Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I cast a critical gaze at the boring gray box of a house. It had zero character. No wraparound porch, no ghostly dark foyer, no beautiful fireplace, no ornate molding, no creaky stairs. No nerdy roommates.
No Holden.
But the harsh reality was this—I had no claim to the house or the guy. Whatever we had was too new to quantify, and it was too soon to ask awkward questions like “What next?” When the lease was up, my time with him might be up. And I needed a place to live.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets and inclined my head. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
7
HOLDEN
“Mornin’, sunshine.”
I pulled my sweater on and shuffled to my bedroom doorway where Ezra stood bearing a gift of bagels and coffee. To be clear, it was a toasted everything bagel from my favorite bakery in Old Town. And the coffee was piping hot.
“For me?”
He shook the white paper bag before setting it on my desk next to the coffee and a stack of napkins. “For you. I would have left this downstairs, but I didn’t want to explain bagels to Tommy and Cole.”
I fiddled with the buttons on my cardigan as I peered into the bag. “You bought me a bagel?”
“Yeah. No biggie. I went to the gym this morning and stopped by on my way home. Eat it while it’s hot.”
“Why? I mean…thank you. That was thoughtful of you. That’s my favorite bakery, and I love their bagels and—”
“I remembered.” Ezra’s lips twitched on one side in an almost shy smile. Then he went all Ezra on me and sniffed his armpit. “I’m gonna shower. I stink. Hey, I have a study group tonight. I’ll see you after that, Shakespeare.”
I moved to my doorway and crossed my arms. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He stripped his T-shirt off as he sauntered down the hall to the bathroom.
That sexy beast had bought me a bagel. I clutched the bag like a Valentine and sighed…one of those embarrassing lovesick sighs that told a story all its own. I’d have a hard time reminding myself that our situation was unsustainable when he was so…nice and thoughtful. If I wasn’t careful, I’d forget he wasn’t boyfriend material.
So what if we were roommates and he was in the closet? So what if secrecy made me feel guilty? I could do this for a little while because…I liked him. A lot.
I picked at the bagel instead and sipped my coffee dreamily.
Darn that Ezra.
“Read chapters five through seven before our next class, and be sure to focus on Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.” I tugged at the Elizabethan collar popular during Kepler’s time meaningfully and pointed at the equation on the board. “Specifically, the calculus. Any questions?”
I scanned the lecture hall, inclining my head toward the eager young man with curly dark hair in the middle section.
“Yes, sir. Would you please go over the property of the flattening ellipse on model Three A?”
I turned to the slide projected on the opposite side of the board, adjusting my glasses as I prepared my reply. This was my final class of the day and the hundredth time I’d taught Applied Mathematics and Physics to freshmen. At least it felt that way.
I’d lost count of how many times I’d gone over Kepler’s and Newton’s laws to eighteen-year-olds who should have memorized the rules of motion and gravity in high school. In my opinion, summer school courses skimmed over meatier theories and put too much emphasis on material that should have been the equivalent of memorizing multiplication tables.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the subject matter, but I wished we could move through it faster. These lucky students still had the circular motion principles and centripetal force to look forward to. They might not think they were ready, but after a few weeks of wondering which scientist their professor would dress up as, they’d begin to flex their brain in a new way. Associative learning techniques worked!
In a perfect world, the curly-haired kid peppering me with methods to measure the compression of a circle or sphere would associate the ginormous ruffled collar I’d paired with my basic black ensemble today with the theorem at hand or the scientist responsible for it. History was an important resource. It taught us invaluable lessons about society and our place in it…and it reminded us not to repeat certain mistakes.
And…cue Marlon.
I did a double take at the shadowy figure standing at the rear of the hall with his hands in his pockets. I wasn’t sure it was him until he leaned on his right hip and almost careened against the wall. He regained his balance, clutching an empty chair and knocking his thick glasses askew in the process. To his credit, he covered his near tumble pretty darn well, slipping into the seat and crossing his legs without causing a major disruption.