New Love

Chapter 26: Emily

That afternoon I stood on the Henley Street bridge, frozen in place. My hands were sweaty, and I felt a tightness in my chest. Jay had texted me about fifteen minutes ago to say he was waiting for me near the fountains. I had planned to tell him I wasn't coming. To head home after my last class and struggle through Statistics on my own.

Instead my feet had brought me here; to the entrance to the park and closer to him. As I stood here, cyclist and motorist whizzing by, I made a list in my head of all the things that could go wrong with this.

Foremost, no studying got done, I bombed my test and failed out of college and had to go back to my hometown and work in Wal-Mart. Or someone we know sees up together, goes back and tells Lucy and I end up chopped to pieces and strewn down I-40.

"What's it going to be, Emily? What's the matter with two friends studying together?" I tried to reason with myself. I took a deep breath and slowly blew it out, willing my feet to move. I managed to take several steps into the park, but paused again when I spotted him laying on a plaid blanket in the middle of the grass. Her was resting on one arm, holding a book in one hand. He hadn't seen me yet and I stood on the sidewalk, staring at him like a creepo. Everything around me had slowed down as I gazed at him. His hair was extra messy, as if he had been running his hands through it. His blue t-shirt complimented his eyes and his muscular arms bulged as he turned the page in his book. My heart beat to an erratic drum in my chest and I did my best to swallow the lump in my throat.

I adjusted my ponytail and started to slowly walk to him. I noticed the notebooks and Statistics textbook laying next to him on the blanket. As I neared, he looked up from his book and his face brightened. He quickly marked his page and sat up.

"Hey, I was beginning to worry you weren't going to come."

I held onto my bookstrap and I lowered myself to the ground. "What's all this?"

He picked up one of the notebooks and flipped through it. "My notes from the class last year. Thought they might be of use. And to prove to you I really did ace the class."

"Jay, I believed you." I sat my book bag down. His lips parted and his eyes locked with mine. The drum in my chest pounded even harder. I fought the urge to scoot closer to him. I was here for one thing and one thing only.

He cleared his throat. "Good, then. Shall we get started?"

I unzipped my bag and pulled out my book with shaking hands. I bit my lip, but quickly released it, remembering his reaction to it earlier. But he was busy laying out the notebooks and didn't notice. When he finally looked up at me, with a smile, I felt like I was going to melt.

"Want to show me what you have been working on?" He asked. I realized I had been clutching the textbook to my chest. I let out a nervous laugh and opened the book.

"Honestly, this might as well be Greek." I pushed the book towards him and pointed at a problem.

"Ah, it's not that bad."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He laughed and pulled out a piece of blank paper. "Let me see if I can make this a little easier for you."

Turns out, he was a really good teacher. As the sun was beginning to sink behind the Sunsphere, I laid on my stomach working on the last problem. I finished and laid my pencil down, pushing the paper towards him. I stretched and looked out over the park as he checked my work. The hot day had cooled off into a pleasant evening. The park was nearly empty now. The mothers had taken the kids home for dinner and bedtime, and the joggers had finished their work outs. A couple of students were hitting a volleyball back and forth across the lawn, but no one was near the two of us.

"Hey, Em." I heard him say. I turned back to him, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Every last one is correct."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? I got all the problems right?"

His smile widened and he nodded. I squealed and threw my arms around him, forgetting where we were and what our relationship status was or was not.

"Oh my god! I'm so happy! I could kiss you right now." His hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Then why don't you?" His voice was lowered. I started to pull away, but he held me tight. I looked around the park half expecting Lucy to jump out of the bushes and come at me. His hand cupped my face and brought it back to him.

"Emily," he said softly. He wasn't just looking at me now. He was looking into me. His eyes were so deep and blue as they stirred all my insides up into a big ball of goop. It made me feel like maybe this was something more, maybe it wasn't just going to blow away in the wind.

I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to him, trying to keep it casual and simple. But he placed his hand on the back of my neck and kissed me again. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip and I sighed happily, opening myself to him. He pulled me into his lap, my hands in his hair. He nibbled at my bottom lip and I heard a groan escape him. I pulled back from him and smiled.

"Well, that wasn't supposed to happen." I laughed. He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose with mine.

"You kissed me first. I just followed through." He kissed my cheek again, then settled me in between his legs, wrapping his arms around me. We sat like that, watching the sun sink below the horizon. I wasn't sure what this meant for the dawn tomorrow, but right now, I couldn't be happier.