Beneath the surface, Theo was quite stunning.He turned, catching her glance, and smirked at her.She forced herself to look away.If she did not pay attention, she’d never make it home.
Would that be so terrible?
“Take a turn here,” she pointed, alongside the street off campus that led to her apartment.
Theo didn’t answer, he just turned down the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel tight.When they’d finally arrived at her complex, he stopped the car, turning it off, but neither of them seemed to want to move.
“Can I walk you to your door?”he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
There was the anxiety she remembered.The uncertainty, and something about that fueled her more than she cared to admit.
“I think I’d like that,” she said carefully.
There was a pause before the door opened and Theo climbed out.He opened her door only a moment later, offering her his hand to help her out.It was a polite gesture, one that felt quite foreign to her.In recent years, and even with David, Calliope’s patrons did not expel chivalry.The men she met rarely did things like Theo.Not because they were awful men, but because in today’s world, Calliope had noticed a disconnect.Women preferred to do things themselves, as they should, and though many desired men of a certain manner, men did not feel as inclined to put the effort into courting or romancing as they once did, deeming women’s independence as emasculation.
But Calliope was certainly capable of opening her own doors, and doing things for herself.She’d become accustomed to it.So much that when Theo went out of his way to be polite and mannerly, she was surprised.
It was not a ploy or thinly veiled manners with ulterior motives.It was genuine.
Theodorewantedto be a gentlemen.Hewantedto be romantic and sweet, because it was who he was.
So, Calliope set her hand in his, and the spark returned.It did not burn as it had before, no.It lit up like static between them.
Thin, lilac fractals danced between their skin for only a fraction of a second before it disappeared.
She glanced up at Theo, and he caught her gaze.His thumb stroked the back of her hand.
“Static electricity,” he murmured.
Calliope knew he was trying to convince himself what he’d seen was not real.Looking for some earthly explanation to the spark that existed between them, and at that moment, Calliope realized there was indeed, magic between them.
There wassomethingmagical and intense and overwhelming between them.
He dropped her hand, and she hated how cold it felt without his palm warming her.
But she did not take his hand as she wanted to.She knew it would only make the ache worse when he left.
So, she walked with Theo by her side, their hands dangling within inches of one another.
And then she felt his fingers graze hers, almost innocently.He ghosted them along hers, seeking permission.
Hewantedto hold her hand.
And she wanted him to hold it.
But Calliope could not bring herself to reach for him, and he could not bring himself to steal her hand, and so they walked, grazing, touching ever so faintly with whispers of hope.
When she got to her stoop, she stopped, holding her hands in front of her.She regaled Theo with a steady gaze as the overhead light above her door shone on them.
“Thank you.For your...company, this evening,” she said softly.
Theo gave her a graceful smile.“The pleasure was all mine, Callie.”
There was pregnant pause as his gaze drifted to her lips.
Calliope’s heart lodged in her throat, her insides twisting with anticipation.She leaned in just the slightest, the spark within her catching, remembering just how it felt underneath Theodore’s hold, under his kiss.
His voice faltered only slightly when he spoke.“All you have to do is ask,” he whispered, leaning in just slightly.The distance between them lessened.
