Love and Skate (8 page)

             
I unlatched my hand from hers and ran it up her
shorts clad
thigh and as I progressed she gasped and then feigned a coughing fit to cover it up after almost everyone in the classroom turned to look at her.  I could barely contain my laughter.  After she finished fake coughing I put my hand back on her leg but this time she slapped it away.  Minutes later class ended and now I didn’t know if I had a lunch date or not. 

             
She was quiet for a few minutes and I finally let out my laughter and I got slapped in the shoulder for it.

             
“I cannot believe you! I’m never sitting next to you again. Ever.”

             
She was yelling but she was laughing too.

             
“Oh come on.  You were sitting over there so cool like you didn’t care where I was.  I had to make a point.”

             
“You ‘bout done?” She asked.

             
“Just getting started.”

             
I let her put her backpack on before I grabbed her up and threw her over my shoulder.  She screamed and beat on my back and kicked  frantically but to no avail.  Her screams turned into uncontrollable laughter and she was shaking on my shoulder.

             
“You’re supposed to be mad.”

             
“I can’t, it’s like Shrek and Fiona!”
Admitting it out loud made her laugh harder.

             
“
Did you just call me an ogre?” I said in my best Scottish accent.

             
Suddenly she was pulling up my shirt in the back. 

             
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I said as I rearranged her so she wouldn’t fall off.

             
“I’m seeing if you’re green under there.”  She laughed so hard that it now had become silent and her whole body was shaking on my shoulder.

             
“Put my shirt do
wn before I hang you by your ankles
.”

             
“OK, ok, ok.  I wasn’t looking at your butt crack. Jeez.”

             
By the time we got there she was complaining of her stomach hurting from laughter.

             
I sat her down at a table very non-gracefully.

             
“Hey! I’m not a sack of cement. Take it easy.”

             
I bent down and kissed the crap out of her right there in the middle of the dining tables in the Union and that shut her up.

             
“I’m going to get us some lunch while you recover, ok Princess Fiona?”

             
Her cheeks were a cute shade of red and she just nodded.

             
I came back a few minutes later with burgers and fries and sat across from her.  She had turned serious but her blush remained. 

             
“You ok?” I asked as I put way too much ketchup on my plate.

             
“Yeah.” She whispered.

             
We both ate and I could tell she was thinking way too hard about something.  I looked up and she smiled at me. 

             
“What?” I asked.

             
“Nothing.  I, um, I have to go to work.” She scrambled.

             
“Ok, I’ll throw your stuff away.  Be careful.”

             
She stopped in her tracks as I told her to be careful and I meant it. 

             
She turned around and walked back up to me and bent down to kiss me on the cheek and then kept walking.  It was too late for me now.  I was long gone.

             
If he didn’t quit being the way he was I was going to be a goner.  And if I was honest with myself, I already was. I felt free.  Free to be who I was without judgment or presumptions about who I should be. 

             
I went into work and Cindi wanted to talk to me in the back.  I hadn’t done anything, so I wasn’t really worried but it was weird.  I went into her office and she wore bright yellow boots and huge yellow flower earrings but she looked serious as a heart attack. 

             
“
Yo
, what’s up
homie
?” She said and I just rolled my eyes.

             
“The thug thing is not working.” I laughed as I told her.

             
“Damn.  So I need to talk to you.” She patted me on the knee.

             
“Shoot.”

             
“Ok, I never really liked this store.  I mean people read more than they buy.  I’ve been told that selling on the internet could change that, but I suck at the internet.  So I was thinking that I’d give the store to you.”

             
I gripped the edge of her desk and looked around to see if I was on a hidden camera show.
  She shot from the hip, that was for sure.

             
“You can’t be serious.”

             
“Well, I wouldn’t joke.”

             
“Holy crap!” I screamed. 

             
“Everyone would stay on as employees.  You’d have to name a manager to be in charge when you’re not here.  But the profits and the running of the place would be yours.”

             
“Holy crap!” I screamed again.

             
“
Come on Hellie.  I’m beginning to rethink this if all you can say is that.”

             
I just sat there amazed and frightened.  This was huge.

             
“OK, just think it over.  It will be six months before it can officially be yours.  I need to get some loans paid off and leave you in the clear.  So just take some time and think about it.”

             
             
“Um, ok.”

             
My shift ended and I didn’t remember a thing about it.  All I could think about was Cindi and her offer.  There was no way I was turning her down, but I also wanted to let it sit for a while to make sure I took all of this seriously.

             
I got home and Amber was watching some show about people singing on TV.  I walked right past her and into the kitchen to make something to eat.  We seriously needed to go grocery shopping. 

             
“All we have is cheese and one egg.” Amber yelled from the living room.

             
“Well, why didn’t you go to the store? It’s your turn,” I yelled back.

             
“I’ve been busy, give me a break.” I could just imagine her rolling her eyes as she spoke.

             
“Did you eat?” I was now behind her while she sat on the couch.

             
“Yeah, Dylan and I went to
eat burgers.”  She said like it was no big deal that she had time to go out and sit and watch TV but had no time to buy groceries.

             
I took out my cell phone and texted Owen. 

             
N: U asleep?

             
O: No, I live with a human chainsaw

             
N: Hungry?

             
O: Always. Where r u?

             
N: At home.
Wanna
meet me somewhere?

             
O: Diner?

             
N: Yeah, 20 min?

             
O: Y

             
I changed clothes quickly and put my hair up.  I wore yoga pants and a long sleeve white t shirt.  I grabbed my bag and headed out.  Amber di
dn’t even look up from the TV
as I passed. 

             
I parked at the diner and watched as Owen got out of his Bronco and made his way into the almost empty restaurant.  He nearly filled the door as he entered and went to the corner booth.  The waitress approached him and he waived her off, but did so courteously. 

             
I got out of the car and went in and his smile lit up the whole place.  I wished that smile would greet me as I came in instead of Amber’s selfish attitude and one track mind.

             
“
Hey.
”

             
“Hey, I’m sorry it’s so late but we had no groceries in the apartment and I was starving.  And I know this great guy who is so huge that he eats almost twenty four hours a day so I called him figuring he wouldn’t mind.”

             
“Oh yeah?”

             
“Yeah, he should be here any minute.” I
craned my neck and looked
out the window as if I was looking for the guy instead of sitting next to him.

             
When I sat back down he was right next to me.  I gasped as his nearness startled me.  He leaned into my ear and whispered.

             
“Let me know when he shows up so I can stop doing this.” And then he kissed me right where my earlobe meets my jaw line.  If it weren’t for my solid grip on the table I would’ve melted off of the booth.

             
The waitress approached and I put my hands on my face and tried to cover my blush. 

             
She took our drink orders and he told her that we would need a minute on the food.  She giggled a little and I realized it was the same waitress who saw me make a noisy fool out of myself last week. 

             
“Is this going to become a habit?” I asked.

             
“What?” His face was so innocent.

             
“You know public groping, making out in public, thing of that sort?”

             
“Well, I remember the public groping, but I don’t remember the making out.  Is that next? When do we get to that part?” He was practically jumping up and down.

             
“Oh Lord, I’ve given him an idea.” I said as I hit my forehead on the table.

             
I turned my head towards him as I lifted it off of the table and he had turned solemn on me.

             
“What?” I was confused.  One minute we were joking and now this?

             
“Look, you need to be honest with me.  If you don’t like me touching you…”

             
“Owen, look at me.” I grabbed his hand to get his attention. “I was truly joking.  I don’t mind it at all.  In fact, I wish you would be more comfortable touching me whenever you want.  But we haven’t even gone out on a real date yet. So I don’t know if you’
re just fooling
around or…”

             
He got closer and nailed me with the most honest glare I’ve ever seen.

             
“Do you think I’m joking around here?” He asked me as he pulled my entire body towards him.

             
I reached out and touched the line of his jaw with the tips of my fingers. “No.”

             
“We’re on the same page then.”  I shook myself out of my stupor and looked at the menu.

             
The waitress approached and he ordered pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage,
hashbrowns
and
a burger and fries.  She laughed and I ordered French toast—again. 

             
While we waited for the food, I told him about the bookstore and he looked amazed.  He asked me what I was going to do and then congratulated me when I told him.  The whole time his hands were on me.  I usually hated when guys would constantly touch me, but this felt different.  Not
pervy
or
skeezy
, just loving and caring.  It was a new thing for me.

             
We ate and he finished off my food as usual and I looked down to find that it was nearly two a.m.

             
“It’s almost two.  I’m so sorry.  Do you have an early class?”

             
‘I don’t have class until ten
.  So it’s fine.  I live on very little sleep anyway with Dylan.”

             
“That sucks.  So when do I get to see you again?”