Page 34 of Tiger's Quest
“Well, you aren’t themanwho needs to teach him and just for that I get to pick the movie and I’ll warn you right now, I plan on picking the girliest movie I can find.”
He grunted, mumbled something about rivals, bruises, and girls, and went back to his pancakes.
After breakfast, Ren helped me clean up, but mister likes-to-tell-me-what-to-do wasn’t out of the doghouse yet. I inserted the movie, sat next to him with a big grin on my face, and waited for him to squirm. The swelling opening theme forThe Sound of Musicbegan and I giggled knowing he’d suffer for the next few hours. The problem was . . . Ren loved it. He put his arm around my shoulders and toyed with the ribbon at the end of my braid. He hummed along to “My Favorite Things” and “Edelweiss.”
He paused the movie in the middle, retrieved his mandolin, and started picking through the song. The mandolin had a more exotic sound than the guitar in the movie.
“It’s beautiful!” I exclaimed. “How long have you played?”
“I took it up again after you left. I always had a good ear for music, and my mother often asked me to play for her.”
“But you picked up “Edelweiss” very quickly. Have you heard it before?”
“No. I’ve just always been able to hear the notes and know how to play them.”
He started playing “My Favorite Things,” and then the song changed and became a sad but lovely tune. I closed my eyes, leaned my head against the couch, and felt the music take me on a journey. The song started out somber, bleak, and lonely then moved to something hopeful and sweet. My heart felt like it was beating along with the song. Emotions swept over and through me as the song told its story. The end was melancholy and sad. I felt like my heart was breaking. And, that’s where he stopped.
I blinked my eyes open. “Whatwasthat? I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
Ren sighed and set the mandolin carefully down on the table. “I wrote it after you left.”
“Youwrotethat?”
“Yes. It’s called ‘Kelsey.’ It’s about you . . . us. It’s our story together.”
“But it ended sadly.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s the way I felt when you left.”
“Oh. Well, our story isn’t quite over yet now, is it?” I slid over to Ren and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He squeezed me, pressed his face against my neck, whispered my name, and said, “No. It’sdefinitelynot over yet.”
I brushed his hair away from his forehead and said quietly, “It’s beautiful, Ren.”
He held me very close. My heart began to beat faster. I looked into his vivid blue eyes, then at his perfectly sculpted lips, and willed him to kiss me. He dipped his head closer but stopped just short of contact. He studied my expression, raised an eyebrow, and turned away.
“What is it?” I asked.
He sighed and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I’m not going to kiss you while we’re dating.” His eyes studied my face as he went on, “I want you to have a clear head when you choose me. You get all weak-kneed when I touch you, let alone kiss you. I refuse to take advantage of that. A pledge made in a moment of passion isn’t lasting and I don’t want you to have any doubts or any regrets about having a life with me.”
“Wait a minute,” I gasped incredulously. “Let me get this straight. You won’t kiss me because you think your kisses make me too drunk to think straight? That I’d be incapable of making an informed decision if I was swooning with passion for you?”
He nodded cautiously.
“Is this all coming from your antiquated studies of courtship? Because a lot of those dating suggestions are outdated.”
“I know that, Kelsey.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just don’t want to pressure you to choose me in any way.”
Angrily, I jumped off the couch and walked in a circle. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!” I went to the kitchen to get a soda and realized that I wasn’t just shocked, I was mad and that part of my anger stemmed from the fact that he wasn’t too far off from the truth. I did get weak-kneed every time he touched me.
I suddenly felt like a pawn in one of Li’s board games.Well, two can play at that game.I decided to retaliate.If there was going to be a war for my affection then why couldn’t I be a fighter too? Girls have an entirely unique arsenal of weapons, I mused as I planned my battle strategy. From that point on, I decided that I would test Ren’s resistance. I would getRento kissme.
I immediately put my plan into action. We returned to the movie, and I tucked my head against Ren’s shoulder, my lips just inches from his, and traced little circles on the back of his hand. My aggressiveness made him nervous. He kept twitching and shifting his position, but he didn’t let go or move farther away.
After the movie, Ren suddenly announced that our date was over.I liked this. The balance of power had shifted.I trailed my fingers over his muscular bicep then traced little hearts on his forearm and pouted.
“Your hours as a man are so short. Don’t you want to be with me?”
