β
Heβs brought a sleeping bag, one of those big green bulky L.L. Bean ones. I look at it questioningly.
Following my gaze, he turns red. βI told my parents I was going to help you study, then we might watch a movie, and if it got late enough, Iβd crash on your living room floor.β
βAnd they said?β
βMom said, βHave a nice time, dear.β Dad just looked at me.β
βEmbarrassing much?β
βWorth it.β
He walks slowly over, his eyes locked on mine, then puts his hands around my waist.
βUm. So . . . are we going to study?β My toneβs deliberately casual.
Jase slides his thumbs behind my ears, rubbing the hollow at their base. Heβs only inches from my face, still looking into my eyes. βYou bet. Iβm studying you.β He scans over me, slowly, then returns to my eyes. βYou have little flecks of gold in the middle of the blue.β He bends forward and touches his lips to one eyelid, then the other, then moves back. βAnd your eyelashes arenβt blond at all, theyβre brown. And . . .β He steps back a little, smiling slowly at me. βYouβre already blushingβhereββhis lips touch the pulse at the hollow of my throatββand probably here . . .β The thumb that brushes against my breast feels warm even through my T-shirt.
In the movies, clothes just melt away when the couple is ready to make love. Theyβre all golden and backlit with the soundtrack soaring. In real life, it just isnβt like that. Jase has to take off his shirt and fumbles with his belt buckle and I hop around the room pulling off my socks, wondering just how unsexy that is. People in movies donβt even have socks. When Jase pulls off his jeans, change he has in his pocket slips out and clatters and rolls across the floor.
βSorry!β he says, and we both freeze, even though no oneβs home to hear the sound.
In movies, no one ever gets self-conscious at this point, thinking they should have brushed their teeth. In movies, itβs all beautifully choreographed, set to an increasingly dramatic soundtrack.
In movies, when the boy pulls the girl to him when they are both finally undressed, they never bump their teeth together and get embarrassed and have to laugh and try again.
But hereβs the truth: In movies, itβs never half so lovely as it is here and now with Jase.
β
β