When it came to my little Shortcake, patience paid off.
At first, the trip out to Antietam National Battlefield to do our astronomy assignment had started off as painful as my weekly anger-management classes were. She sat in my truck like I lured her in there with the offer of free puppies, tugging on the sleeves of her sweater and sitting as straight as a board. Her nervousness increased as we headed down Bloody Lane, picking a spot that would give us a clear view of the sky and . . . cornfields.
I learned she was a bit of a history nerd, which was cool, because those brown eyes lit up when she started talking about the battlefield. And I also learned she was in one hell of a hurry to get this done and over with.
Never in my life did I doubt my ability to attract a girl like I did with Avery. She acted like spending time with me was tantamount to sitting in music appreciation class for two semesters in a row. As cocky as this sounds, I knew I could walk onto that campus and get a date with the nearest available girl. Probably even a girl who wasn’t available, but with Avery, it was like trying to hit on a nun. And not a naughty nun.
“How long do you think this will take?” she asked.
“Why?” I paused as something occurred to me. Maybe my charm wasn’t failing me. Holy shit, how had I not thought about this before? “You got a hot date tonight?”
She laughed dryly. “Uh, no.”
Part of me was happy to hear this. The other part was thoroughly confused. “You sound like that’s an insane idea. That no one would go out on a Saturday night for a date.”
Shrugging, she dropped the piece of hair she’d been messing with. “I’m not dating anyone.”
I walked on, tapping my hands off my thighs as the breeze stirred the cornstalks, causing them to rattle like dry bones. “So why the rush?” When there was no response, I glanced over my shoulder at her, grinning. “Are you worried that I’ve brought you out here for my own nefarious plans?”
Shortcake stopped, her face paling in a way that made her freckles punch out. “What?”
Whoa. I faced her, feeling the knot back in my chest and something else. Her reaction was too quick, too real. A bad taste filled my mouth. “Hey, Avery, I’m just joking. Seriously.”
She stared at me and then averted her gaze, cheeks flushing. “I know. I’m just . . .”
“Jumpy?”
“Yeah, that.”
I hoped—fuck, I prayed—that was all this was. Watching her fiddle with the bracelet on her left wrist, I couldn’t let the train of thought go any further. Anger over the possibility of something fucked up in the most minor way happening to her was already pricking at my skin. I was sure I was overreacting. “Come on. It’ll be dark soon.”
I started walking, heading toward the tower, waving at two students from our class. Picking a spot on the hill overlooking the dirt lane, I pulled out a flashlight before I sat down. The grass was dry and in that stretch of silence, the hum of crickets was almost as loud as my pounding heart. I had no idea why my pulse was racing, but it felt like I’d run from the truck to here instead of walking.
Looking up, I found Shortcake hovering a few feet behind me. I patted the spot. “Join me? Pretty please? I’m lonely all by myself over here.”
She sucked her lower lip in between her teeth, and the muscles in my stomach tensed. Finally, she moved forward and sat . . . three feet from me. My brows rose, but then . . . then our gazes collided, and I took a breath, but it didn’t get really far. How many freckles did she have on the bridge of her nose? Nine. No. Nine and a half. One of them was faded. Her lips were parted, like she was waiting for a kiss.
The urge to kiss her hit me hard in the gut. Was it the first time? When I wiped the crumb from her lip, I had wanted to kiss her then, to taste those soft-looking lips. Any other girl I would’ve made a move, but not Shortcake.
And that’s when the strangest damn thing happened.
I wanted to slow down. How I could slow down this nonexistent relationship was beyond me, but I don’t know. My heart was still pounding.
Avery ducked her chin, studying her notebook as she cleared her throat.
Letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I asked, “What constellation are we supposed to be mapping?”
“Um, the Corona Borealis, I think,” she said, skimming the notes as I held the flashlight.
“Ah, the Northern Crown.”
Her brows rose. “You knew that off the top of your head?”
I laughed at her dubious expression. “I might not take notes, but I do pay attention.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I really don’t understand how anyone sees shapes in the stars.”
“Really?” I moved closer slowly and peeked over her shoulder. “The shapes are pretty obvious.”
“Not to me. I mean, it’s just a bunch of stars in the sky. You can probably see whatever you want to see.”
“Look at the Borealis.” I pointed at the map. “It’s obviously a crown.”
She laughed—a real laugh, and the knot tightened in my chest. “It does not look like a crown. It looks like an irregular half circle.”
Grinning, I shook my head. “Look. You can see it now easily. That’s a crown. Come on, see the seven stars.”
“I see the seven stars, but I also see about a hundred others peeking out.” She grabbed a pen. “I also see the cookie monster.”
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
As I watched her, her lips curved up in a smile as she posed her pen over the grid. It was clear she had no idea what latitude line to start at as she glanced up toward the Borealis. Finally, she connected two dots.
“You know where the name comes from?” I asked.
Shortcake shook her head, so I reached over and took the pen from her. In the process, my fingers brushed hers. A jolt zapped up my arm, and she pulled away immediately. “It represents the crown given from the god Dionysus to Ariadne,” I told her. “When she married Bacchus, he placed her crown in the heavens in honor of their marriage.”
She stared, brows furrowing. “Professor Drage didn’t teach that in class.”
“I know.”
“Then how did you know that?”
“Why don’t you know that?”
She tipped her head to the side, lips pursed.
“Okay. Maybe most people wouldn’t know that off the top of their head.” I twirled her pen. “I actually took part of this class as a freshman, but had to drop it.”
Curiosity filled her brown eyes. “Really?”
I nodded.
“You’re, what, a junior?”
“Yep.” I paused, unsure of how much I should say. “I ended up having to take a year off, which put me behind.”
She was quiet for a few moments “Why did you retake astronomy? Is it a part of your major?”
“No. I just like the class and Professor Drage.” I turned off the flashlight “I’m studying recreation and sport. Would like to get into sport rehabilitation.”
“Oh. Did you . . .”
When she didn’t finish her sentence, I looked over and followed her gaze. On the bench, the two from our astronomy class looked like they were about to practice making babies right then and there.
“Now that is an interesting form of stargazing,” I said.
She watched them for a couple of more moments, her eyes wide like she was trying to figure out exactly what they were doing. Which was obvious. There was a lot of tongue involved.
I poked her with my pen.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just that . . .” I had no idea how to say this. “You’re watching them like . . . you’ve never seen a couple do that before.”
“I am?”
I nodded. “So unless you were raised in a convent, I imagined you’ve been in a lap a time or two, right?”
“No, I haven’t!” She cringed, focusing over the cornstalks. “I mean, I haven’t been in a guy’s lap.”
A grin teased at my lips. “What about a girl’s lap?”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? No!”
I smiled broadly, picturing her in a girl’s lap and that wasn’t a bad image. Made even better when I pictured her in my lap, though. “I was joking, Avery.”
Her chin jutted out stubbornly. “I know, it’s just that . . .”
“What?” I poked her arm with the pen again. “You what?”
“I’ve never been in a relationship.”
Never? Never as in ever? No way.
Clutching her notebook, she glanced at me. “What? It’s not a big deal.”
I opened my mouth, said nothing. I blinked and then shook my head as I tipped my head back, staring at the sky. “You’ve never been in a relationship?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“That’s what no means.”
I had no idea what to say. “How old are you?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m nineteen.”
“And you haven’t been in a single relationship?”
“No. My parents . . . they were strict.” She swallowed. “I mean, really strict.”
“I can tell.” I tapped the pen on the notebook, beyond curious, like obsessively curious as to how someone as pretty as Avery made it this far without ever being in a relationship “So have you gone on a date or anything?”
A deep sigh emanated from her. “I thought we were supposed to be mapping stars?”
“We are.”
“No, we’re not. All I have is a scribbly line and you have nothing.”
“That scribbly line is between the Delta and Gamma.” I leaned over, connecting the dots. “Here is the Theta and this is the Alpha—brightest star. See, we are halfway done.”
She frowned, slowly shaking her head as she turned her gaze to the sky. While she was distracted, because I was done with the astronomy shit, I leaned in further, my shoulder pressing into hers as I finished the map, completing our homework assignment.
I turned my head. “Now we’re done mapping stars . . .” Our faces were inches apart, and I heard the soft inhale of breath. She didn’t move away, and my smile went up a notch. “See? That wasn’t hard.”
Avery’s gaze dropped, and I knew she wasn’t paying a damn bit of attention to what was coming out of my mouth even though she was staring at it. Not that I was complaining. She could stare at my mouth all she wanted.
Those thick lashes swept up and our gazes locked once more. A sudden, tangible pull spread out between us. Neither of us moved, and I wanted to. I wanted to pull her into my arms. Where the whole slowing down things went to I had no idea. She moved, visibly uncomfortable, and the good, decent part of me said to look away, to crack a joke and make her feel better, but I couldn’t resist the lure of her eyes. In the darkness, they were like black pools.
I forced myself to say something. “You think you learned anything about the stars?”
There was no response, which was probably a good thing, because that was lame. So I went to what I really wanted to know. “Have you ever been on a date?”
Still no response.
My lips curved up. “Are you listening to me?”
Shortcake blinked like she was coming out of a daze. “Huh? Yes! Yes. Totally.”
There was no mistaking she was feeling what I was feeling. Not when she had stared at me that long. “Yeah . . . so, you haven’t been on a date?”
“What?”
I chuckled. “You really haven’t been listening to me at all. You’ve been too busy staring at me.”
“I have not!”
“Yes, you were.” I nudged her shoulder.
The expression she made was like she tasted something bad. “You are so beyond the acceptable level of arrogance.”
“Arrogant? I’m just stating the truth.” I tossed my notebook aside and leaned back on my arms, watching her. I couldn’t resist teasing her. It was like finding a new hobby. “There’s nothing wrong with staring at me. I like it.”
She gaped at me. “I wasn’t staring at you. Not really. I sort of . . . dazed out. That’s how thrilling talking to you is.”
“Everything about me is thrilling.”
“About as thrilling as watching your tortoise cross a road.”
“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”
“Keep calling me sweetheart and you’re going to be limping.”
Ah, I liked that. “Oh, listen to you.”
“Whatever.”
“We should do it.”
Her lips puckered. “Do what? Go home? I’m all about going home, like right now.”
I smiled. “Go on a date.”