It was something they had loved to do that summer. Knowing they only had a short time together, they wanted to learn as much they could before it was time to say goodbye. So, at least once a day one of them would blurt out the signal, and the banter would begin.
Melody stood, grabbed her coffee, and started to walk away. She looked back at him, waiting for him to follow. When he did, she said, “Favorite restaurant in L.A?”
“That’s easy. Homegirl Café.”
“I love that place.”
“Exercise of choice?”
Just one, Melody thought. “Zumba.” She loved to dance. “You?”
“Running,” he said. “Least favorite exercise?”
“Running,” she replied with a laugh. “Don’t tell me yours is Zumba.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Weight-lifting.”
“Really?” She boldly poked his bicep. “How do you get those guns then?
His eyes widened before he started laughing… loudly.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. This is your work. I’m your patient’s daughter, and here I am fondling you as we walk down a hall full of people.”
He laughed again. “I wouldn’t call it fondling,” he said. “It’s all good. I do old-fashioned push-ups, sit-up, squats… you know, all the basics. I’ve never been a fan of lifting or going to the gym. I’d rather go for a run or workout in my bedroom when I wake up in the morning.”
Melody tried not to imagine him shirtless doing push-ups next to his bed, but it was useless. He filled out his scrubs nicely, and she could only guess underneath all that cotton was a pretty fabulous body. There had been many nights in the past when she’d fallen asleep to images of Jordan’s broad shoulders and his luscious backside. She was so smitten by not only his sweet and caring personality but his amazing body as well. And his kisses… She wondered if they were really as heart-stopping as she remembered.
“Favorite movie,” she said, trying again to distract herself from the memories that were now turning into fantasies.
A buzz sounded, startling her. Jordan removed a pager from his pocket and took a look. “It’s your mom. She’s awake and in room 244. I’ll take you to her.”
“Great. I’ll text Luna.”
They were waiting at the elevators when Jordan said, “Dazed and Confused.”
Favorite movie.
Tears filled her eyes. Her nose stung, and she could feel her skin get warm and flushed. She was sure her cheeks were tinted a bright shade of pink. The inner dialogue began as she repeated to herself: don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.
JORDAN
“Hey,” Jordan said, after catching Melody’s reaction. “I didn’t mean to…” His voice trailed off because he really didn’t know what to say. She asked about his favorite movie, and he didn’t think anything of it until he saw her eyes welling up. The tears didn’t fall, but he knew he had screwed up royally by bringing up their favorite movie.
The elevator opened, and they stepped inside in silence. He wondered how long it would stay that way. He needed to say something.
Dazed and Confused. What was he thinking?
It wasn’t really the movie itself that made it his favorite. It was the fact that they had watched it together, again and again, with all of their friends in Baltimore that summer. They had a daily curfew of 10:00 p.m. But on the weekends, they could go to the midnight showing of Dazed and Confused at the local theater with their program leaders. They’d take a van or a bus depending on how many students wanted to go, but their group of friends didn’t miss a showing.
Well, now that he was thinking about it, he had missed a few in the beginning. It wasn’t until he’d met Melody that he started hanging out with people other than his roommate. Come to think of it, he was pretty much a loner. He always had been. He was a nerd—completely socially awkward, and he didn’t do much of anything besides studying. It was the expectation in his family. The word “fun” wasn’t part of the Aria family vocabulary. School. Study. Get good grades. Attend an ivy league school. Become a doctor. Fun in his household consisted of coming home for summer or winter break and that was it. Often, he spent Thanksgiving away at boarding school with a few others whose families thought it was more important to get ahead on coursework than come home for a few days for a turkey dinner.
So, hanging out with Melody had brought him to life and coerced him out of