“Pardon?” I ask, blinking rapidly.
“I’m falling in love with you, Ava,” Forrest says. “I think I have been since the moment you ruined my shirt.”
“Well, that’s ridiculous. I was awful to you and then treated you terribly and...”
“Ava.” Forrest interrupts me. “Could we just get to the part where you say how you feel about me before I drop dead onthe spot? Because if you aren’t feeling the same way, I need to know.”
“I thought you were coming here to let me down gently,” I tell him. “You know, thanks for amazing sex, nice knowing you, great breasts, have a good life. That’s sort of thing.”
Forrest shakes his head and laughs, kind of exasperated with me.
“That’s not why I’m here, Ava. I came to say the exact opposite. To practice what I preach and let my heart lead. To tell you I don’t want to say goodbye to you in a few days and to ask you, that if it was okay with you and Artie, to come back home with us. Because I don’t think I can stand having a whole ocean between us, not even for a second.”
“Ohhhhhhhh,” I say, looking at the wardrobe and wondering if it would be too weird to get in it and close the door.
“I’m freaking you out,” Forrest says, taking a step back. “I’m sorry, I’m going too fast.”
“This is a lot to take in,” I manage to say, “and I do feel extremely awkward right now and I’ll be honest with you. I have no idea what I might say or do in the next few minutes, Forrest, because when I’m on the spot or overwhelmed, there’s a really high chance I can do something that many people find weird.”
“You can do and say what you like with me,” Forrest says. “You’re not weird. You’re you, and I am in love with you. But I’m going now. I’ll go. You need some time and space.”
He reaches for the door, opening it slightly.
“But before you go, can we do some kissing?” I hear myself saying. “I really like the kissing and you look so handsome in that T-shirt.”
Before he can answer I flight myself into his arms and kiss himas madly and passionately as a girl that was just thinking about getting into a wardrobe can kiss a boy. And that is actually quite a lot.
“I like you too,” I tell him, a little breathless, when I break the kiss. “I was only role-playing aloof.”
“You like me too,” Forrest says, smiling. “You like me too.”
“An embarrassing amount,” I say.
Then all the anxiety and awkwardness fades away and we kiss, slowly and lazily this time. Certain of one another as we stand barefoot on the sun-warmed carpet. It would be so easy to fall onto my bed and lose the rest of the day in his arms.
“You are doing kissing, Daddy!” Forrest and I bounce apart as we turn around to find Artie, a teddy tucked under one arm, wearing her Viking helmet at a jaunty angle, observing in the same way you might look at something interesting but also kind of gross. “Are you and Ava boyfriend-girlfriend now?”
“We do like each other in a sort of boyfriend-girlfriend kind of way,” Forrest says. “I was going to tell you, Artie, once I...”
“Gross,” Artie says. “Anyway, Ava, I wanted you to come with me to fight the Saxons please? We will drink in Valhalla tonight!”
“Juice,” Forrest says. “We will drink juice in Valhalla tonight as long as it’s before nine p.m.”
“I think bedtime is a violation of my free speech,” Artie says. “How can I do speaking if I’m asleep?”
“Honey, come here.” Forrest beckons Artie over. He crouches down and she steps into his arms.
“Nine thirty?” she offers.
“Would it be okay if Ava and Daddy are boyfriend-girlfriend?”
Artie thinks for a moment.
“It’s okay, I like Ava, she is clever and funny, so it’s okay, I guess, if you don’t kiss in front of me because it’s ick,” Artie says, and then she thinks for a minute. “And let me stay up until ten to kill Saxons.”
“Nine thirty.” Forrest offers her a hand as she shakes it firmly. “Well, you’ll have to fight Saxons after dinner. Come on, let’s go and get you washed up.”
“Vikings don’t mind being dirty, Daddy,” Artie says, as he picks her up.
