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Well, if you’re serious...
“When’s your first test?” He threw his arm around her shoulder.
“Next Friday,” she answered, snuggling back into him.
“We’ve got time then. How about this... let’s go out tonight and have some fun and then we’ll tackle this stuff together in the morning?” He inhaled, the now familiar scent of lilacs overtaking his nose from the top of her head.
She smiled. “What do you have in mind?”
“You pick.” Squeezing her knee, he stood. “I gotta shower before we do anything though. Ten minutes, okay?”
She nodded.
Tugging at the buttons on his shirt, Austin yanked the material from his body. It brushed against his nose as he pulled it free from his arms.What’s that?Pressing the shirt to his face, he frowned.
“Does this smell like smoke to you?” He held out the shirt with a wrinkled nose, and Casey cringed, ducking her head into her lap.
Burying her face in her hands, she whined. “I’m sorry! I know it’s gross, okay?”
“Wait... you smoke?”
Eww, really?
She shrugged, still hiding her face. “It’s a bad habit. I get it, all right?”
Austin sighed and rubbed at the muscles in his neck. “Umm... yeah.” He frowned. “I guess I just didn’t know that about you.” His brain revisited the day they met.But you did have a lighter.
She jumped from the floor, her bare feet pounding past him and into the kitchen.
He followed, rounding the corner as she tugged a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse and dumped them both into the trash.
“I quit. I promise.” She wrapped her arms around her body, the tips of her ears turning pink. “Mavis was always on me about it too. I swear, I only do it when I’m just a little stressed.”
Austin inhaled, his gaze running the length of her defeated, embarrassed form. Instinctually, he stepped forward and wrapped her in his embrace.
She fell into his chest and sighed. “Did I completely gross you out?” she whispered, pressing her lips to his skin.
A shiver snaked through him at the tickle. “Not even close.” With a squeeze of her hips, he pulled away. “But for what it’s worth, I’m glad you just quit.”
She nodded and rubbed her hands along her arms.
“Ten minutes, okay?” Stepping backward, Austin pushed the door open to the bathroom and gripped the faucet. Hot water burst through the pipes as he nudged the door closed and yanked off his remaining clothes.
Her voice called from the kitchen. “Bleacher seats for twenty bucks in center field?”
“My wallet is on the table! Use the blue card!”
Go, Cubs, Go!
––––––––
Casey shuffled throughthe crowd, leading Austin to their seats in center field. The lights, the music, the trademark ivy, and the enormity of the fandom brought to life had his heart palpitating. His butt plunked down on the bleachers beside her as his gaze soaked in the historic magic of Wrigley Field, Casey’s larger-than-life obsession.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he tugged her body closer to his as the sky darkened in the spring evening. His foot crunched a stray peanut shell, and an empty hot dog wrapper blew across their toes in the gentle breeze.
“What do you think?” She turned, tilting her face upward as a smile consumed her lips.
“Well, it’s definitely not Dodger Stadium.”
