Page 15 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

I hike a shoulder to my ear. “It’s gotten me this far.”

“Okay...” Sam draws out the syllables. “For this experiment to work, you have to give an organic answer. You could have anything you want, right now, but it only lasts for tonight. What do you wish for?”

I purse my lips, raising my gaze to the sky for a moment. “I don’t know. How do you wish for something you know will be temporary?”

“You’re a realist, aren’t you?”

More like a scientist. “I guess you could say that, but I don’t see the sense in having the thing you truly want for a finite amount of time. Why not wish for it to be yours forever?”

“Because that’s not how life works. You have to seize the moment while you have it. Otherwise, you’ll end up living in regret.”

I exhale through pursed lips. “Wow, this conversation got real heavy real quick.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to.” Sam settles back in his chair and runs his free hand through his hair. “Did I ruin our date?”

“No, not ruined.” I sip my beer. “But I have to say this is one of the more unorthodox dates I’ve been on.”

“Yeah? How so?”

“I don’t know. I always thought of dates as dinner and a movie.”

Sam makes a grunting noise. “It’s too hard to get to know someone that way. You can’t talk while you’re shoving food in your mouth?” He pauses to make strong eye contact. “Ice cream doesn’t count.”

I laugh.

“And you definitely can’t talk during a movie.” He gives me a sideways glance, his brown eyes sparkling. “This is better.”

“I guess I don’t have much to compare it to, but this is turning out to be my favorite.”

Sam’s eyebrows squish together. “Not much to compare it to? You don’t date?”A lump forms in my throat and I have to swallow it down before I can speak. “I’ve only gone on two dates in the last year. Neither of them were good. Before that, I was in a long-term relationship.” I drop my gaze to watch a truck that’s heavy on the exhaust drive away from the gas station. That can’t be good for the ozone layer. “It didn’t end well.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I’m actually still kind of recovering from it.”

“Well, I don’t know who the guy was, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say he’s an idiot.”

When I lift my head to thank him, I find the warmest, most genuine smile on his face, and my insides melt. We stare at each other for several moments, as if we’re both memorizing each other’s features. Every passing second, another butterfly takes flight inside me.

Sam blinks. “I, uh, I have to use the bathroom now.”

When he slides his fingers from mine, I immediately miss his warmth. In fact, I miss his presence entirely. It’s a weird feeling. My heart didn’t come out of my relationship with Connor intact, so for me to be feeling these things about Sam, well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

But I’m feeling them anyway.

I just met the guy today, but it’s like we’ve known each other for a lot longer. Not like old friends, but not exactly acquaintances. Somewhere in between, and… I like it. It’s so natural to talk to him, and I don’t ever want to stop.

Tomorrow will come, though. And sooner than I want it to.

An idea pops into my head. It’s a bold move, bolder than dancing in the park, but I can’t squander this time I have with Sam. I hope I’m not being too forward, but I have to try. If I don’t, I may never know if this thing between us is real.

Chapter 5

The slider opens and Sam steps back onto the balcony. Immediately, he pauses to study me lounging in the now single patio chair.

I shrug. “The wind again. It blew your chair all the way over there, and I didn’t want to get up to get it.” I point across the ten-foot space.

Sam laughs. “These gusts have been crazy, but where am I supposed to sit now?”

---