Page 39 of Finding Romance
“You decent now?” a woman asks me.
“Yes. I am. Thank you all so much,” I say to my new gym friends.
“Did you find that necklace you were looking for?” Linda asks. At some point during class, Kasen had to explain our weird behavior. That led to a two-minute class break and everyone floating around to look, but even then we didn’t find it.
“No,” I say. “I guess she must have left it somewhere else. But if anyone finds it, please let me know.”
“We will,” Linda says.
And with that, I scurry into the women’s locker room to change.
When I come out, Kasen is standing by the front desk talking to a young woman who might as well have those googly heart eyes that cartoon characters get. Kasen seems somewhat unaffected by her. But when his gaze meets mine, it’s as if the other woman no longer exists. He doesn’t even say goodbye, he just walks straight over to me.
“You OK?” he asks as he pushes a lock of hair away from my face. It’s such an intimate touch, yet I don’t shy away from it. In fact, I sort of like that he did that.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Good. Because I had another idea about where we could look. But…uh, you might need another bathing suit,” he says.
“Oh. I don’t have one,” I state. “I only brought the one.”
“We sell them here,” the woman he was speaking to says as if she’s been part of our conversation the entire time.
“How much?” Kasen asks.
“Eighty dollars,” she replies as she pulls out my size.
He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a card, and taps it against the scanner.
“OK, let’s go back to the apartment and you can change,” he says.
I’m confused, but I follow him the two blocks back. He doesn’t say where we are going, and for some reason, I don’t ask. I’m too fixated on his warm hand that is covering mine. His thumb strokes the back of my hand as we walk in silence, our gym bags swinging over our shoulders. I find myself pressing against him as we walk. He keeps me on the inside of the sidewalk. I notice again how he’s scanning his surroundings. Kasen always seems to be on high alert. Does the man ever stop paying attention to everything around him?
When we get back to his apartment, I turn to my aunt’s door. “Let me get her settled,” I say as I motion to the door.
“OK. Put on that bathing suit and meet me on the roof,” he says.
I nod and hurry inside, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it.
“How was the class?” Aunt Cornelia asks.
“It was fun. No necklace though,” I say. “Bathroom?”
She nods and I help her get up and to the bathroom. “I think Kasen has a sweet spot for you,” she declares as I bring her back to the chair and she settles into it.
“Nah. But he is a good friend,” I correct, but inside I’m warring with myself. Could he like me? No, there’s no possible way. “Speaking of that. He wants to go look for the necklace on the roof. So, I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”
“OK,” she says as she sips her water and starts knitting.
I change quickly and put a long T-shirt over my bathing suit. It’s a warm fall day, but the roof is likely to be cold. I bring a towel and head upstairs.
When I get to the roof, I look over and see Kasen is back in his swim trunks and sitting on the edge of a hot tub.
“I forgot about the hot tub,” I say as I walk over to him and pull my shirt off. I join him on the edge, our feet dangling into the bubbling hot water, which feels amazing. It’s a little chilly up here but not with the hot tub going.
“Cornelia was up here before the fall. So I thought, maybe we could check the greenhouse and water the plants and check the hot tub,” he explains.
“I need to finish painting some of those pots,” I state as I point to the greenhouse.
