Page 53 of Academically Yours

Was asking Noelle out—being with her—worth the risk of giving my heart away and letting someone else in?

Maybe it was. Maybe I was just terrified. Or maybe I was just being a coward. Too scared to lose someone to even try. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. My mind was running a thousand miles a minute.

But there was only one thing that calmed the storm that was my mind. That got the winds to quiet and not rage in my ears.

And that was thinking about Noelle, in my arms, smiling up at me as I kissed her forehead.

And I knew what I wanted—maybe even needed to do. I had to try,

And when she called me that night, when I was sitting there, thinking about her, staring at the ceiling, I asked her out again without a second thought.

To dinner. On Valentine’s Day. No big deal.

~ ~ ~

I hung up the phone, pinching my brow between my fingers.

Had I caught her that off guard that she hadn’t even realized what Friday was? I knew Valentine’s Day had crept up on us, but I thought asking her to get dinner on the day would have been a little more… shocking. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t help but want to have someone by my side for the holiday. Even if it was just invented for Greeting Cards. It was something more to me now.

And there was only one person I was thinking of. That I had been thinking of all week. I was trying to keep my distance because now that I had tasted her, it was all I wanted to do again. I wanted to bury my hands in her soft body, run my fingers over her thighs, and kiss her senseless until she was begging for more.

I didn’t know how to explain it—I just knew that it was inevitable.

And she had agreed to dinner. Tomorrow. On Valentine’s Day.

Were we dating? Was that… was that what this was?

But we hadn’t even discussed the topic, so even as I pondered over our options for our date, I didn’t want to do anything that would freak her out. And I needed a place where I had to keep my hands off of her. My house was out of the question, of course, but I had this idea of a spot she would really love.

On Thursdays, Noelle had a late-night class. I had her schedule down pat: she would come to the coffee shop on campus for a few hours to get some work done, and it was always in the time between my classes, so that’s where I was.

Staring at her, wearing a white sweater covered in red hearts and a matching red skirt. My heart skipped a few beats. We had settled into this routine—it was comfortable, really—and when I slid into the chair across from her, she didn’t comment.

I raised an eyebrow at her attire. “Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.”

“I am aware, yes.”

“So… You are celebrating early?” She shook her head. “You love love?” I was teasing her, but even as she gave me another shake of her head, her lips tipped up in a smile.

“If you must know,” she sighed. “I can’t wear my usual Valentine’s outfit tomorrow, because someone asked me out on a date.”

I gasped. “Wow. The gall.”

She nodded, all solemn, and pulled out a saran-wrapped package of heart-shaped cookies from her bag. “I know you don’t like sweets,” she said bashfully. “But I made these, and I wanted you to have one.”

“You made these?” I asked, surprised, looking at the sugar cookies in my hand. I glanced down at the icing on the top and noticed what it said: Will you be my Valentine?

Oh, this girl. She was definitely after my heart. And if I wasn’t careful, I was pretty sure I was going to give it to her.

“Thank you. I’m sure they’re incredible.”

She grinned. “It’s my grandma’s recipe. On my dad’s side.”

I nodded. “And are you going to share any of these with your… date? Tomorrow?”

Noelle paused like she was pondering the thought, and then shook her head. “No. I think he’ll have to earn his cookies.”

“Oh, yeah?”