Page 36 of Henhouse
“Then they aren’t soulmates,” Theo said matter-of-factly. “Or they shied away from doing the work.”
“Isn’t love supposed to be easy?” It’s what Effie had always hoped, that somehow her family had failed to keep it by thinking it was hard.
“Love is easy, I think. Choosing to do life with someone can be hard, but I think it’s worth the effort. I wish my parents had seen it that way.”
“Me too,” Effie confessed.
“Your parents split up too?”
“Yeah, but I was much younger.” Effie didn’t feel like washing the evening in her grief, so she didn’t mention that her father was dead. Instead, she smothered a scone in crème fraiche and took a bite. They were good, but hers were better. “Did you make these too?”
“No. I’m no baker. They came from that little spot by the chapel.”
“Oh, they have amazing apple turnovers.”
“But not scones?” Theo asked, amused and watching as she placed the scone on her plate instead of finishing it in one bite like she had with the finger sandwiches.
“No! They’re good.”
“But?”
“Mine are better,” Effie said as though it were a question throughgritted teeth, shoulders reaching her ears.
“You can say that with more confidence, you know?”
“I’ll work on that.”
The night passed in easy conversation and even easier silence. It was something Theo didn’t know was a priority of his, but not needing to fill the air with chatter felt right.
It felt even more right to have Effie’s fingers entwined with his as they walked along Prescott Park beneath the stars on their way back to his car. They had taken the long way, at Effie’s request, and he was glad she didn’t want the night to end after the tea and chocolates were gone. He didn’t either.
A chill breeze blew her hair from her face and he caught himself staring again. After tonight, he felt like he knew her better. He learned about her favorite music and how she got into baking by helping her grandma in the kitchen. She told him about her sisters and nieces. They went over her astrology—an Aquarius sun, which he could now point to for why she seemed in her head so frequently. He was even able to goad her into telling him about her romance novels and what drew her to them. Apparently using fiction to imagine a life beyond your wildest dreams wasn’t just a pastime of his.
He fully planned to makethose kindsof dreams a reality whenever she was ready, but he wouldn’t push her. Not when he was content to hold her hand and learn about how she saw the world. And especially not when she’d seemed anxious about his reaction when she’d subtly revealed that she was a virgin. Theo had many anxieties about being her first—if he got to be—because it was so important to her. Butit’s the last that mattered to Theo. Sex had always been a great way to explore joy and connection and love, but he didn’t believe it was the only way. He could use Effie’s playbook instead of his own this time. He’d be happy to, if only because he knew the way his arm tingled at her touch meant something truly special sprouted between them.
Theo was sad when they reached his Jeep parked in the lot at Memorial Bridge.
Effie leaned against the passenger door, playing with his fingers. “Thanks for demonstrating that first dates can be great.”
“It’s a shame no one had shown you that before.”
“Or not,” she said bringing their hands down by her side. “Makes it more special with you.”
Theo stepped in closer, using his free hand to tuck the waves of her hair behind her ear. He brushed his thumb along the soft line of her jaw, as she pulled on their intertwined hands, nudging him closer. A quiet plea.
Theo looked down, letting himself marinate in the bright blue of her eyes before she tilted her head back, inviting him to kiss her.
He touched his lips to hers, softly at first. The warmth of her breath on his mouth sent his spine tingling. Theo moved his hand to the nape of her neck, his fingers wrapped in the silk of her hair as he deepened the kiss.
When she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him closer, her chest pressed against his, he thought he might lose against his resolve to take things slow and fall to his knees right then and there.
Effie’s tongue glided over his and he tensed with eager anticipation.Damn, she was a good kisser.
He lost all sense of time and place as their lips movedwith a tender passion. His hand found the small of her back, a divine warmth radiating from her skin. He wanted to be wrapped up in it, but he was reminded with her hand on his chest as she slowly,so slowly, pulled away from their kiss that he was not here to do what he’d always done.
They stilled, his forehead against hers, their breathing a bit ragged. He leaned in once more, softly nibbling her bottom lip before unlatching the door behind her, so she could climb in. Her gaze was unreadable, but the flush of her cheeks and swell of her lips was enough to have him asking, “When can I see you again?”
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