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His junior year of high school, he snuck Alicia Winters into his bedroom. The next evening his father had tossed a box of condoms on his bed and said, “Your mom. Don’t ask me why. She just gets a wild hair sometimes. You know how to use these, right?”
He still felt awkward thinking about it. His mother had known. His mother always knew.
Jamie shook his head and powered down his computer. Grabbing the gym bag he brought with him, he locked up his office. Once outside, he dialed Cora.
After the third ring, she picked up and said, “Hey.”
“Wow. I kind of expected you to send me to voicemail,” Jamie said, no longer sure what to say.
Cora was silent for a minute and then asked, “Can we talk in person? Are you still in the office?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll come to—”
The door to her office opened abruptly, and she stepped out, a look of guilt and trepidation written all over her face.
Chapter Nine
When Cora saw the look on uncertainty on Jamie’s face, it only compounded her guilt. He approached her but remained silent, waiting for her to speak.
“I’m sorry,” she said, dropping her phone to her side. “I should have called or texted. I kinda freaked out after the other night.”
He nodded, but still didn’t say anything. She couldn’t blame him.
“I...I like you. A lot. I’m a little scared. It’s no excuse for avoiding you, not considering your feelings...uh, there it is. I’m sorry.”
“If you need time, or if you want to take a step back, or to not do whatever we’re doing at all, just tell me. If you had just asked for space, then that would have been fine,” he said, frustration written on his face. “I was worried about you, though. With the guy...”
“Crap,” she said, wincing. “I didn’t think. I’m sorry.?
??
“Clearly it all worked out okay,” he said, waving her off.
“I overthink things. I always have. It’s a nasty habit.”
A smirk on his face, he said, “I’ve noticed.”
She took another step toward him, reached up and brushed her fingers over the creases between his eyes until they smoothed out, then said, “The other night, things changed between us. I don’t regret that. I’m sorry that my freak-out made you feel that way.”
“It’s okay. You’ve gotta tell me what’s going on in there, though, sweetheart,” Jamie said as he tapped the side of her head. “That was one of the best things about us. The ridiculous level of honesty. I don’t want that to change.”
“I’ll talk to you. I promise,” she said. “So where do we go from here?”
Jamie rubbed the tips of his fingers along her cheek and then said, “I don’t know. You tell me.”
“My place,” she asked.
Jamie laughed and said, “I thought we were talking about it in more of a meta sense.”
“We were,” she agreed, smiling for the first time since she’d stepped into the hallway. “I want you. That hasn’t changed.”
Cora felt considerably better when she saw the uncertainty leave his face. She could feel the tension leave her own body as she closed the small distance between them.
Cora reached up on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her mouth against his. When his arms pulled her tightly against him, she sighed against his mouth and deepened the kiss.
Eventually, when he backed away, he tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and asked, “Are you ready to leave or did you have more work to do?”
“Nothing that won’t hold. Though I did want to make a stop at the store really quickly. Get something that doesn’t smell quite so fruity,” Cora said, flushing.
