A DATE FOR THE FAIR

by Dover, L. P.

  I told her everything about mine and Jude’s date at the fair. Date? Was it a date? I have no clue. All I can say is that it felt like old times, but also a little different. More electric, more exciting. I like who he’s become. He’s still the same Jude, but… sexy. He was cute as a teenager, somewhat nerdy, and I might’ve had a little crush on him at times, but I refused to even think of him like that. The last thing I wanted was to ruin our friendship.

  Rolling my eyes, I take the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. I can still feel the tingle in my lips from where we kissed last night. Did I want to do more than just kiss? You better believe it. It feels like an eternity since I’ve felt so alive. With Shawn, I didn’t crave the intimacy. Our sex life was lackluster to say the least. Mine and Jude’s kiss was more exciting than any of the times I had with my ex-husband.

  “Cat got your tongue, sis?” Anna laughs. She grabs one of the hot cookies off the pan and it falls apart, just the way Jude and I like them. We never hiked the fire tower without having chocolate chip cookies in the picnic basket.

  “Okay, fine,” I say, glaring at her playfully. “I wanted more than just a kiss. It’s too soon for that though.”

  She snorts. “You’re thirty-two-years old Laura. Live life and stop worrying about the semantics. If having a night of raw, primal sex with Jude gets you off, then go for it.”

  It’s hard not to smile when she says things like that. Very straight forward and to the point. She’s not wrong though. I should be able to do what I want. I wasted six years of my life with Shawn. That’s six years I could’ve been with someone else and been happy. Maybe I’d even have a family right now, kids of my own.

  Thinking of a wild night with Jude does sound amazing, but something holds me back. “What if it ruins our friendship, Anna? I just got him back. I don’t want to lose him again.” I scoop the cookies onto the cooling rack. “He knows me better than anyone.”

  Anna squeezes my shoulder. “I may be young, but I’m not blind. Even when I was a little kid, I always thought you and Jude would end up together. If you don’t at least try to see what might be there between you, then you’ll always wonder what might’ve been.”

  “You sound like a country song,” I say, earning a glare from her.

  We both laugh and she hugs me. “Have fun today, Laura. You deserve it.” She looks down at her phone. “What time did Jude say he’d be here to pick you up?”

  My phone is on the kitchen counter and it’s closing in on ten o’clock. I have to hurry. “He’ll be here in ten minutes.”

  Anna snickers and grabs another cookie. “All right, I’ll get out of your hair.” She takes a bite of the cookie and smiles at me. “By the way, you look cute in your little shorts and tank top. I hope I have your body when I reach thirty.” She winks and starts for the door. “Call me later.”

  “Will do,” I shout as she walks out the door.

  Taking a deep breath, I look through the picnic basket to make sure Jude and I have everything for our picnic. Seeing it all takes me back to freshman and sophomore year of college. We have turkey and provolone sandwiches, bread and butter pickles, sour cream and onion potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies. The cookies haven’t had much time to cool, but I put them in a Ziploc bag and place them on top of everything in the basket. With it being August, the cookies will still be nice and warm when we get to our favorite picnic spot on the trail.

  My phone beeps with an incoming text from Jude.

  Jude: Almost there.

  As I read it, my heart flutters and my stomach does this weird flip flopping thing. It’s like I’m a teenager, getting ready to go out on my first date. I never thought I’d have these feelings again. A car door slams out in the parking lot and I rush to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror. My hair is pulled up in a ponytail and I have zero makeup on my face. That’s one of the things that have changed over the years. When I was younger, I wouldn’t leave the house without my makeup, but if we’re going to be hiking out in the heat, the last thing I want is for my makeup to melt off my face.

  A knock sounds on the door and I take a deep breath. Here we go. Last night, he left right after our kiss. We didn’t discuss what it means or anything. I hate not knowing, but it’s also exciting. All I know is that I don’t want to be the first one to bring it up.

  When I open the door, Jude stands there with that sexy bed hair and that smile of his I always loved. What I’m loving even more is his body. His snug T-shirt hugs his sculpted arms and I have no doubt his abs are sporting a six pack. It feels like a heat wave just blasted into me, but in all reality, it’s my body craving something it hasn’t had in a long time.

  “Hey,” I say breathlessly.

  Jude grins as if he knows what I was just thinking. “Ready to go? We picked the perfect day to go hiking.”

  I flourish a hand toward the picnic basket on the kitchen table. “And we’ll have the perfect picnic with all our favorites.”

  He takes in a deep breath. “Did you make cookies?”

  “Yep. Along with our turkey sandwiches, pickles, and chips. Your sandwich has extra mayo.”

  Jude stares at me, his expression shocked. “Wow. I didn’t think you’d remember that.”

  “I remember everything.” It saddens me to remember some of it since I let it all go for nothing. I’m just glad to have it back. “All right, let’s go. I’m ready to get some exercise in before I devour these cookies.”

  Chuckling, Jude walks past me to grab the basket off the table. “You better save some for me.”

  I wink. “I’ll think about it.” We walk down the stairs and out to his black Jeep he’s had since he turned eighteen. It was a present from his parents for going away to college.

  Jude sets the basket in the backseat and smiles. “Think about it my ass. I’m stronger than you. I’ll get them one way or another.”

  “I remember,” I laugh. “You tackled me to the ground to get the last cookie on one of our picnics.”

  His grin widens. “That was a good day.” Yes, it was. We get in the Jeep and head on our way. There was a time when Jude used to take me everywhere. We’d drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway for hours with the top off and go hiking at all the different trails.

  “Talk about nostalgia right now,” I say as we turn onto the parkway.

  Jude nods and shifts his Jeep into a higher gear as he speeds up. “Yeah, I’ll never forget trying to teach you how to drive a stick and you putting us in a ditch.”

  I smack his arm. “I can’t help that I’m not a good stick driver.”

  He shuts my door. “That’s for damn sure.”

  I flip him off. “Leave me alone.” He bursts out laughing and it feels so good to play around with him again. My ex-husband wasn’t very good at joking around. My mother used to call him an ole stick in the mud.

  Leaning against the headrest, I look out at the mountains. The top is off, and the weather is perfect, not a cloud in the sky. There are several fire towers in the area, but Jude and I know how to get to one that not many people know how to get to. Maybe they do now, but back when we were in college, there was never a time we were on the trail with other people.

  When we get to the parking area, which is hidden down a side road off the parkway, there isn’t a single car there. Jude grabs the basket and I tighten up my shoelaces. It’s been a long time since I’ve been hiking. Shawn wasn’t an outdoorsy man. I’ve missed being able to hike and go white water rafting, things that Jude and I used to do all the time.

  “Do you want to eat first and then do the hike like we used to?” Jude asks.

  My stomach growls. “Heck yeah. I gotta be able to burn off all the cookies I eat.”

  Jude chuckles. “You seriously haven’t changed a bit.”

  The more I’m around him, the more I seem to find the girl I used to be. “What can I say?” I tell him as we start toward our favorite picnic spot, “I’ve missed this place.”

  We have to w
alk a little way through the forest to get to our spot. I can see the clearing through the trees. What I love about our spot is that it has a magical feel to it. It’s an open field, but it’s also at the top of a hill. It’s not high, but you can see houses that are atop the mountains around us. It all looks picturesque, like paintings.

  Jude sets our basket down and I open it. I hand him his sandwich and pull out mine, along with a bottle of water. “You missed Anna today. She left before you showed up.”

  Jude shakes his head and smiles. “I saw her pulling out. She looks so grown up now.”

  “Yes, she does, but we definitely don’t act alike. She was brought up in a different time.”

  He snorts. “Don’t I know it. I’m a professor, remember?”

  I sit down and take a bite of my sandwich. “I don’t know how you do it.”

  “It’s not all bad,” he says, sitting down beside me. “I have some students who want to learn, but then I have some that goof off and flunk out. It sucks when it happens, but that’s how it goes.”

  It was hard our first year at Appalachian, but I kept up with my classes and made good grades. I had Jude to thank for that. For the most part, he was the angel on my shoulder, but he had his devil moments too.

  Jude finishes his sandwich and pulls out the chips. “Remember when we smoked weed for the first time?”

  Rolling my eyes, I groan. “Oh good God. That was my first and last time.”

  His shoulders shake with laughter. “I can see why. You thought you were pissing on yourself. I think you went to the bathroom fifty times that night.”

  It wasn’t a pleasant experience for me. His roommate always had marijuana and we figured it was time to try it. Of course, for me, I literally thought I was peeing on myself. No one else seemed to have issues like that. I kept checking my pants to see if there were any wet spots. Guess you can say, I never wanted to try it again. I stuck to alcohol.

  “Then, I ate a whole box of Apple Jacks and got sick on my stomach,” I add.

  “And I had to rush you back to your dorm,” Jude snickers.

  I smack his arm. “It was embarrassing.”

  “We sure did have some good times.”

  “Yes, we did.” I finish my sandwich and steal a couple of his chips. He tries to grab the bag of cookies, but I snag them first. “Too slow,” I tease. I open the bag and hold it out for him. “But I’ll share.” He pulls out a cookie and I do the same. “How many girls have you brought up here since I left?” I ask.

  He looks off into the distance, his expression serious. “None. This was our place. It wouldn’t feel right bringing someone else.”

  “Not even your fiancé?” I counter.

  He shakes his head. “Not even her. She wasn’t too fond of the outdoors.”

  I snort. “The same goes for my ex. Guess we both got involved with people who were our complete opposites.”

  “I’ll never make that mistake again.” Neither will I. We finish our cookies and I grab another one and eat it while we drop the picnic basket off at his Jeep. To get to the fire tower, we have to head right back up to our favorite spot and into the forest. It’s quiet and peaceful. All of our memories come back at me full force. When I was with Shawn, I blocked it all out. I didn’t want to remember all the good times Jude and I had; it made me long to get back to them. I thank God every day that I finally had the sense to end things when I did.

  By the look on Jude’s face, he’s deep in thought as well. I want to say something, but I’m a little nervous about what he’s thinking. What if he doesn’t feel the way I do? What if he thinks last night’s kiss was a mistake? I know it wasn’t.

  It doesn’t take long to get to the fire tower. I have to shield my eyes away from the sun to look up at it. There are a gazillion steps we have to climb to get to the top. Jude glances back at me and smiles. “You haven’t gotten an aversion to heights in your old age, have you?”

  “Ha-ha,” I grumble. “Aren’t you older than me?”

  He snorts. “Only by a month.”

  I follow him up the stairs. “Still, you’re older,” I chide. The bantering is what I always loved about being around Jude. It’s strange how it comes back naturally with him. With Shawn, I tried to joke around, but he always said it was childish. I hate it took me six years to realize my mistake of marrying him. The second I’m at the top of the fire tower, I gaze around in awe. There are mountains all around us. It looks exactly the same as it did years ago.

  “What do you think?” Jude asks. “Still beautiful?”

  “It’s breathtaking,” I murmur. “I wish you knew how much I missed this.” I walk over and hold onto the edge.

  Jude comes up behind me, his body so close. “I wish you knew how much I missed you.” My heart skips a beat and I hold my breath. He puts his hands on my waist and turns me around to face him.

  “Same,” I whisper.

  He pulls me in to his body, holding me tight around the waist. “Ever since yesterday, I can’t get you out of my head. I don’t know if that kiss meant anything to you, but it meant everything to me.”

  The breath I’m holding comes out in a loud exhale. “Oh, thank God. I was so worried.”

  Releasing a heavy sigh, he brings his hands up to my face. “I was worried too. I’m assuming you feel the same way?”

  I nod. “I do. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  His thumb brushes across my lips. “What do you say we give this a chance? I’m curious to see how it plays out.”

  “I’m good with that.”

  He moves closer, his lips so close to mine. “You sure?”

  “Why don’t you kiss me and find out?”

  When our lips connect, I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him to me for as long as I can. He pulls back and rests his forehead to mine. “I wish we would’ve taken the chance earlier.”

  I meet his gaze. “It wasn’t our time. Now it is, and I don’t plan on wasting it.”

  6

  Jude

  Now it is. Now it is.

  Those aren’t even the most important words Laura said when we were at the tower… I don’t plan on wasting it… could a relationship with her be that simple? I want to believe it is, but there’s a voice—unrecognizable at that—in the back of my head telling me to proceed with caution. The thing is, I want to jump in, feet first, and go for it because I’ve wanted to be with her for a long time, and I know it’s my fault for not telling her sooner for not saying something when she met Shawn. I had my chance when she asked me what I thought of him, but I was the supportive best friend, despite the fact my heart broke with the idea of her falling in love with someone. Sure, she dated all through our friendship, and sometimes the guys were friends of mine, and I never seemed to care. At least, not until she met Shawn. There was something in her eyes, a glint of happiness that I hadn’t seen before, so I kept my mouth shut.

  And now I wish I hadn’t because we’ve lost so much time together.

  And yet, it seems like the universe is giving us a chance to find out if there is something more profound than friendship between us. There must be because I hold no ill will toward her when I should. She forgot about me. She left us. She pushed our friendship aside, moved away, and never looked back. I should be mad at her, but damn it, I can’t because I’m in love with her. From the moment I saw her in my classroom, from the second our eyes met, I knew I would do whatever I could to make sure she knew exactly how I felt.

  It’s Monday. Another day of work. Normally, I would be meh about heading to school. It’s crazy how fast you fall into a routine when the school year starts. Get up, drink coffee, take a shower, dress, maybe get a bite to eat, and head down the hill. When I arrive at school, I usually go to my office, check my email, grade a few papers, and then head to class. Rinse and repeat for five days.

  Now, I want to get up and speed through my routine so I can be in the parking lot when Laura arrives. It’s been three days, and I’m already thoroughly smit
ten. And as I sit in the parking lot, staring at the students walking from their dorms toward the cafeteria or one of the cafes, all I can think is that if I pursue a relationship with Laura, I could lose my job. Regardless of her age, she’s a student, and I’m a teacher.

  It’s forbidden.

  It’s illicit.

  And I want it.

  I close my eyes and take a series of deep breathes to try and calm my growing nerves and the hard-on growing in my pants. Just thinking about Laura gets a rise out of every part of my body. The hair on my arms stands on end in anticipation of seeing her today. My heart beats faster than average, knowing she’s on campus, sitting in class, and hopefully thinking about me. My fingers twitch with the eagerness of touching her later, and the thought of touching makes my cock jump because he wants to be near her, rubbing against her in any way he can.

  After a few minutes of unsuccessful mediation, probably because the inside of my Jeep still smells like Laura, I realize I could sit in here all day and be content, but unfortunately, I must be an adult and instruct other adults in the fine art of computer hacking. I finally shut off the ignition and get out of my car.

  As I walk across campus, there are a couple of young women who say hi to me. I smile and wish them a good day. My co-workers like to give me shit about being the hot guy on campus, but I don’t see it. I’m average, at best. I wear specs, can’t get my hair under control, and for some reason, my mother insists on buying me tweed sport coats to wear, and for whatever reason, I still wear them because I’m too lazy to buy anything else. Yep, it seems I’m the man-child that depends on his mommy for clothes. Hell, she’d probably make my lunch for me if she lived closer, and I’d probably let her.

  The entire walk to my office, my head is on a swivel looking for Laura. I know I could text her, ask her where she is right now and put myself in her path, but I rather like the idea of running into her or waiting until I get to class later. I’m not sure how the class is going to go or how I’m going to be impartial. Laura can do no wrong in my eyes, and I’m not sure how I’m going to grade her papers effectively.