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Apparently, she takes my silence the wrong way.
“It was just a suggestion. You can politely decline. We could do something else. Watch a movie or whatever you want.”
“Hell no! Please read to me.” To emphasize my point, I shut the TV off and shift so that I’m facing her better. “This is one of the best things you could’ve suggested.”
She sits straighter in her chair, wearing a pleased grin. “Good.” Then, she pauses as her smile turns thoughtful.
“What is it?”
“Hmm? Oh, just wondering what the other best things I could have suggested are. If the reading doesn’t work out, you’ll have to tell me.”
Not likely. The other things that could thoroughly distract me aren’t something you normally ask a friend to do. Before my body can respond to my thoughts, I focus on the book she’s holding.
“So, why’d you choose this one?”
“Well, of your tattoos I’ve seen, they’ve all been fiction, and few were fantasy. I know this is more science fiction, but it’s got to have some fantastical elements. And Terra said it was really funny. What better way to deal with discomfort than to laugh it off? Anyway, if we don’t like it, I can bring a different book next time. Oh, actually, I’ll bring my list! Then, you can tell me which ones you want to hear.”
Next time. Holly wants to make this a regular thing.
I want her to be a regular fixture in my life, not just when I’m in this room. But this is a start.
Somehow, I need to get Holly to see me as more than just the sick guy waiting on her kidney. And I need to do it without scaring her off. Obviously, she’s interested in spending time with me. Now, I need to figure out how to show her I’m a person, not just a patient.
“Don’t bring your list. I like being surprised. And I like all kinds of books.”
“Yeah, I could tell from your shelves.”
“Did you snoop in my room, Holly?”
“Maybe …”
The mischievous turn of her lips makes me want to kiss her even more. Time for some platonic reading before I do something rash.
“Okay. Let’s hear what you’ve got, Foster.”
“Gladly.” She flips the cover open, settles back into the chair, and gives a little throat-clearing cough.
For the next few hours, the two of us go on a hilarious space adventure together. Our laughter fills the room that I’ve always associated with misery.
And, whether she knows it or not, Holly does a hell of a job in making me fall for her.
8
HOLLY
Yesterday was a huge success. Not only was Ben excited about the whole reading-aloud idea, but he even commandeered the novel from me for the last hour when my voice started to dry out. Ben’s soothing tone reciting the witty lines did silly things to my chest.
I try to remember the last time I’ve laughed so much and come up with nothing.
Unfortunately, despite the innocence of the interaction, there were times when I caught myself slipping into daydreams of Ben reading to me as we lay in a bed together. Clothes might or might not have been involved in said fantasies.
Not good.
Luckily, attending rigorous classes for the rest of the day took my mind off those inappropriate musings. Along with a vigorous spin class.
But, now, the morning after, those butterflies are invading my chest again the moment his name flashes on my phone.
“Hello?”
