Chapter Twenty Collin #2
The waitress brought me an armload of napkins and told me that our meals were free, but I paid the check anyway. I did my best to wipe the sauce off, with Glory laughing at me the whole time, but it was pretty clear that the shirt was done for.
“Would you like to wear my jacket?” Glory teased.
I snorted. “It would take some kind of miracle for me to fit into that.”
Her eyes filled with mischief. “I’d kind of like to see you try.”
“As entertaining as that might be for you, I really don’t want to be responsible for obliterating a perfectly good piece of clothing.
” She shrugged as I stood up. “I have a couple spare shirts in my car,” I said, extending my hand to her.
She took it and we walked around to where I had parked on the street.
I unbuttoned my shirt and gingerly took it off, then I dug around in the trunk of the car and pulled out three t-shirts I had stowed in there.
Luckily, I had parked under a street light, but it was still a little hard to see which shirt was which.
I finally found the plain green one I was looking for and threw the rest back in the trunk.
I looked over and saw that Glory was staring at me.
More specifically, she was staring at my naked chest. Her eyes had glazed over and her mouth was hanging slightly ajar.
I fought back a smile as I observed her. “Glory? Are you okay?”
Her head snapped up and then she looked down in embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, risking a glance back up at me. “It’s just that... you’re kind of a work of art.”
I felt myself redden. Girls had complimented my physique before, but this was the first time it actually mattered. Suddenly I was extremely grateful for all those hours I had logged at the gym.
“Thank you,” I said bashfully, quickly pulling the shirt over my head and down over my torso.
“You must exercise a lot.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I was bullied in school, and a friend suggested that I start working out. I’ve made it a habit ever since.”
“Sounds like a good friend.”
“She was an amazing friend,” I said meaningfully.
A couple seconds passed before Glory spoke. “I’m sorry again for staring.”
I could see that she was feeling awkward, so I decided to level the playing field. I took a step toward her. “Glory, believe me, I’ve done my fair share of staring at you. I just don’t think you’ve noticed.”
“I might have noticed once or twice,” she responded with a sly smile.
I felt heat creeping up my neck. She was so attractive when she looked at me like that.
I cleared my throat. “Then we’ll call it even,” I said. But actually, we weren’t even, because I hadn’t seen her with her shirt off. I wisely decided to keep that technicality to myself.
“Thank you for everything today,” Glory said, moving closer. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I was really living.”
She took another step closer, and for a moment I thought she was going to kiss me, but then she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me, which was almost as good. I pulled her in and we stood like that for a while. I relished having her body pressed against mine, her head resting below my chin.
“Thank you for making these past couple weeks unforgettable,” I murmured.
She pulled her head back a little to look up at me. “I wish you weren’t leaving,” she admitted.
I smiled. “Me too.”
“You’re working all day tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I groaned. Logan had convinced Jeremy to move the photo shoot to the next day and I had promised I would be there. Then in the evening we had out last concert.
“And you’re leaving the day after that?” Glory confirmed.
“Yeah, on Saturday, at noon,” I replied. “Can I take you to breakfast?”
“Yes,” Glory replied contentedly, burying her face back into my chest.
“And then I’ll be back soon.”
“You better be. I still have a lot to teach you before you can call yourself a decent artist.”
I laughed and squeezed her tighter. We held each other in silence, and then Glory started moving her hands around my back and shoulders, kneading me in a weird way.
“Um, Glory? What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t understand how you can have so much rock solid muscle!”
I frowned. “Does that bother you?”
She pulled her head back again. “No, not at all. It’s actually turning me on.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my body down and eradicate the myriad of sensual thoughts that were running through my brain.
“Are you always so blunt?” I managed to ask.
She smirked. She had to know the effect her closeness and her words were having on me. “My dad always told me to be honest. That’s one of the few things that has stuck with me.”
I looked into her eyes, and then my gaze traveled down to her full, inviting lips. She lifted her face towards mine and I began to lean in.
“Clayton?”
For a second, I was confused. Who’s Clayton? Oh yeah, that’s supposed to be me.
“Yes?” Our lips were nearly touching.
“What were you going to tell me?” She whispered.
My brain was still in a fog. “Tell you?”
“You were going to tell me something before you got attacked by a plate of spaghetti.”
“Right.” I pulled back and looked again into her eyes, all of the exhilaration from moments before turning to dread.
I tried to gather my thoughts, to find the right words, but they wouldn’t come.
I needed more time. I had to find the perfect words and phrases to explain, or better yet, I could write her a letter. That would be appropriate, wouldn’t it?
I reluctantly pulled out of her embrace. “I’ll tell you on Saturday,” I said. “Is that okay?”
For a moment she looked apprehensive, but then she smiled. “Sure,” she replied. “I just hope you’re not going to tell me you’re a cyborg or something.”
I chuckled. “I’m definitely not a cyborg.”
“A vampire?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m a human. Just a man. Although, when I’m with you, I feel like Superman.”
Glory made a face. “That was really cheesy.”
I ducked my head in embarrassment. “Yes, it was.”
“Good thing I like cheese.”
I drove her home and said goodnight, wanting once again to kiss her, but refraining.
I just couldn’t kiss her while I was still lying to her.
Perhaps not telling her the truth yet had been an act of cowardice.
But beyond that, regardless of what happened, I wanted to look back and remember that I had had one absolutely perfect day with Glory Parker.