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5 - Getting to Know Me

“Too many?” Henry cringed at her.

“NO. You have them stacked all wrong. You’re going to break the spines and ruin them.” She immediately went to work fixing the comics. Henry stood behind her, his mouth working on some retort silently, but he seemed to continue to come up lacking. “Okay, I’m giving you homework for tomorrow.”

“Excuse me?”

“We need to get you some covers for these, and backs if you want to stand them up without any support on the shelf. Otherwise, you need to keep them laying down. The only other option would be to buy a magazine holder for them so they can sit at a proper angle on top of each other to prevent too much pressure at the base of the book.” He blinked at her a few times, and she suddenly realized she was acting like a lunatic. “I’m sorry, Henry. You just met my inner nerd and…” She cringed, putting the stack of comics she was hugging to her chest down on the shelf.

“Stop.” He closed the distance between them, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You want to know what the only other woman who’s seen this room told me I needed to do with it for her.”

“This isn’t for me, this is for the comics.” She insisted, and he put his finger against her lips.

“My last girlfriend wanted me to make the room her personal spa. Said that if a room was going to make a girl swoon, there was no way in the world it could contain comic books. And here you are yelling at me for not taking care of them.” A happy, but confused, smile crossed his face. “Every few minutes, you do something to amaze me. Yesterday, you asked me, why you?” He leaned down close, and for a moment of terrorizing eagerness, Rose thought he was going to kiss her. His lips passed hers, going to her ear. “This is why. All of this. You’re not like anyone else I’ve ever met, and I am intrigued by the life that bubbles out of you.”

The doorbell rang. Rose jumped, and their heads knocked together, and neither could help the gales of laughter from being surprised by the sudden noise. She hated whoever was at the door though. She couldn’t remember a moment in time that had ever felt so intimate. His finger entwined with hers. “Come, that’s our ride.” Breaking away from him, she grabbed both their wine glasses, rinsed them, placing them beside the sink. “Thank you. Also,” he said, stopping beside the door, “I want you to know, I have not had this much fun in a long time. Tonight’s already been amazing, even if it’s barely started.”

Making a face at him she responded, “The night hasn’t even begun yet. Wait until you realize I’m always silly like this. Most guys decide they hate it.” She reached for the door. The look he had in his eyes, that adoration and desire, was almost too much to bear.

Henry’s smile melted away as his fingers pressed against the door, keeping it closed. “Rose, I really need a little silly in my life.”

“Henry,” She grabbed his collar playfully, pressing her nose almost to his, “you can’t thank someone before a date even starts. You’re going to jinx it.” She reached for the door handle again, pulling this time. Though his arm flexed a little, the door didn’t budge.

“Can I say one more thing?”

“No,” pulling at the door again, this time he relaxed, letting it click open. Her eyes turned up to him. He looked like he really wanted to tell her something. “What is it? And can we talk about it in the car so we’re not late?” She asked quietly.

“It’s a quick story, actually. One I’d rather not tell in the car.” His feet shuffled, and his arms crossed in front of his chest, but his shoulders were sunken in a little. Though they hadn’t spent a lot of time together, Rose had seen this stance on him before and knew that right now he was feeling vulnerable and anxious.

Raising her brow, she crossed her arms under her breasts. “Okay?” She hadn’t thought of the action before his eyes migrated down slowly, then popped back up to her face as he blushed, swallowing hard. No one had ever really reacted to her like this. Such a simple move unhinged him so provokingly. He stood up, uncrossing his own arms, hooking his thumbs through the loops on his jeans.

His lips pressed together in a flat line for a moment before he started, “My mom. She used to keep a single rose from every bouquet my dad ever gave her. He even bought her flowers regularly, just because it made her happy. By the time they were in their forties, she had a huge vase she kept them in and always carefully arranged them in a circular fashion to remind her of what the flowers were for. The roses were always the markers, a symbol for each year they were together. A reminder of the love and adoration they shared.” As he finished, he wasn’t looking at her anymore. His eyes were studying the grains of wood hidden beneath the red paint on the door. His hands buried in his pockets.

“Henry, are you alone for the holidays because your parents are gone?”

He nodded, “My older brother has passed away too. It leaves just me and my younger brother. But I’m not welcome at his family functions for personal reasons.”

Her hand touched his chest, just over his heart, “And, what was the purpose of you telling me the flower story? I know there was a reason, I can tell by your stance. But I don’t understand.”

“I have my reasons.” He finally smiled at her. “But I’ll tell you until I’m blue in the face that it’s a nice, get to know me story. Something that makes me feel good when I think about it.” Placing his hand on the small of her back, he walked her outside. He turned briefly to engage three different locks on his door, and then clicked a button on his key fob. The light on it and above his door blinked red, and the whole house seemed to resound with a loud click. Why on earth would anyone need that type of security on their home? She knew other marines that weren’t that worried about break-ins. And Rose found herself wondering, was there something else he worried about? “It’s funny, isn’t it? The silly things we cling to when the rest of it’s gone?” Maybe it had to do with the loss of his family?

He opened the door for her, but she skootched further into the car so that he could join her without walking around. As he sat down beside her, she didn’t bother moving to the other side of the car. She stayed in the center seat, resting her head against his arm. “I’m sorry to hear about your family. And thank you for sharing your flower story, even if I feel like it’s more like a puzzle.” She giggled, earning a small smile from him.

Rose grinned up at him, letting her nails caress his forearm. His head fell back against the seat, his eyes closing as he sighed. “Tell me something you remember back on fondly.”

Rose’s eyes locked on the window and the passing trees, as she gazed out in thought. “I have a bit of a complicated history. So, what I look back on fondly will seem weird.” He pressed her, telling her he didn’t care and that he wanted to know anyway. “Well, I was a pretty strange kid and didn’t have a lot of friends anyway. But my dad was an abusive drunk, so I wasn’t allowed to go to friends’ houses, or have them over at the Inn.” Henry’s arm curled around her shoulders, as he pulled her closer. She felt calm, being able to hear his heart beating. “So, I look back really fondly on when other kids came with their parents on vacation. I remember one group of kids better than others because they were regulars at the Inn for a number of years running. They were a family of five, and all their names started with an H. Funny enough, the middle son’s name was also Henry, his brothers were Harry and Hank. I forget their parents’ names. They were all really nice. I had a crush on Harry and Henry, Hank was the youngest, and I hung out with him the most though because he didn’t go hunting with their dad until the last year.”

They stopped at a stop sign before entering the town. They sat there for a while. She heard Henry’s phone ping, and he flicked it on, checked the message, and sent a text back. “Go on. You liked the boys huh?”

“Yeah. They were sweet. And their dad was the reason mine stopped hitting me, so, I will always have a soft spot for the whole family.”

The driver moved the rearview mirror so that she could see his eyes in it, “How did he do that?”

Henry scowled at him, clearing his throat to say something, but Rose cut him off. “Well, Henry kissed me and my dad saw. When I went back into the house, my dad started screaming at me and pulled me out to the backyard. As soon as he started hitting me their dad ran out and beat the crap out of my father. Sent him to the hospital and everything. They left the next morning, and I never saw them again after that. But I’ll never forget them. I wish I could have thanked them.” She could feel Henry’s heart racing now as she told the last bit. “Such a stupid happy memory, isn’t it?”

“Not when you tell it like that.” They pulled up to Jace’s townhouse.

“Here, why don’t you sit upfront? Unless you want me to, and you and Darla can sandwich Jace back here?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll sit up front. You can sandwich Jace all you want.” Henry chuckled, reaching his hand into the car to help her up. The driver was also a very handsome young man, though he looked like a younger, less muscled version of Henry. As she slipped into the car, he slipped out, going to talk to Jace, and Henry joined them. Darla slipped into the center of the back seat.

“Hey, I’m Darla. I heard your name is Rose, and that we’re double dating with our boys tonight.” She held her hand out, and Rose turned around in her seat.

“Yes, it should be fun.” Rose smiled, wondering what the boys were talking about with the driver.

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