Page 29 of Falling for Carla

“I wouldn’t want you thinking all the terror and death made me go soft,” she said.

“Be nice or I’ll spoil the ending of the game for you.”

“The final score is in the literal description on the screen,” she laughed. “I know how to read!”

“I’d hope so if you plan to pass my class,” I said.

“Would this be a bad time to make a joke about extra credit?” she asked.

“Very,” I told her, “You know I don’t want you thinking that my interest in your safety obligates you to—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, I know that, Drake,” she said, rolling her eyes again, “that’s why it’s funny! You take it so seriously like you’re going to lose your place at the Round Table and someone else will be King Arthur’s right-hand man because you’re soiled.”

I laughed. “That’s a little dramatic.”

“Well so are you! For a hot ass ex-cop that can make his students cream their panties, you are a total pearl clutcher about adults admitting they’re attracted to each other. I’m surprised you don’t need smelling salts to sit beside me. I’m not attacking your virtue. You don’t have to be afraid. I just like a little good-natured trash talk with you. You’re funny and smart and—”

“A hot ass ex-cop?” I said, holding back laughter.

“Exactly. And you’re so buttoned up, so careful with me. I wonder what it looks like when you let go, when you’re not keeping yourself on a leash. Want me to make you clutch your pearls and fan yourself?” she challenged.

“What?”

“I’ve imagined it. I’ve imagined you. Savage and raw and unleashed.”

“You make it sound like I belong in a cage.”

“No, I think that you believe you have to be caged. The self-control in this room is dialed up to eleven, and that’s mostly you.”

“I’m treating you like a person who is having a hard time and needs some help.”

“No, you’re treating me like I’m a damn untouchable princess in a tower. Like taking me to bed would be a fate worse than death.”

“That’s because it would do too much damage. To both our careers, and possibly to both of us, too. I don’t do one-night stands much anymore because I didn’t like them. I like you too well to walk off and leave you in the morning, not to mention that we’re staying together for the foreseeable future so there wouldn’t be any escape if things went badly.”

“You’re afraid I’m going to go psycho and you’ll be stuck here with me,” she said flatly.

“Not psycho, but sex can make people emotional. Big emotions in an already intense time mixed in with fear and grief and you get a pressure cooker. I don’t want to deal with that kind of turmoil.”

“If you tell me that at your age you just want to get a dog and go fishing and have some peace and quiet, I swear to God I will break something,” she said.

“I don’t want to go fishing, but there’s no shame in wanting life to be on a pretty even keel,” I said.

“Fine. Let’s forget this and be friends,” she said.

We finished off the pizza and sat side by side on my couch watching the rest of the game. She impressed me a few more times with her knowledge of baseball, and she was yawning by the bottom of the ninth. When it ended, I cleared away the box and paper plates while she disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out, I offered her the only things I could find for her to sleep in. A t-shirt of mine and some basketball shorts.

“Tomorrow I’m going to talk to Brent and get a bag of clothes and things I asked him to pick up for you. If there’s anything specific you want, he can get it and I’ll have it here tomorrow.”

I handed her the makeshift pajamas; she gave a half smile at the shorts that would be so ridiculously huge on her.

“Tonight you’re stuck with my clothes, I’m afraid,” I said.

“I think I’ll just wear the shirt,” she said, handing the shorts back to me. “Thank you, Drake. For everything you’ve done. You’ve been so kind, and you’ve made tonight a lot less horrible than it would have been if I had been hiding out anywhere else,” she said.

I nodded. “You’re welcome. I’m just glad I found you when I did and was able to help.”

“Thanks for the t-shirt to sleep in,” she said. She stood on her tiptoes to reach my cheek. She was giving me a chaste good night kiss on the cheek. It was too much for me.

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