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Yep, that’s a valid concern. Close bonds have already been forged among the first-year students, and she’s right, I won’t know any of my new professors.
“Transferring will make it harder to get a good internship.” She looks up at me. “I imagine it would make it harder, right?”
I nod. She’s not wrong. “Keep going.”
“What about getting a spot on a good mock trial team, or the law journal stuff.”
She’s done her research. “Anything else?” She’s quiet now, but I feel her shake her head against my chest. “Hey.” I shift my body to the side, which isn’t easy in a hammock, and coax her to look up at me. “I’m not gonna lie, all the points you’ve raised are valid. Socially, and just as far as, I don’t know, getting to know the academic culture at a new school, it’s going to be an adjustment. But it’s going to be all right. People transfer all the time.”
She rests her head back on my chest. “I don’t think you’re being completely straight with me.”
“I am. Listen, Charlotte, they accepted me because they know I’m number one in my class at Northwestern. I’m going to get a spot on a good trial team, and who knows, I could be editing the Michigan Law Review before it’s all said and done.”
“Confident much?”
“I’m confident because I’ve worked my ass off, and I’m going to keep doing that. And I’ll meet the faculty and students by joining groups and associations that deal with the issues I’m focusing on. I am probably going to have to do some other crap that I normally wouldn’t have gotten involved with, but that’ll be a small price to pay.”
“Like what?”
“You know, like join the intramural flag football or hockey team or some shit…Find a way to meet students outside of class.”
“You play hockey?”
“It’s a co-ed league at Northwestern, so it was mostly for fun, but yeah, I played in an intramural league off and on throughout undergrad.”
“Wow. I feel like I’m meeting you for the first time.”
“Yeah, baby, there’s all sorts of things you don’t know about me.”
One hand moves down my side and around my back. When she cups my ass cheek, she pulls me in closer. “Do tell.”
“Hmm…Let me think.” I’ve got a nice view down her tank top right now, and her smile is telling me she knows this. I slide the strap of her top down one shoulder as I nuzzle into her neck. “I speak fluent French now.”
“Ooh la la,” she whispers.
“I can fly an airplane,” I add, awkwardly shifting us so that I’m now on top of her.
“Really?” she asks absently, breathy.
Rocking my hips into her, I watch her lids drift closed as her teeth graze her bottom lip. “And in my spare time, I’m a spy for the Russian government.”
“That’s great,” she murmurs, raising her hips up to meet mine.
She shifts then, probably because I’m crushing her, and the movement sets us off balance. With a WHOOMF, we land on the grass below.
“You’re lucky I landed on top,” she says, catching her breath and laughing.
I run my hands down her back, resting them on her ass. “I’m just lucky in general.”
“Want to take this inside, big boy?”
“At your service.” But I pause, holding her in place. “Are we on the same page now? If there’s some other concern you have about me relocating, you’d tell me, right?”
She shakes her head, her long hair falling in a curtain around us. “I want you there with us, Simon. I just don’t want to be selfish about it.”
“Selfish? You’ve never made a selfish move in your life. It’s time for me to make some sacrifices. I’m long overdue, wouldn’t you say?” She shrugs one shoulder. I haven’t convinced her. “I don’t think you get it, Charlotte.” I raise us into a sitting position, take her face in my hands. “I wouldn’t survive being apart from the two of you. I don’t want to keep popping in and out of your lives on the weekends. I want to be there. I want Ethan to be close to me.” Dropping a kiss on her lips, I add, “I want to be close to you.”
She nods. We lift ourselves up off the ground and I watch as she rids herself of the grass and twigs that cling to her shirt and shorts. I reach over, tucking her hair behind her ear, my mind taking me back to last weekend. Lawrence was here on Saturday morning, but then arranged an overnight fishing trip with a few friends. This weekend he scheduled another trip to see his brother down in Wisconsin. I’m pretty sure he’s got an ulterior motive, one that benefits me. I knew he was in my corner the first time I met him. And I’m grateful, because tonight it’s as good as it was the last time, when I thought I could never feel as close to another person the way I do when I’m with Charlotte. Her sweat-slicked skin grips and then slides against mine. She opens for me, invites me into her, and then closes her eyes and sighs when I’m fully seated, rocking her hips to get closer still.
