“Me.” Jesse gave her a crooked smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“You’re... cute?” Why couldn’t the freakishness come with a side of smooth lines?
He laughed, but it was a shallow sound. “Being ‘sterile’ is a deal-breaker for some girls. Not that we’re close like that, but some women... Hey, if that puts me off their tables, I understand it.”
Do I care whether or not he can make babies? That implies that we would be doing baby-making activities.Her squeezing lungs sent the pressure down between her thighs in a wholly unfamiliar way. The longer she stared at him the more appealing the idea of kissing him, of feeling him pulling her into his arms became.
Babies were still a long, long way off. And fertility?
“Shut up.” She shoved his shoulder without warning, making him stumble, his eyes wide. “You’re speaking to the adopted girl. My mom can’t have babies. I don’t love her any less. Why would I stop lo— I mean, that would never be a dealbreaker. It shouldn’t be about the state your body is in, whether you can make new lives or not. It should be... it should be about how you live this one, how you treat the person you’re with.” Sophie concluded with a fierce shrug. How she’d lived her life until now had been hyper-focused on herself and what others would think of her. She’d lived her life carefully hiding from the harsh words and hard eyes.
“Sophie?” Jesse pulled her hand in his until they were off the sidewalk. His back came to rest against the huge oak in front of the small public library just off campus.
“What are we doing?” She let herself be led.
Be pulled.
Her chest hit his and his hands left hers, instead gently wrapping around her back.
“This.” He smiled into her eyes before his lids dropped, lips opened.
It was her first kiss and it was everything she thought a kiss should be. It made her tingle, her scalp prickle, and her heartpound. She didn’t think it was the mechanics of the kiss, which lasted a seemingly long time. It was the man she was kissing.
“Sorry.” He broke the kiss off and left her gasping, shaking a little against him. “I’m sorry, Sophie, that was... not what I thought I was going to do tonight.” He looked genuinely puzzled.
“Well, I’m glad you did!”
“You are?”
“Duh.”
“Huh. Ha!” Puzzlement turned to a pleased laugh. “Wow.”
“Wow.”
“JOB?” HER FATHER DEMANDED.
“Nope.” Sophie looked at the screen, beaming.
“Friends?” her mother squealed, correctly interpreting her daughter’s look of joy.
“Yep. One in particular. Actually, he’s more of a boyfriend.”
Her mother shrieked in delight while her father barked out, “Who is he, what’s his name, where’s he from?”
“His name is Jesse Smith, he’s from Pine Ridge, New York, and he’s a business major.” She decided not to mention the part about him being a junior in case her parents objected to a slight age difference. “He’s sweet and funny, and smart and no, I didn’t sleep with him, and yes, he pays for my meals when we go out. Well, now he does. Up until this last week, we were just friends.”
Her mother was too happy “to English.” She rambled something prayerful in frantic Armenian, crossing herself with a beatific smile. Her father was still scowling.
“Business major, hm? Antonia’s not a very good school—”
“Gee, thanks, Daddy.” Sophie rolled her eyes and chomped through a Greek salad she’d chosen for that weekend’s “family dinner.”
“You had a reason to go to that small school! He’s from New York, they have a lot of good business schools there!”
“Sam!” Her mother hissed, smacking his elbow. “Why shouldn’t he go to that school? Maybe he likes the mountains? Maybe God put him there so he would meet our Sophie!”
“Oh, Mom, don’t bring God into this, please.”
