AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m glad it’s you that came with me,” he said low enough that no one else would hear.
Her heart did a little fist pump.
“Your turn.” The little divots of his dimples flashed uncertain.
“I like your cheeks,” she heard herself say.
His forehead pinched together as if to say, “the hell?”
“The dimples, I mean,” she clarified.
Oh Lord.
“Thank you,” he replied as though it were the most normal thing in the world for her to have said.
The room melted away and it was just the two of them again.
“Fantastic,” Rebecca cut through their moment. “Now we’re going to talk about intimacy. I’d like you to share with your partner some of your favorite things about being alone together. I’m not just talking about intercourse”—She paused too long on that word, stared too long at Lucy and Will, letting it just hang in the air like an unwelcome rash—“I mean all of the little things that make your relationship special.”
“I went first last time,” William pointed out, his voice staying low, so his words were for Lucy alone.
She paused, his presence intimidating. “You smell nice.”
“I do?” he asked. “What do I smell like?”
“I don’t know how to describe it. Just nice.”
“How are things going?” Rebecca knelt beside them.
“Lucy was just explaining how nice I smell.”
“Oh, that’s good!” Rebecca settled in, apparently ready to stick around for a while. “What do you think of Lucy’s scent?”
“I think she’s amazing. All of her.” He held Lucy’s stare. “I love her scent. Her eyes. Her kindness. The way she cares about people and wants everyone to be happy. Yeah, I think she’s pretty awesome.”
Lucy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish tossed onto the banks of a lake.
Rebecca laughed like wind chimes again. “Did you know that finding your partner’s scent appealing is an indicator that your genetics are compatible for children? Have you two discussed that? The things they can do in a lab these days are pretty intense.”
Much like this conversation.
William squeezed Lucy’s hand and rubbed at the fleshy spot between her thumb and forefinger. “We’d like two.”
“You guys are just butter on-a-roll,” Rebecca enunciated each syllable and bounced up. “I’ll check back in a bit.”
Lucy pulled her hands away and scraped them over her face. “Yay.”
“All right everyone.” Rebecca clapped her hands together. “Next up. I want you to tell your partner your deepest, darkest fear. If you’ve already shared this, great, time for a re-share. If not, now’s the time. Get it all out there.”
“I think we should discuss politics or religion,” Lucy said, deadpan.
William chuckled and shifted so his knees were on either side of her hips. “Your deepest, darkest fear is water, right? That’s not so bad.”
Lucy swallowed over her suddenly dry tongue and sandpaper throat. Large bodies of water weren’t her favorite by any stretch. The truth of it, though? In that moment, her biggest fear was William would remember the person she’d been—the high school kid with fake friends who pretended to like her when they needed something. The girl the football players tossed bologna at in the cafeteria while they barked, because their buddies thought it was oh-so-hysterical. The girl who spent a summer helping on a television set and crushed on the resident playboy, only to have him forget everything about her.
If he remembered who she was, he’d never be able to see her for who she’d become.
“Luce?” he asked, concerned.
