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.I didn’t tell them about him, but they must have suspected something, because they asked about him all the time.Maybe our on-air chemistry was a little too good.I couldn’t help it—I was happy.And I was changing, though I hated to admit it, even to myself.It was harder and harder to deny what I felt for Aric, how much I was starting to need him.We talked, we played, we grew closer in every way, which was wonderful, but also terrifying.He opened up to me freely, without seeming to have reservations or second thoughts, and he never pressured me for more.Emotionally or physically.And he’d been right—I shouldn’t sleep with him—I couldn’t—not if I was ever going to survive our coming separation.I was very firm in that opinion in the light of day.However, when our late-night make-out sessions got a little too hot, it was always Aric who found the will to pull away and give us both time to calm down, insisting we wait until the right time.He was so confident that time would eventually come.But I couldn’t seem to relax into us the same way.When I was away from him, I missed him with an intensity that was frightening to acknowledge.When I was with him, I was right back in the tug-of-war match.A fierce attraction pulled me toward him with the inevitability of gravity, while I desperately dug my heels in, fighting to stay on my side of the line, to keep some sort of barrier between us against the pain that would certainly come when all this was over.Hale called occasionally, and the conversation was always friendly with no mention of ultimatums or timeframes.Maybe I was a chicken, but honestly, if he wasn’t asking, I didn’t want to bring up our relationship status.We’d agreed a break meant freedom on both ends to explore other paths, and Hale sounded pretty happy lately.He hadn’t asked if I was dating anyone or pressured me in any way.For all I knew, he’d met someone nice and was enjoying the kind of “quality time” with her I’d been having with Aric.I sort of hoped so—maybe then he’d say the words to make our break official and permanent, and I wouldn’t have to.The thought of Hale with someone new didn’t bother me at all.That’s how I finally grasped I had never really loved him.Now the thought of Aric being with someone else—that really bothered me.Which is how he wound up where I never expected to see him—at my family’s dinner table.“I don’t see what the big deal is,” he’d argued Monday morning as I brushed my teeth in his bathroom.Daddy had dropped by the station the day before and got to talking with Aric about NFL teams.He’d shocked me by inviting Aric to come by the house for Monday Night Football.Aric stood behind me, talking to my reflection.“He promised me some real Southern cooking.How could I say no?”I reached up and pinched Aric’s cheeks together, forcing his lips into a fish-mouth.“Like this, N-O.” I squeezed twice then let him go as he laughed at his silly face in the mirror.“It’s going to be weird.And I’d really rather skip the whole thing,” I muttered through the foam.“Okay.If that’s what you really want.Colleen asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her in Starkville, maybe grab a bite to eat.And since I apparently don’t have a girlfriend who’d object…”I spit and rinsed then put my toothbrush into its plastic cup a little too hard, knocking it over into the sink.“Well, I guess since you’ve already accepted, it would be rude to cancel now.Mom’s probably been cooking since early this morning.Be there around kickoff time.”His knowing chuckle burned me, but not as much as the image of Colleen wrapping herself around him, “scared” at the movies or feeding him bites of cheesecake in a café after dinner.“Fine.You talked me into it,” Aric said, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me for a minty kiss.“I’ll come over.”“You think you’ve won—now.Wait till you meet my goofy brothers.Oh—and my sister and her husband will be there, too.And my mom.” Images of my family kept coming like dominos falling.I could already imagine the “scenes” Mom would pull out of the trunk for Aric to practice with her.“Why are you so spooked about this? Didn’t Hale ever go over to your family’s house?”“Sure, but it was different.”“Meaning what? You’re ashamed of me? He was good enough to present to your family, but I’m not?”“Of course not.It’s just—our relationship was different.I’m afraid they’ll take one look at you and… they’ll know something.”“They won’t suspect a thing.I’ll be a perfect gentleman—hands off all night.”Honestly, it wasn’t him I was worried about.I was afraid of what I looked like when I looked at him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]