of his life, pulling her as close as he could—considering the circumstances.

“We’re on the right track,” she said. “They look great together.” Blake’s giant fingernail nodded yes. And the fighting finger gave out a big sigh.

At that moment, the buzzer signaled the end of the game. UNO had won its first game in five years with a score of fourteen to seven. Alex and Blake grabbed each other, hopping around on the field like a couple of rabbits. He finally stopped, stripped his knuckle head cover off and planted a long, hard kiss on Alex’s lips.

The rest of the cheerleaders and the men’s pep squad burst into a grand chorus of “aw.” The pair reluctantly parted lips as their friends pointed to the big screen. The moment had been broadcast—up close and personal—to the entire stadium.

The image then switched to another couple blissfully enthralled in a long and passionate kiss—JJ and Kenn. Alex grabbed Blake.

Arms wrapped around one another, lips exploring each other, the kiss was anything but an ordinary aren’t-we-glad-UNO-won peck on the lips. No, their smoldering passion sparked into longing and hunger quickly. It was plain enough. Especially to the two veterans of romance pages. If the game’s outcome ignited the moment of passion, that initial kindling was soon fanned as the embers caught fire with this long, indulgent kiss.

“The moment looks so passionate on the big screen.” Alex pointed to the jumbotron. She whispered to Blake, “Look at that, will you. JJ’s been holding out on us, in those pages she’s been writing. If she’s got that much passion in her, so do we.” She paused and gave Blake a long look from head to toe. “Wait till I get you home tonight.” He got as close as he could to her again considering the shape of the mascot’s outfit, wrapped his arms partially around her, kissed her hair delicately, and just stood there for a moment.

****

The professors slowly became aware that a collective “aw” filled the stadium, intruding on the moment. JJ was the first to open her eyes and stole a glance around. In a spurt, she pushed herself away from Kenn. His grip on her was strong and he wasn’t ready to release her, so she couldn’t put much distance between them.

Her eyes involuntarily followed what everyone else was watching—the jumbotron. The images of her and Ken stood, larger than life, featured in the middle of the screen as entertainment for the rest of the fans.

Absolutely humiliated, totally confused, her cheeks hot with humiliation, she wished there was a rock to crawl under. The best she could find, though, was Kenn’s jacket. She raised one side up and stuck her head in it, like an ostrich sticks his head in the sand. Kenn held her with both arms tightly wrapped around her small frame.

The big screen TV captured this as well. The crowd laughed, then cheered, then applauded.

A small, muffled voice from within his shirt pleaded, “Take me home now…please.”

Chapter 31

The ride from the stadium to JJ’s home was excruciatingly silent. JJ sat, hands wrapped around her body, staring out the windshield.

“I think I owe you—” he began.

“Don’t. Say. A. Word.” She gave him a look that he knew reinforced the words. He didn’t dare speak. What an ass I truly am, he thought, as he decided to keep his view on the road and his mouth shut.The last thing I need is to get into an accident while I’m attempting to explain myself. She really would never talk to me again.

He sighed deeply as he stopped for a traffic light and noticed that it did cause her to glance over at him. He couldn’t even imagine what was going through her mind. On second thought, oh yes, he could. It was official. He had no hope of ever getting any closer to her. Damn it.

Mercifully, he finally pulled into her driveway. Even before the car fully stopped, she had begun to open the door. He worried she would accuse him of pushing her out of a moving vehicle.

Before she exited, she did nod over to him and whisper a thank you. He nodded in return. He was at a loss of what to say to her. He watched as she hurried up the driveway to the back of her house, where she disappeared from his sight.

He lingered a few moments in the driveway. He tried to think of a way to follow her to apologize that didn’t seem desperate or stalker-like. He eventually gave up on the idea. He sighed as he put the car in reverse, placed his left arm over his seat, and backed out. As he pulled onto the roadway, he stared at the house as if the action would bring JJ running to the window to…well, what he had no idea.

He drove toward home, but suddenly decided he didn’t want to sit alone sulking, so he made a quick right turn and headed for the Physics Café. If he was going to sulk, he would do it around joyous people. He could only imagine the celebration taking place there. After all, for everyone else at the University of Northern Ohio, it was indeed a remarkably joyful day.

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