Rose smiled a devilish grin. “Yes?” she said, drawing it out long and sweet.
This woman would not make it easy for me.
“Umm…cookies?”
Her nostrils flared. “Cookies! Are you serious?” She went to slam the door when Faith’s hand reached around the frame to hold it open. Geez. I stepped back. Rose was a feisty thing; her brother always seemed so chill.
“It’s cold. Did you want to come in?” She was quieter than Rose in every way. She gave me a soft smile and nodded inside.
I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to spend every minute I could tonight with Faith. I had this draw to be near her I couldn’t seem to satisfy.
I walked toward the door, trying to keep my steps from betraying my eagerness, and keeping my hands firmly in my pockets. I was a grown man. I shouldn’t be acting like a hormonal teenager.
I closed the distance between us, stepped into her entryway, and she closed the door.
“We should probably talk about Jessica.” Faith’s arms were crossed over her chest, and she studied her feet.
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I’m so sorry about tonight.”
Faith gave a little shrug. “I’m understanding more of where Jessica might be coming from, I think.”
My eyebrows dropped. “What do you mean?”
She raised her shoulder, but still avoided my eyes. “Just that… I dunno.”
I waited.
She exhaled forcefully. “Oh, just that, even if we are only friends…it would be easy to feel more than that, to want more than that…and get hurt.” Her voice trailed off to a whisper.
I stepped closer, placing my hand on her shoulder. Her eyes went to my hand and then to my eyes.
“I probably didn’t handle everything the right way with Jessica.” I acknowledged. “But I talked to her again tonight.”
Faith’s eyebrows lowered as she searched my eyes.
“I told her I didn’t know how I felt about dating.”
Faith lowered her head and stepped out of my reach.
“But.” I moved barely closer to her, but I wouldn’t touch her unless she wanted me to. “That even if I was, I wasn’t interested in her in that way. I feel nothing but friendship toward her.”
Faith studied my eyes in the quiet. “Are you coming to tell me the same thing?” Her mouth formed a tiny pout.
My eyes widened, and I shook my head no. “No, not at all.”
She tilted her chin up toward me. “Then why are you here?” Her brow furrowed.
“I want to spend time with you, and I want to get to know you better.” I shrugged. I sounded so lame in my ears, but it was true. “I don’t know more than that though?”
“What about not being ready to date? What about the whole parent-teacher thing? What about only being friends?” She took a slow breath.
I could feel her nervousness. I sighed. “I don’t have the answers to everything.” I shrugged. “But we could also just see what happens, take things slow?” I ran my hand down the length of her arms.
She nodded and raised a brow, a smile lit up her face. “Are you sure you don’t just want my cookies?”
“I mean, the cookies really are great…” I leaned in closer, and raised an eyebrow.
She chuckled.
