I want You Deeper

“Yes, and you didn’t want to tell me then, either.”

She would suggest maybe he should stop whisking her away on surprise field trips if he didn’t want a replay. But deep down, she kind of liked these adventures. She never knew where they’d end up. Besides, if yesterday’s trip was any indication, this trip was in the name of helping her achieve her business dreams.

“The stencils we were looking at are available.”

“I was just going to order them online.”

“But this way, we can practice and have it up and running tomorrow. No time to waste.”

Okay, now that he put it that way, she did have to admit it was a good idea. If she’d ordered online, it would have been at least a day or two, if not a full week, before the stencils arrived at the apartment. That was an entire week wasted that they could have spent promoting Technologia Cafe, and at this point, they didn’t even have a day to spare.

He pulled into a parking spot near the front door and hopped out, walking briskly toward the store without even waiting for her. Either he was determined or very rude. She’d go with a combination of both.

Every time she started to develop a soft spot for him, he did something like this. Something that took her straight back to middle school, when she’d done anything and everything to get his attention, to no avail. She may as well have not even existed, judging by the way he treated her back then.

She entered the store. He was nowhere in sight. There was a cashier at the front, behind a counter, and she didn’t even look up from her phone as Alyssa walked the length of the store, looking down every aisle for signs of Jeremy. She was starting to wonder if he’d escaped through a back door or something when a big, moving object barreled right into her, nearly knocking her over.

“Oh!”

It was Jeremy. In the milliseconds before they both stepped back, she felt his strong hand on her elbow-probably a reflexive move designed to steady her. She’d liked that tiny bit of contact more than she’d ever admit, even to herself.

“Sorry.” Alyssa’s voice sounded strained to her ears. She winced. “Did you find something?”

He stared at her for a long moment without answering. Then he looked down at his hands, seeming to take a second to figure out where he was and what he was doing.

His eyes widened, and he lifted the package he held in his right hand. “Stencils. There are more if you want to look, but this package seems to have it all.”

Trying to shake off how nervous he’d suddenly made her, Alyssa reached out and took the stencils. There was something about transferring the package from his hand to hers that made her even more nervous. They weren’t even touching, but the air between them seemed electrically charged.

“These are perfect.” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as trembly to him as it did to her. “A little of everything here. I love it.”

Sure enough, there was a Wi-Fi symbol, as well as a cloud, a laptop, a smartphone, and a bunch of other technology icons. They could start with this and expand to non-technology symbols if it caught on.

“Thank you.”

She lifted her gaze to his face, taking a chance that her feelings for him would show in her eyes. It was hard to remember the night he stood her up and how hurt she’d felt. When he was near, she seemed to go straight to that middle school version of herself-the one who only saw him as something larger than life.

“Wait here, and I’ll take care of this.”

As if he hadn’t already done enough, he headed to the checkout to pay for the stencils. She wasn’t even sure how much they cost, but it was a gesture that melted the ice around her heart just a little more. If she wasn’t careful, she could completely forget about how hurt she’d felt when he’d left her stranded at home, wearing a prom dress nobody outside her house would ever see.

By the time they were back in his car, she’d worked herself into a frenzy over it. Maybe she should say something-confront him once and for all.

After it happened, she’d only seen Jeremy once before his parents died, and that had been at a dinner with his family to celebrate Alyssa and Emily going off to college. The next time she’d seen him had been at his parent’s funeral, then only a few more times after that. Aside from the funeral, when it wouldn’t have been appropriate to bring it up, she couldn’t force herself to even show him how mad she was about it. She could have texted or called him at any time and confronted him about standing her up, but she hadn’t.

Why?

Mostly because she’d been hurt, not mad. Devastated. And showing her anger over the whole thing would have meant risking letting him know he’d hurt her. Pride simply wouldn’t let her do that.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“I have to run by the office. Why don’t you come with me?”

Jeremy’s question pulled Alyssa out of her thoughts. She looked over at him. They were at a traffic light, and he was looking at her with a hopeful expression. His mouth was fixed in a slight smile and his eyebrows lifted as he waited for her answer.

No. That was what she told herself to say. Not. But shouldn’t she pretty it up in some way? Make up an excuse about needing her afternoon nap, even though she doubted she’d sleep when she was so excited about trying out her new latte art.

“Sure.”

Wait, where had that word come from? She was supposed to say, “No.” Here she was, agreeing to go to his office…for what? To watch him sit behind his desk and talk on his phone about purchase orders and late shipments?

But her response made his smile widen until it was a full-out grin. He looked like a kid who’d just been told Christmas was coming early. For a moment, she almost let herself believe he was excited about spending time with her.