Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,23
A Grecian Urn.”
Michael grimaced. “That makes me feel so much better, thanks.”
“No problem. You can do the same when I tell you that my Trig teacher was speaking in a foreign tongue today.” We were walking toward the parking lot, and I looked up at him, smiling a little. “At least I think she was. I was a little… preoccupied too.”
He blew out a breath. “Nice to know I’m not the only one. I was beginning to think that maybe I was.”
“Was what?”
Michael didn’t answer me as we headed toward the parking lot and climbed into his car. He remained silent while he started up the car and then turned to me. “What I meant before was that I worry that I’m the only one who gets preoccupied. It’s crazy. It makes no sense. But sometimes…” His voice trailed off again, and he shook his head, looking down. “You probably think I’m insane.”
“I don’t. Not at all.”
Michael shifted into reverse and then pulled out onto the road. He kept his eyes on the road even as he prompted me. “But…?”
“But nothing. This is all so new. I’ve only known you for three days, and like I told you yesterday, I’ve never…” I drew in a deep breath. “I don’t have any experience with boys. At all. I feel totally comfortable when I’m with you, but then when I stop and think about it, the whole situation seems unbelievable. Like I must be crazy.”
“Well, that’s it then.” Michael shot a quick bright smile at me. “You need to stop thinking. And so do I.”
“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow at him. “We need to stop thinking?”
“Yup.” Michael nodded. “Or maybe we need to stop over thinking. When we’re together and talking, I don’t have any doubts that—well, about us. I like you, Tasmyn. And there’s more than that to it… more that we need to talk about. Not today.” He ran a hand through hair and scowled. “I don’t have time before work.”
“You never did tell me where you work,” I remarked. “When we were talking about it yesterday, we kind of got side-tracked.”
Michael laughed. “Yeah, we did. I work for my parents. They own a nursery and landscaping company, and I work there three days a week and most weekends.”
I was impressed. “Wow. I don’t know anything about plants. Do you like it?”
“It’s cool. I like working outside, and my parents are pretty flexible. But I don’t like to take advantage of them.” He pulled up to the curb in front of my house. “So as much as I’d like to stay with you and talk now, I need to just drop you off and get moving.”
I hopped out of the car. Michael met me at the sidewalk and handed me my backpack. I slung it over one shoulder and turned to look up at him.
He was looking down at me with such intensity that I couldn’t breathe, and for one moment I was sure he was going to kiss me, right out here in the open. But he only squeezed my arm.
“See you tomorrow morning,” he whispered. And as he left, I wondered how on earth I was going to make it until then.
I was up early again the next day. When I opened my eyes, I had a delicious sense of anticipation—remembering that something good was going to happen but not quite grasping what it was.
“Oh!” I sat straight up in bed. Today was park day, when Michael and I would have an entire three hours of uninterrupted time together without worrying about classes or other people. A wave of pure joy washed over me, and I jumped up onto my feet, turned on my music and dashed into my closet. I looked around for a minute before I ran back out and clicked on the computer to check the day’s weather. What I saw their inspired a little impromptu dance: sunshine, temps in the mid-eighties and virtually no chance of rain. That meant I could definitely wear the sweet little sundress I had been considering.
Even though I took much more time than usual with my primping, I was ready early. My mother had made pancakes, and I managed to eat one and drink a glass of juice before my stomach refused any more.
When I saw the Mustang turn onto our street, I called a goodbye to my mother, promising once again that I would be home by dinnertime. And then I was out the door.