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“Ah. Yeah. I’d uh . . . had to do something else so he offered to go in my place.” He tilted his head and his lips trembled. “Why? Wish you were holding hands with him instead?”
“What? No. It's not that. I was just. I . . .”
“Relax.” He chuckled. “I'm just pulling your chain.”
“Huh? What chain?” Lifting each foot, I looked at the floor and then around me.
“Not an actual chain. I was joking with you. It's an expression people say.”
“Oh, right.” I laughed nervously. “I don't always get human jokes.”
“It also might be that they're just not that funny to begin with. Most of mine aren't. It's better you find out now so you can brace yourself later.”
“Don't worry, you have plenty of time to redeem yourself.”
He cracked a smile. “Yeah. Thirty whole minutes today and a movie's worth tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” I licked my dry lips and stared at my feet before I met his eyes again. “If you're in a hurry to be somewhere else, we can get started now.”
He looked at my hand and nodded. “Yeah sure. I do have a friend I'm meeting for lunch.”
Friend. That term sat less right with me now that we’d met. I was completely sure after today, I wanted to be more than his friend. He was more perfect than I'd ever imagined. From his red hair and freckles down to his country-style clothing. I liked the way his glasses framed his big, crystal-blue eyes too.
“Okay, I know a few hideaway areas in the library we can go to, or a place behind the building.”
My heart nearly escaped my chest when he wrapped his fingers around mine, and I couldn't stop my head from spinning.
“We can do it here, if that's okay? Maybe walk around the base a bit. It's nice out.”
Not sure he'd say that if we were outside the base. “Yeah. There's a nice breeze coming through. Lately it's been pretty humid.”
He tugged on my hand as he dragged me alongside him. Our arms bumped and my heart was a dancing mess from the close proximity. He smelled so good too. Like oranges and antibacterial soap. They had that soap all over the base bathrooms, so I was familiar with the smell. But it mixed better with his skin than it did on my hands.
“I don't usually walk out here much.”
“Why not?” His gaze went back and forth between me and the sidewalk.
“There's too many humans who like to stare and make uncomfortable faces. I guess they find my appearance unsettling.”
“Well I don't.” He smiled softly. “I think you're fine as you are.”
“And I think you're just being kind.”
“Nah.” He swung our hands a little. “I never say things I don't mean. If anything, I sometimes accidentally say too much of what's on my mind.”
“We have that in common.” I led us across the street as soon as it was clear, and we stepped onto another sidewalk.
“Do you have any favorite places you like to come to when you're on base?”
“The library mostly. The park is nice, but everyone usually leaves as soon as I sit on a bench near the pond or enter the trail. They don't do that as much at the library. Different crowd, I guess. The librarian is probably the closest thing I have to a friend here—her and Henry. I already feel alone enough in my cabin but in the library, I don't have to be.”
Especially because I get to talk to you.
He frowned, squeezing my fingers. “I'm sorry. That really has to be hard. I'm not so popular where I live either. I mean, no one clears a room when I enter or anything, but people at work whisper about me a lot. I'm a little awkward and quiet. I have lunch in my car and sit away from everyone else when charting. I'm much closer to my patients than my co-workers. We mostly only talk to each other when needed.”
“You don't seem that quiet to me,” I said, worried our thirty minutes would be over soon.
“Yeah. With some people it comes easy.”
