Reaching Rose (Hunter Hill University Book 3) (26 page)

"I don't know. It's gonna be even harder now. I mean, they're not easy to make to begin with."

"You never talked like that before. You were so sure of yourself."

"How can I be now?"

"It's not your pitching arm you're losing."

"No. But..."

"I've seen people run marathons with artificial legs. It's all over the Internet. Certainly you can run bases with one."

"But
you
can't dance?"

"Not gracefully."

"I guess that's a bit trickier."

"Do you want to know what I needed to get from here today?"

"Yeah."

I not-so-delicately get off Ben's lap and go back to my closet. Pulling out my box, I sit back down on the bed and open it. "My dancing leg."

He picks it up and turns it over in his hand. "It's sleeker. Robotic looking, though."

"Yeah, but the ankle rotates more effectively."

"Does this mean you're gonna start dancing again?"

I take the leg from Ben and place it in its box. "I don't know." I set the box beside me and stand up. "I need to get something else. Come."

"Yes, ma'am," he jokes.

Ben follows me to the basement.

"Wow," he says when we get there.

"My dad had this built for me."

"Your own dance studio? Wow. It's amazing."

"Thank you." I go to my shoe box and pull out my pointe shoes, my ballet shoes, my tap shoes, and my jazz shoes...just in case. I'm not sure I want to take up Professor Sherman on her offer, but I may as well be prepared.

"Are you gonna dance, Rose?"

Grabbing a dance bag from a hook on the wall, I answer Ben honestly. "I'm not sure. Professor Sherman told me I can use the fitness room if I wanted to practice."

"Professor Sherman? Musicology Professor Sherman?"

I laugh. "Yeah. Turns out she's a dancer too. She asked me to...to dance with her."

"Really?" He looks surprised. "You gonna take her up on that?"

I shrug. "I guess. I've been thinking about it."

"Well...one step at a time, half-pint. You got your shoes. Worry about the next step next time."

"Half-pint? Again?"

"We're at your farm, I couldn't resist."

"I am not like Laura Ingalls."

Ben walks up to me and takes my hair in two hands. "I don't know. Put this in a couple braids, put on one of those long granny dresses...I can see it."

I smack him in his stomach with the back of my hand, since my hands are full.

"I hear she's feisty too." He takes my bag, then pair by pair, puts my shoes in it.

"Thank you."

"Let's go get dinner, Ms. Duncan."

"Why thank you, Mr. Falco."

He puts my bag over his shoulder and holds my hand. "Not that it's even dinner time yet, but..."

"But you're starving."

"That's an understatement."

***

We're at the restaurant and seated in under an hour.

"Wow. Another cozy place, Ben. How do you find these places?"

"I type in 'cozy places.'"

"Really?"

He nods. "Cozy restaurants."

"It's nice here. I love the gingham tablecloths. My mom loves gingham."

"Is gingham a color?"

I start cracking up. "No. It's the little checkered squares."

"Ah. Very Ingalls-like."

"Yes. Very. You snot."

"So, Rose, what made you go back to school this semester? We never did talk about that."

"A couple reasons."

"Like?"

"Like...I was getting bored at home."

"Understandable. What is the other reason?"

"Well...my parents didn't really want me to take off another semester, and Holly begged me to live with her and Griffin. And Knox, when he's around."

"Knox?"

"He barely stays at the house anymore. Pretty much just when there's a party going on. He only lives in Teaneck, so I think he commutes most days. I've only seen him once since I've been living there."

"Ok. So...you're back at school 'cause you're bored and you want to please your parents and Holly."

"Pretty much." Do I tell him the real reason I forced myself to come back to school?

"Hmmm. Sounds legit. So why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing."

"You're blushing."

I bring my hand up to my face. "I am not."

"You are too."

I cover my mouth and say, "I was hoping to run into you."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"You heard me."

He reaches over and lowers my hand from my mouth. "I'm glad you did."

"Well, I also need to continue my education." I backpedal. I don't want to seem too desperate.

He laughs. "You still going for education?"

"I really don't know. My intention was to dance for a living and then teach it when I was older and exhausted from dance. I really didn't know about teaching in a real classroom." I shrug. "I guess I'll have to think about it."

"Me too."

"You're rethinking the psychology thing?"

"I don't know. I guess I want to get through this next phase in my life before deciding about the future again."

"One step at a time."

"You're learning, half-pint."

The rest of the night is fun and easy. We’ve gotten the dark subjects out of our system and are able to laugh the rest of the time. In the car ride back, Ben cranks up the country station and starts singing along to the chorus of some of the songs.

"So you
have
been listening to country," I shout over the music.

"You betcha, half-pint."

Because I'm high on Ben at the moment, I join him in belting out the words. For the first time in a mighty long time, I feel like myself again.

BEN

"So I'm kind of torn," I tell Rose, standing at her front door. "I want to be a gentleman and say goodnight at the door, but I
really
don't want to say goodnight yet." With the tips of my fingers, I make circles on the top of her hand. Then I bring my gaze back up to her face. "I can stare at your face all night."

Immediately, her hand flies to her scar.

"Rose." I lower her hand and replace it with mine. "You're beautiful with or without the scar. Don't ever cover it for me." I slide my finger down the length of it, like I've done before. "I know you cover it with makeup, but please know, in front of me, you don't have to."

She smiles and leans into my hand.

"You wear what's comfortable for you, but don't think you need to hide your real self for me. I
love
the real you."

She closes her eyes and inhales. "I don't want you to leave yet." She opens her eyes. "Wanna come in?"

"I'd love to."

"Hey, you two." We're greeted by Holly, Mick, Griffin, and Cali.

"Hey," Rose says quietly.

"Hey."

"Ben," Holly says, standing up from the couch.

"Holly," I say with a straight face, only pretending to be annoyed at how we left things the first day of school.

"Where've you been?" She comes up and hugs me.

"Home," I say, not leaning in to hug her back.

"Don't be mad at me, Ben. I was standing up for my girl here," she says, hugging Rose. "So when did you come back?"

"Wednesday."

"Were you sick?" Holly continues with her questioning.

"Geez, Holl, cut the guy a break. Let him in the door first," Griffin teasingly scolds her.

Rose closes the door behind us and asks, "You want a drink, Ben?"

"Whatever you got. Soda Iced Tea?"

"I think we have cola."

"That's fine." I follow Rose into the kitchen.

"Sorry about the houseful, I didn't realize they'd be home on Valentine's night."

"I don't mind if you don't."

She shrugs.

"You're still not comfortable around them?" I ask quietly.

She pours the soda she got from the fridge into two ice-filled mugs. "Not really. Holly, yes, but...I know this is Griffin's house and all, but I don't know."

"You don't know him well yet?"

"Actually, I kinda do. I've known him as long as I've known Holly, it's just...I really don't know." She hands me the mug and sits at the island.

I pull out the stool next to where she's sitting and sit facing her. Then I turn her stool so she's facing me.

"I gotta get over myself, I think," she says, shaking her head. "Hey, want some chocolate pudding?"

"Sure. I'll get it. You sit." I get up, then ask, "That is, if you don't mind me going in your refrigerator."

"Don't be silly. Spoons are in the drawer next to the sink."

Back at the island, I open our pudding cups and give one to Rose. "Cheers," I offer, holding up my cup. "To my new girlfriend."

She holds up her cup. "To my new boyfriend."

When I see her cheeks turn rosy peach, I can't even explain how it makes me feel right now. I'm her boyfriend. She's my girlfriend. And for the first time in forever, that means more to me than any other thing on Earth. I got Rose. And she loves me. Nothing else matters. Not baseball. Not the fucking cancer. Not losing my leg. I have the best girl in the world sitting in front of me. What more could I possibly want?

She's smirking. "What are you thinking? You have this funny look on your face."

"What am
I
thinking?" I ask her. "I'm thinking how I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have you as my girlfriend. God, I love you, half-pint."

She blushes again. "I love you too."

We've just scraped our pudding cups clean when Holly walks in. "We're just starting another movie. Wanna watch it with us?"

Rose and I look at each other.

"It's up to you, half-pint."

"Sure," she says, looking at Holly but grabbing my hand. Holly leaves, and with one hand, she scoops up the empty pudding cups and spoons. "Do you mind watching a movie?"

"Of course not." Of course, I'd rather be alone with her, but I have a feeling I know where that would lead, and I don't want our first time to be in a house filled with people.

"Really?" Mick says when the movie title pops on the screen. "
Valentine's Day
?"

"I don't know," Holly says. "What else we gonna watch? I think we've watched everything else on Netflix."

"How 'bout a horror flick?" Griffin suggests.

"Like what?" Holly asks, the remote pointed at the screen.

"How 'bout an old one?" Cali suggests. "
Carrie
or
Psycho
?"

"Oooh...
Psycho
sounds good," Mick says.

"Everybody?
Psycho
?"

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Why not."

Since everyone is in agreement, though I don’t really think Rose is, since I remember she doesn’t like horror movies, Holly puts on
Psycho
, Griffin turns off the lights, and I don't give a shit what the others are doing, because Rose is cuddled close next to me, half on my lap, as we share the over-sized yet single recliner.

My left hand finds a comfortable spot right outside Rose's thigh, while my right arm holds her easily around her waist. I don't watch the movie much. Instead, I lean my head against hers and concentrate on the sweet scent of maple sugar as she breathes steadily so close to me. When
Psycho
finishes, Holly puts on
Carrie
, and by the end of it, Rose is asleep on my shoulder. The others quietly leave the room, and I hear their footsteps up the stairs. We're already reclined, but I push back on the chair until it's as far back as it can go, and I snuggle into Rose. There is no way I'm waking her up just to leave and go home. That'd be like leaving Heaven to go to Hell. I don't want to be alone, and I definitely don't want to unwrap my arms from the maple sugar angel they're holding right now.

Sometime during the night, I doze off along with Rose, and the next thing I know, soft gray light is peeking in through the blinds. Rose shifted slightly through the night, because her cheek is now resting against my chest, and the top of her head rests right beneath my chin. I'm glad this chair reclines back so far, because if it didn't, she may have woken up, and I would have had to leave. Instead, I got to spend the night holding the best thing that ever happened to me.

I try not to move to allow her to sleep some more, but I really have to take a piss, so it's hard to stay still. A few minutes later, I feel her breathing change anyway.

Her palm presses against my stomach, and she slowly lifts her head. "Oh my gosh, Ben." She looks toward the front windows then sits up straight, bringing the back of the recliner, and me, up with her. "Holy cow, did we sleep all night?"

"Yes we did, sweetheart," I say with a rasp.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." She sits up further. "You could have woken me up. I feel so bad you had to sleep in this chair all night." She's looking at me, waiting for my response.

I just stare at her. She's so goddamn beautiful.

"What? I am sorry."

"For what? There's no place else I would have rather spent the night." Even a bed wouldn't have been as perfect. One step at a time.

"Really?" She smiles, then shoots a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, my breath."

I remove her hand. "Still as sweet as sugar, half-pint."

I'm treated to a light whack on the arm.

She wiggles out of the chair and rubs her leg. "You can go get a cup of coffee if you want, I have to go put cream on my leg and brush my teeth."

"Don't worry about your breath, Rose. But...should I have not let you sleep? Are you not supposed to have your prosthetic on all night?"

She shrugs one shoulder. "Not really. It'll be all right though. I'll be right back."

"Okay, but first, where's the bathroom?"

"Oh. Right off the kitchen, to the left."

I'm about three steps into the kitchen when I hear a yelp and two thuds. "Oh my God," I yell, running back toward the steps. "Holy shit. Rose."

She's lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.