Page 73 of Love and History
“That’s fine. There are a few broader matters to discuss, such as bringing in other faculty members. Um…might I walk thee to class?”
I couldn’t come up with a nice way to refuse and I had volunteered, so… “Sure.”
We discussed activities and budget in an abstract sense as we headed to the Physics building.
“Professors Lu and Dixon will most likely join in. I’ll email you a list of other potential candidates,” Marlon said, lowering his sunglasses in what I thought was a come-hither manner. “If that’s agreeable to thee?”
To thee?
A warning bell buzzed in my brain. Thees and thous were Marlon’s idea of sexy speak. I knew that because I’d found it vaguely charming a few months ago. It was alarming now. And then I remembered the roses no one claimed and the sweeping letter M and—
“Marlon, you can’t send me roses,” I blurted.
He furrowed his brow in confusion. “Pardon me?”
“The roses. The gorgeous bouquet of long-stemmed red roses, Marlon.” I lowered my voice when a student passed. “They were lovely, but not appropriate. And now you’re saying thee, and soon you’ll say thou, and I know what you’re doing. I’m flattered. I truly am, but I will not be wooed and I will not—”
“I didn’t do it,” he exclaimed. “Perhaps, it was a secret admirer? I wish I’d thought of it, but no…I’m innocent.”
“But you said, ‘smell the roses,’ and…”
Marlon pursed his lips. “It’s a common expression, Holden. I assure you there is no double meaning.”
He was telling the truth, which on one hand was good. On the other, I felt like a fool.
“Aye, well call me a bilge rat and toss me in the brig.” I gave a nervous half laugh and stepped aside, tipping my pirate’s cap a jaunty angle. “Sorry. My mistake.”
“Not a problem, my friend. We shall converse later.” He bowed theatrically and spun on his heels.
Ugh!That was…embarrassing.
But not a big deal in the scheme of things. I had a busy weekend ahead of me and a lot of balls in the air. I thought about texting Ezra to tell him about Val’s text and that the mystery of the roses was a continuing saga. That wasn’t unusual, though. I thought about him all the time and found myself sharing the silliest details of my day.
“The lights were all green on Colorado Boulevard on my commute this morning.” Or “It was so hot in my car, my glasses fogged up.” Ezra was always quick with a funny gif or emoji. Something that made me feel connected to him when we weren’t together. Seeing his name pop up on my caller ID always made me smile.
I wondered if he’d still text me after he moved or if—Whoa.
Where had that come from? I furrowed my brow and picked up my pace as if to ward off bad juju. Worrying about the future was borrowing trouble, and pondering long-dead roses was ridiculous.
I had to get through one more class today, so I could concentrate on the fair this weekend. And Ezra would be part of that, and it would be amazing.
One hour and twenty minutes to go.
I hurried down the congested hall to my classroom, where a couple of students milled around my podium with last-minute questions. I answered them quickly, barely stifling a groan when Mallory Rossman approached.
Mallory was a diligent and intelligent young woman who unfortunately didn’t have a grasp on the astro portion of astrophysics. Almost every class began with her asking twenty questions about material she should have mastered in her freshman year.
Yes, I’d been a tad leery of her passing acquaintance with Ezra at first. She’d never mentioned that she knew him, though, which made me think her father was the real connection. Mr. Rossman wouldn’t be the first parent to try to influence their child’s grade…even when said child was an adult college student. That wouldn’t fly here.
I hoped like heck Mallory was making good use of tutoring because she was definitely struggling.
“Hello, Mallory. Class is about to begin. How may I help you?”
“I’m seeking clarification regarding use of the principle of invariance as it relates to the measurement between Ursula Minor and Regulus.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and patiently replied, “I think you mean Ursa Minor, which is a constellation. Regulus is a star. You’ll need to narrow a point in the constellation before you can apply the mathematics.”
“Yes, of course. That was a negligent oversight on my part.”