Chapter 32
“Me Flint. You Celia.”
-Celia impersonating Flint
I thought my twins were vajayjay blockers. Turns out Ole Miss was a VJ blocker, too. Flint and I were about to go for round three when his alarm went off, letting us know we needed to leave for our appointment at the University.
It took a few minutes for Flint to find my clothes he threw all over the forest. I got dressed, and we headed back to the main house.
“I’m going to run in for the restroom before we leave,” I hopped out of the UTV and headed toward the front door. Flint followed closely behind. “You don’t have to go with me.”
“Maybe I need to use the men’s room, too?” Flint winked as he opened the door for me.
His parents were cuddled up on the couch when we walked in. It looked like Dena was reading to Jocko while he ran his fingers through her hair. It was an intimate moment I didn’t want to interrupt.
But it was too late.
Dena’s eyes lit up as she took in our appearance. Then, she motioned to her hair and winked. I reached up to my hair and pulled out a leaf.
Hello, Awkward.
“Um, we, uh,” I stammered and blushed at the same time.Real smooth, Celia.
Flint grabbed my hand. “We’re about to leave for Oxford. Need anything while we’re out?”
Jocko raised an eyebrow but shook his head. “Nope. Take your time. Dena and I are having a lazy Saturday today. So…”
“Ugh, no,” Flint dragged me down the hallway to our rooms. He stopped at the doorway to my room. “Do your business. We’ll leave in five minutes.”
I nodded and stepped into the bathroom to clean up and brush the nature out of my hair. I know I’m a grown woman who can make her own choices, but I felt like Flint’s Mama busted us necking in the front seat of his car, like teenagers.
My thoughts then turned to Flint as a teenager, wondering if he ever took anyone else to his secret lake for a sexy rendezvous. I was saved from this ridiculous thought spiral from a noise out in the bedroom.
I opened the door to find Flint unpacking. “What are you doing?”
“No more separate rooms,lalelei,” Flint shoved a drawer closed. “I want you in my arms and my bed from here on out.”
I raised both of my eyebrows at this declaration. What the hell did that mean? From here on out - in Mississippi? Back in Florida?
Was this the modern-day equivalent to a caveman saying, “You. Me. My cave. Now.”
If it had been any other man on the planet, I might have kicked him right in the ball sack. But looking at the hopeful face on this big, strapping man melted my insides, and I found myself nodding “yes” to whatever he wanted.
Flint was suddenly right in front of me, pulling me into his chest, kissing my forehead. “Lalelei, you keep looking at me like that, and we’re going to miss our appointment with the Dean.”
I nodded again and followed him to the car.
Maybe they had a modified Feminist Card I could get?
???
It was a rare Saturday at the University of Mississippi that didn’t have a game of some sort. Football season ended a few weeks ago. Baseball was a few weeks away from starting. And their basketball team just came off a road series.
That meant there were a few open parking spots outside the Lyceum that housed the campus administration offices.
“Did you go to Ole Miss?” I asked Flint when we got out of the car.
“Not exactly,” Flint placed his hand in the small of my back. “My Daddy went to school here, and since we lived in the state, I could get a great in-state rate for classes. But, I joined the Marines right out of high school, then re-upped when my first tour was over. Several years ago, I took virtual classes to get my degree from here. I never stepped foot on campus as a student.”
I frowned. “Probably not a lot of options in virtual classes at that time, though.”
He shrugged. “Not really. I just wanted to get the degree. It wasn’t aboutwhatI studied. More like - I could check it off my list.”
“Why didn’t you come home and take classes? You probably would have had more options that way,” I stopped to look at him. He was doing that stone face thing that he did whenever he no longer wanted to discuss something. I leaned in to whisper. “You know, part of this trying new things and getting out of our own way is opening up to the other person.”
Flint grunted but said nothing more as we pushed into the building.
