Page 21 of Love Potion

Sittingacross from Bane at my favorite restaurant, pretending to look at the menu even though I always order the same thing, feels different from most of our nights out, but I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s just the leftover excitement from the exhibit that has me feeling that way. Whatever it is, it’s nice.

Bane studies his menu, glancing up at me. “Are you getting the parmesan crusted chicken and fettuccine?”

I nod happily. “Of course. You?”

“Might get the pasta special. Sounds good.”

“Can I have a bite?”

“Dumb question.” He winks at me as he sets his menu down. “Not gonna lie, the exhibit was fun. I’m really glad we did it.”

“Me too. It was great.”

“Did you learn anything you didn’t know?”

“No.”

Bane chuckles. “I guess it was just a different way to see it all.”

“Exactly. I always get something out of the various ways the information is presented, you know? Tonight was really cool. It felt like we were there.”

Bane nods, fiddling with his napkin. “It did. It must have been so scary.”

“Definitely.” I glance around for a second. “You know, if you and I were on the Titanic and I found a door to lay on, I would make room for you.”

Bane grins. “I would do the same for you.”

“And if there wasn’t room, I would make you find a place where you could live too.”

Bane tilts his head. “Yeah?”

“You have to survive. We both do.”

“You’re still really mad at Rose about that, aren’t you?”

“I’m mad at both of them.”

“You’re Team She Dies at the End, right?”

“I just like that ending. Maybe it was a dream, but I’d like to think that reliving the whole experience was a sort of closure for her and that Jack was waiting in the place they met before tragedy struck.”

“Let’s go with that.”

Our server appears and Bane orders for us, choosing a bottle of wine to go with the food.

“Ooh, we’re having wine. Fancy.”

Bane just smiles, leaning back in his chair. He is, hands down, the most attractive man I’ve ever seen, and I can’t count how many times I’ve wondered what it would feel like to run my hands over his lean body just to see if a different kind of spark could ignite.

I never do it though, because it’s unfair to him. He doesn’t deserve a guy who has to wonder whether he could be excited about sex. With a man who looks like Bane, that should be a no brainer.

It’s not that I never feel desire. I do. I’ve even had moments of it around Bane. I’m curious about it too. I often wonder whatit would be like to be physical with a man like him, but I don’t do anything about it.

The funny thing is, if I asked Bane to help me experiment, he’d do it, regardless of how awkward it would be for him. He’d do anything for me.

“What’s on your mind?” he asks.

I start to answer with my default “nothing,” but this is Bane, and I don’t keep secrets from him. Not often, anyway.

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