AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She held out her hand and he took it, little charges of electricity and desire tickling his palm, and he bit his tongue to keep from giggling.
“So who is this Saint Dwynwen?”
Aisling looked up at him, her eyes glistening in the moonlight, taking Mike’s breath away. “She’s the saint of lovers,” Aisling whispered.
“And we just found this on the beach? Wow, I’m getting scared,” Mike said, pocketing the medal as they giggled.
“So I guess you don’t have a girlfriend,” she said as they continued walking. “I mean, you wouldn’t be here on the beach with me if you did, right?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said. “Believe it or not, I’m going to be twenty-three next month, and I’ve never had a serious girlfriend.”
“I don’t think that’s that unusual,” she said gently. “I’m almost twenty-one and I don’t have a boyfriend. I rarely date, as a matter of fact. No time.”
“Me either,” he said. “My friend Devon—you might know him from school, too—Devon and I lived in LA for two years while we went to paramedic certification school, and our classmates thought we were gay.”
“Are you?” she asked.
“No. We’re just busy. I’m in the reserves, too.”
“Army Reserves?” she asked, eyes wide. “Wow, you are busy. Army, paramedic and now firefighter certification. You sound like a guy who knows where he’s going.”
“I do? Thanks, I guess.”
They didn’t say anything more for a while, but sometime after the last thing they’d said, he’d taken her hand again. In spite of the discrepancy in their heights, it was comfortable holding hands. His dangled at his side, and her elbow was bent so their hands joined, like a child.
“We fit together,” he said, finally breaking the silence.
Holding their hands up, she smiled, nodding her head. “Perfectly.”
What did he have to lose by asking her out? He’d never been interested enough to pursue a date in the past. Maybe the interest in this chance meeting meant it was time.
“Would you like to go out?” he asked.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
“How about tomorrow? There’s a concert at the local library.”
They talked about the neighboring towns where they grew up. Aisling was surprised Mike still lived at home with his mom and dad and many siblings, and Mike was impressed that she had her own condo not far from the hospital where she worked as a nurse’s aide, soon to be a nurse.
“I’d love that. Sunday afternoons always feel like a waste to me. They’re depressing, with naps and laundry and last minute studying. Is the concert outside?”
“It’s held right on the lawn.”
They’d reached the pier and a sketchy crowd of young men, so Mike stopped.
“Let’s head south,” he said. “Your friend is going to wonder if you’re okay. What you said about Sundays, I agree. I hate hanging around, waiting for Monday. My mom makes a big deal about Sunday. That’s the advantage to living at home, I guess. She makes us go to mass; then when we get home, she makes a meal big enough to choke a pig. We don’t eat dinner at home on Sunday because we go to my grandmother’s house, but no one wants to eat because lunch was so big.”
“I like that idea,” Aisling said. “No one comes out of their rooms at my parents’ house. Sunday is dead. When I grow up, I think I’ll do like your mother does and make Sunday full of people.”
“We have built-in people with six kids,” Mike said, looking at her. “You know, you sure are pretty.”
“Aw, do you think so?” she asked, fluffing up her hair teasingly. “You’re so sweet.”
“Not really,” he said, laughing.
They reached the party and Aisling’s friend gave her the thumbs-up, seeing she was safe.
“Can I have your phone number?” he asked, getting his phone out.
