Page 36 of His Virgin Romance Series

“Thanks, Brent,” I said gratefully, as I made a beeline for the door.

“Wait, you’re leaving?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“We haven’t hung out in ages.”

“Another time, man,” I said. “Thanks for your help.”

I sped out of the apartment and headed straight for the park. I had actually driven past it in on my way here, but I hadn’t given it a second glance. There were plenty of parking spaces around the area, so I parked quickly and walked around looking for Rachel.

I found her on the swing set, surrounded by trees and masked moonlight. She cut a sad and lonely silhouette, and my body ached for her all of a sudden. Her hair flowed gently in the wind, cutting off half her face from my view. She was looking down, pensive and distant.

I walked over to her quietly. She saw me coming at the last possible second, but she didn’t seem surprised. Her eyes caught mine for just a moment before she looked away again. She didn’t say a word, and I didn’t, either. Instead, I sat down on the swing beside hers, reached out, and took her hand. I thought she might resist, but to my surprise, she didn’t.

We just sat like that, hand in hand, swinging in tandem with one another. I realized suddenly that this was the first time in my life that I could remember being on a swing at all. It was a strangely sad thought, and I felt the need to share that with Rachel. When I looked towards her, her face was turned towards me, but she was looking off in the distance at something I couldn’t see.

She was so beautiful that I finally understood what people meant when they spoke of muses. I could understand the inspiration behind painting a beautiful woman and wanting to commit her image to history forever. It felt almost like a public service—beauty like that needed to be seen and appreciated. I wanted to kiss her again, but I also wanted to talk to her. I found it amazing that the two things could be mutually exclusive. I had always believed that you got one or the other.

When I looked towards her, I caught her glancing towards me. But this time, she didn’t turn away.

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