Page 117 of Meet Me on Greenwood

"Excuse us," he said, taking my hand. "We have a dance to get to."

My jaw was on the floor, but I wouldn’t dare let go of his hand. Houston raised his voice to get the attention of those on stage. "We are a couple!"

Stradford turned to us looking relieved. "Take your spot!" Stradford grinned. "We have three beautiful couples everyone. Give them a round of applause."

The claps were slow at first but grew infectious as more people began to cheer. Mamie returned as people were jostling to get closer to the stage. "I call this one… ‘Love Letter.’"

The lights dimmed, and Houston guided me through a series of slow steps, one hand in mine and the other on my waist.

After a few turns, I said, "You shouldn’t have done that."

He leaned closer. "Why not?"

"They won’t like it," I breathed. "Not like this, not in the open."

"Then we find somewhere we can be in the open."

"But you’re not safe." I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip.

"I don’t care. I just want to be with you. I love you, Gema."

I leaned against his chest. "We can’t."

"We can," he whispered into my hair. It was too much, seeing him again. I should have stayed upstairs. I should have left already. This man had blown up his entire life for me, and I was going to have to leave him here and it was all my fault.

He pulled back, suddenly looking into my face as tears tracked down my cheeks. "What’s wrong? Do you not feel the same way?"

We stood still for a moment. The song ended, and Mamie slipped into an upbeat song with more rhythm. Everyone got on the dance floor then, throwing the rigid expectations aside. If my heart wasn’t being broken into pieces, I might have even admired the way the two races were finally coming together.

"I can’t," I said, turning away. Houston reached for me, but he got pulled back into the crowd as I ran as fast as I could to the elevator.

I hit the button, waiting impatiently the elevator to arrive. If it took too long, he’d catch up. I pushed the button again as if that would make it any faster. Finally, the doors opened and I clicked the up button immediately. I held onto it like my life depended on it. The doors began to close, but stopped as a man wedged his foot between them and Houston forced his way in. Our gazes locked and he was calm as we ascended slowly to the top floor, neither of us making a sound. When doors opened, I broke contact, and he followed me out.

"Why are you running Gema? Whatever is that is going on, we can figure it out."

"We can’t," I sobbed. "I’ve ruined everything."

He reached for me, but I jerked away.

"I already know about Johns Hopkins," he said.

I looked up in surprise. "What about it?"

"You’re not in any of the yearbooks, Gema," he said slowly. "Johns Hopkins hasn’t heard of you. And you know what?"

I met his gaze.

"I don’t care," he said. "You have a skill set that you clearly learned from somewhere. I don’t care it’s not from a fancy school. I don’t care if you are self-taught. I just want to be with you."

"You don’t understand."

"I do—"

I held up my hand. "You don’t."

"Tell me," he begged. "Whatever it is, I don’t care."

"I’m not from this time Houston. I’m from ten decades into the future."