“I had a good time, too. Do you wanna maybe do this again some time?” she suggested.
“I’d love to. I’ll call you.” He brushed a strand of straight brown hair out of her face and kissed her lightly. “Bye.”
As he started to turn around and go back down the hallway, she called his name. “Nick! Do you wanna hang out here for a while? My roommate is probably out. We could just talk or something.” Wow, where had that surge of courage come from? Normally, she would have just watched him walk away, secretly longing for more time with him.
He grinned. “I would love that.”
They situated themselves on the loveseat in the living room and sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds. Finally, Meg broke it. “You know, I don’t know anything about you. I know your name is Nick and you have a sister named BJ and you live in Ruskin, but that’s about it.”
“What do you wanna know?”
“How old are you? Do you have any other brothers or sisters? What do you do? I suppose I would wanna make sure you don’t have a girlfriend, but I seriously doubt you do. You seem too nice to do that to someone.”
“Well, thanks. I’ll take care of that one right away. No, I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m twenty-two years old. I have three younger sisters, including Beej, and one younger brother. I’m, uh, not sure what I wanna do yet. What about you?”
She looked at him suspiciously, but he didn’t seem to notice. By the end of the evening, she had become sure that she had seen him somewhere and heard his name before, but she still couldn’t figure out where. Oh, well. He would tell her what he did for a living when he was ready. “I’m twenty. I have two younger sisters, a younger brother, and an older brother. I wanna be a teacher for elementary school children. That’s what I’m in school for. I’m not sure what grade I wanna teach yet, but that should all fall into place later. That’s me.”
“What’s your full name?”
She blushed. “I hate it. Margaret Michelle Kennedy. You?”
“Nickolas Gene Carter.”
“So tell me why a guy like you doesn’t have a girlfriend, unless you’re upset about it or something. I don’t wanna open old wounds.”
“No, it’s no problem. I haven’t had a serious girlfriend for about six months. It’s not that I don’t want one. It’s that I’m having trouble finding anyone who I feel something with. Maybe that will change with you, though. I’m really feeling something here.” He paused. “Did I just say that?”
“Yeah, you did, but I was kinda hoping you would because I feel something here, too.”
“That’s good.”
He slid closer to her and placed his hands softly on her cheeks, then leaned forward and brushed his soft lips against hers. A tingle went through her body, and she closed her eyes. She let his tongue dart into her mouth, and she ran her fingers through his soft blond hair. As the kiss escalated and finally ended, she let out a soft moan. “Wow.” As she caught her breath and let her heart slow down, she looked at him and smiled shyly.
“So tell me why a girl like you doesn’t have a boyfriend, if you don’t mind,” he requested.
“Because I’m no good with guys. I won’t sleep with them, so I guess I’m of no use. And I always say the wrong things at the wrong time and try to jump into things and it just doesn’t work. And I’m very picky, too. Like you said, until you, I wasn’t able to find anyone I felt anything for who was willing to give something with me a try.”
“I can’t imagine why a guy wouldn’t date you. You’re sweet, funny, cute, and you have this whole mysterious thing going on.”
She laughed. “Mysterious?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about you. It’s like you’re hiding something.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s a good thing. It makes me want to get to know you better. I want to find out what’s in your mind, what secrets you’ve got in there.”
“Maybe you will,” she stated, leaning in for another kiss.