Page 65 of Pity Play

“It was a whole big deal.” I explain, “She sent me to the principal’s office where I got interrogated about what I knew about making babies.” Shrugging, I add, “I didn’t know how they were made, so I told the principal you needed chocolate chips and butter.”

Lorelai settles back into the cushions. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better. You are very nice, Luke. But I know what kind of kid I was and I’m sorry that I bugged you so much.”

Scooting closer to her I tell her, “You were charmingly dedicated.” Then I ask, “Now, I feel like there’s something else we might need to do before our prom date is over.”

She picks up her flowers. “You want me to put my corsage on?”

Shaking my head, I tell her, “I was thinking about a goodnight kiss. That’s a pretty standard post-prom activity and for a truly authentic experience you’ll need one of those.”

“Luke.” She moves to stand up, but I reach out and take herhand. She tries to pull away again. “You don’t have to kiss me, for Pete’s sake.”

“What if I want to?” I remember my first night here when Lorelai was drunk and thought we’d gone to the prom together. She seemed pretty determined to get a kiss. I’ve thought of that moment more times than I care to count. I may not have been interested when we were younger but that is no longer the case.

“I don’t think … I mean … You don’t… It’s not like …”

The only way to progress is to stop her from talking. I do this by moving slowly so I don’t scare her. Once my face is within inches of hers, I tell her, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

But before I can, Lorelai launches herself the short distance between us and lays one on me. It’s soft and sweet and so much nicer than I could have imagined. She quickly tries to pull out of my grasp like she can’t believe what she just did, but I don’t let her. Instead, I hold her close and tentatively deepen the kiss.

Lorelai is everything I could want in a woman except for the one small fact that she is not geographically desirable. I’m not sure how much time passes as we explore one another; I can only say that I enjoy every delicious second of our encounter.

When I finally release her, Lorelai makes no move to separate herself from me. Instead, she rests her head on my shoulder, and says, “That was very nice, thank you.”

“Thankyou,” I tell her sincerely.

“I will always remember that kiss and I’ll even tell my daughter about it.” A noticeable blush covers her cheeks. “I won’t go into detail.”

“We don’t have to stop yet,” I tell her, hoping she likes the idea of continued canoodling as much as I do. But she surprises me by shaking her head.

“We’d better not,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, but that one kiss is going to have to hold me.”

“Why is that?” I mean, if we both want more, why shouldn’t we enjoy ourselves?

“Because I’m not going to move to Chicago and you’re notgoing to move back to Elk Lake. And as much as I’d like another kiss,” she waggles a pointer finger between us, “there’s really no point.”

I disagree. But instead of saying that, I tell her, “You do have a lot going on in your life right now.”

“So do you. You need to make things right with your dad and then you need to hightail it back to Chicago.” Standing up, Lorelai adds, “I had a very nice evening Luke, thank you. I’m sorry I got a little moody there.”

I start wondering if she didn’t enjoy our kiss as much as I did. Which kind of concerns me. I’ve never had any complaints about my kissing, but maybe I’m not as good at it as I thought. “I had a great night, too,” I tell her. “Really nice.”

“Okay, then, goodnight.”

She’s about to make a beeline for the stairs so I hurry to say, “I won’t be here for breakfast tomorrow. I’m cooking for my parents.”

“No problem.” She actually sounds relieved. “I have a big day.”

“Will you be coming into Pop’s tomorrow night?”

She shakes her head vigorously. “Probably not.”

I get off the couch slowly. “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

That’s all it takes for her to turn around and run up the stairs like the hounds of hell are nipping at her heels.

What just happened here? It suddenly feels like Lorelai is totally and completely over me, which is an odd thought after all these years. The truth is that she’s stirred some feelings in me that I did not see coming.

Lorelai is nothing like the girl she was, and scarily, she’s everything like the woman I someday see myself with. How can that be?

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