The Billionaire Bull

by Romi Hart

  “Exactly, right? So when you talk about food science. I’m sort of studying the same thing in a way. Dr. Dupree believes that not only should we study the bug, but we should study what the bug is eating and how that food source affects behavior.” I pulled out a mini cheese board and offered it to Jasmine.

  She grabbed a Camembert piece. “That’s so cool. I can’t believe you’re doing research as an undergrad.”

  “I really enjoy Biology.” I popped a piece of Drunken Goat cheese into my mouth. “You could just as easily get an undergrad research position too. Especially, with your knowledge of food products and preservation.”

  Jasmine’s face dimmed. “I just wouldn’t have the time. I’m working at my dad’s restaurant every moment I’m not in classes.” Her gloom only lasted momentarily. “Anyway, I’m just glad I’m here!” She glanced at her watch. “Shoot. I’ve got 8 minutes to get to Biochem.” Hurriedly, she stood, gathering her sandwich wrapper and tossing it into a nearby trash can.

  I scrambled to my feet, chucking my lunch trash too. “I’ll walk you.” I took her hand. “So you know, you don’t get lost on the way. I’d hate myself if I heard they had to put a search party out for you if I left you on your own.”

  Jasmine giggled, stopping me from my rambling. “I’d love for you to walk me back.”

  We walked back to the Food Science building. It loomed ahead of us, and I hated our first date was over. Not that either of us called it that, but that is what it was.

  We stopped, our joined hands swinging only slightly between us as she turned to me with a bright smile on her sweet face. “Thank you so much for lunch.”

  Pulling her hand out of mine, I already missed her. She began to walk away when I suddenly remembered I had forgotten something very important. “Can I have your number?”

  She walked back to me with a gigantic smile on her face. “I thought you’d never ask.” We exchanged our phones to type each other’s contact info into them then giddily swapped them back.

  Jasmine briskly walked away, calling over her shoulder, “It was the perfect picnic, Alex. Thank you.”

  I watched as she entered the building, already dreaming about when the next time I would see her again. Jasmine was drop-dead gorgeous, grounded, and mature. Someone that I could talk to, even about my bugs. Against everything I had learned about dating, I immediately texted her, -Hi again. Have a good rest of the day… Alex.-

  I figured she was already settling into class and had powered her phone off, but I couldn’t help but text her right away. I couldn’t wait to talk to her again. So not like me.

  As I walked away, I got a text from Jasmine, -You, too. Jasmine :)- I floated the rest of the way to Dr. Dupree’s lab, excited to tell my bugs about our first date.

  Jasmine

  A week had passed since our first fantastic lunch date. To my delight, Alex had taken me to lunch every single day. Surprising me, he always had something new and exciting to show me on campus.

  When Friday rolled around, I was dying to see him. First, I was excited to see what new adventure he planned to take me on. Secondly, and more importantly, I hoped Friday we would finally kiss. We hadn’t kissed yet. We’d held hands and hugged. But no kisses.

  Tuesday, Alex took me to McGuire Hall to the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit. We wandered around the lush simulated rainforest landscape. We sat on one of the benches eating our sandwiches from Phil’s as the butterflies flitted around us. Alex named all the butterflies we saw: Scarlet Peacock, Gold-banded Forester, Emerald Swallowtail. So many butterflies that I didn’t even know existed, but Alex knew the names of all of them.

  It was magical, the perfect moment for a first kiss. Just when he leaned in to kiss me, a class of preschoolers trundled by. A few of the little kids knew Alex and screamed, “Coach Alex! Coach Alex!”

  Alex walked over to the kids and talked with them. He pointed out the nearby butterflies to the wide-eyed kids. Watching Alex with kids was incredibly adorable. It made him even more gorgeous than I thought he was if that was even possible.

  When the kids’ teacher led them away down the path, Alex sat back down on the bench, smiling. “Who are those kids?”

  With a crooked grin, he shoved his hand through his dark hair. “I coach soccer to some kids in town.”

  Omigod. Can Alex get any dreamier?

  For lunch on Wednesday, we went to the Asian Rock Garden in the Harn Museum on campus. The garden had a footbridge and trickling waterfall. Alex pointed out to me that the garden served as a backdrop for the art in the central gallery, emphasizing the interaction of art and nature. It was a perfect romantic place for our first kiss: art mixed with a nature landscape.

  As we walked across the footbridge, we stopped to look at the waterfall. Gripping the wooden railing, I turned my head to look up at Alex. He bent down toward me. I screamed inside: This is it! This is it!

  My internal screaming threw me off my balance. I shifted on to my tiptoes to try to reach his face, but the toe of my right shoe inadvertently got stuck in between the wooden slats of the footbridge. Luckily, as I tumbled to my right, Alex grabbed me, saving me from a dip into the lovely water exhibit.

  “Whoa there!” His strong hands wrapped around my waist.

  The hilarity of the entire situation made me laugh. I felt like I was a complete dork in front of Alex, but he still wanted to hang out with me. I started giggling hysterically. “If you weren’t here, I’d have to go to class all day in sopping clothes! I’m such a klutz!”

  Chuckling, Alex said, “No. Don’t be embarrassed. You kinda did this pirouette thing.” He put his index finger on his head and extended his other arm while spinning around; his mimic of a ballerina. “Looked professional. You study ballet or something?”

  We laughed for a good ten minutes at my clumsiness, but we didn’t kiss.

  On Thursday, we headed to the Plaza of Americas for Krishna Lunch. “For the last thirty years, the Krishna House has served all you can eat vegetarian meals on the UF campus. It’s a Gator tradition. I had to take you,” Alex said as we waited in line.

  Alex and I ate basmati rice, spinach and veggies in cream sauce, and halava with hundreds of other students sitting in the grass. As the daughter of Jose Fontaine, I rarely ate vegetarian meals, but this lunch was absolutely delicious.

  Out in the grass with so many other students, I began to feel part of the university community. It was a wonderful feeling. This was what the college experience was all about, but surrounded by so many students; it wasn’t a great place to smooch.

  I was glad Alex hadn’t tried to kiss me in front of so many people. My kissing experience was next to nil. I hoped that Friday he would take me somewhere with a tiny bit more privacy so we could finally kiss. All I could think about all week were his soft-looking lips and how they would feel on mine. I’d been religiously moisturizing every night with Burt’s Bees lip balm, readying myself for our momentous first kiss.

  After class, Alex was where he usually was on the concrete benches, smiling. I wanted to run up to him and kiss him right there, but I was much too shy to do anything that bold.

  “Fancy seeing you here,” I said, as I walked up to him.

  “I just like hanging out right here on this bench. I get the best view of the prettiest girl in UF getting out of class.” He gave me that heart-melting smile.

  I covered my face with my hands, giggling like a school girl. When Alex said things like that, it made me feel embarrassed and flattered at the same time. Whenever I had mixed emotions like that, the only thing I knew to do was laugh.

  He gently grabbed my hands and brought them down from my face. Amused, Alex looked intently into my face. I thought: This is it. He is going to kiss me! His face was inches away.

  I moved my face closer to his anticipating his lips to meet mine, but then I lost my nerve. I backed up, playing it off with another laugh. He chuckled and said, “We’ve got to get a move on, or we’ll never make it in time.”

&nbs
p; He held onto my hand leading the way. “I thought we’d go to Lake Alice today. Have a picnic lunch on the shore?” Looking at me, he asked, “It’s a little bit of a walk. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great,” I answered. Anywhere with Alex was amazing.

  As we walked, he squeezed my hand. “Lake Alice is kind of quiet this time of day. Shouldn’t be a lot of people around. Is that okay?”

  Yes! Of course, that’s okay!

  Not wanting him to know I was over the moon with the idea, I acted casual. “That should be cool.”

  Alex beamed. “Def cool. It will probably just be us… and the gators.”

  “Gators?” I questioned uneasily. Was he joking?

  “Yeah, but they’re harmless. I’ve done fieldwork on Lake Alice tons of times. The gators on campus are puppies.”

  I squeezed his hand as we walked. “Big green puppies with gigantic teeth and strong chomping jaws.”

  Alex laughed, putting an arm around me. “I’ll protect you from the big green puppies.”

  I laughed, loving the way his arm felt around me. We walked the entire way to Lake Alice like that. It felt so good to be so close to him.

  When we got to Lake Alice, Alex was right. We were the only people there that I could see. He laid out an orange and checkered blanket on the shoreline. We sat on the blanket looking out onto the lake. Alex pulled out our sandwiches from Phil’s and our mineral waters. We were both creatures of habit it seemed.

  Normally, I would inhale a sandwich from Phil’s, but I was nervous about Alex kissing me with my sandwich breath. He handed me my Cubano, but I set it aside. Alex must have had the same thing on his mind. He put his sandwich to the side untouched too.

  He took my hand in his as he swept his other hand over the lake’s view. “This is one of my favorite places on campus. UF wanted to turn where we’re sitting right now into luxury student housing.”

  “Really?” I answered looking around. That would have been a shame. Lake Alice was so peaceful and beautiful.

  Alex nodded. “Yeah. There were eleven years of organized student protest against the development.” He grinned. “That’s what I love about it out here. People saw the beauty in it and fought to keep it just the way it is.”

  An adorable softshell turtle bobbed along in the water. “Thank you for bringing me here.” I paused, thinking over the entire week. “Actually, thank you for a whole week of fun lunch dates.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ve had a wonderful first week of school. All because of you,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  Blushing, I looked down at my lap. His fingers touched my chin, lifting my face up to his. Closing my eyes, I finally felt his lips on mine. They were just as soft as I had imagined they would be. He gently kissed me. His tongue caressed mine tenderly. It was gentle and sweet, and absolutely perfect.

  When our mouths parted, he looked into my eyes with a dreamy expression on his handsome face. “Our first kiss was out here on Lake Alice. Perfect. I’ve got a new reason to love this lake.”

  “I’ve only been kissed one other time before,” I confessed.

  “Really?” He leaned in to kiss me again. Our tongues swirled around together as I ran my arms around him. “I would have never known. You’re a great kisser. Who was the guy? Someone I should be worried about?” Alex joked.

  “Vince Gibson. On the playground.” Alex looked confused, so I went on, “When we were ten.”

  He laughed and gave me a squeeze. “A beautiful girl like you? I’m shocked.” He paused before carefully asking, “Does that mean you’re virgin?”

  I fidgeted with a loose string on my T-shirt, nodding my head. “Uh, huh.”

  “Okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. We were all virgins once.” Pulling me closer to him, he gave me a kiss on the top of my head. “I have a game on Sunday at one in the afternoon. I was hoping you’d be able to make it. Are you free?”

  “I’d love to see you play,” I answered then gave him a kiss on his cheek. “And thank you for not thinking I’m some kind of freak for still being a virgin at 21.”

  He took my hands in both of his. Genuinely, he looked into my eyes and said softly, "There's nothing weird about that. You're the greatest woman I've ever met in my life. There's absolutely nothing weird about you."

  Suddenly, we heard a splash in the middle of the lake. I screamed when I saw the eyes of an alligator skimming right above the water. I jumped up ready to run for my life, but the alligator floated along, minding his own business.

  Alex pulled me down back on the blanket, laughing. “I told you. The alligators are harmless.”

  Unlike anything I’ve ever done before in my life, I lunged down and kissed Alex full on the mouth. I felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world at that moment.

  Alex

  Sunday's game was against number 1 ranked Stanford. The game was a big deal because we were ranked number 2. 82 minutes into the game, we were tied 2-2. There were only 8 minutes left. With so much riding on the game, I had to do something.

  Jasmine was there cheering me on. My energy was fueled by seeing her pretty face in the crowd. It was the very first game she’d seen me play. How could I let the Gators lose?

  Ronnie sent me the ball straight down the center of the box. I followed it, battling with Stanford player, Hamilton Monroe. Hamilton was a great player. I’d played against him many times before. We battled fiercely for possession of the ball. Hamilton stuck to me like crazy glue. Whatever I tried to do, he was right there challenging me.

  I could feel the clock ticking in my ears. Taking a big chance, I touched right vying for a sliver of space away from Hamilton. Of course, he was right on me, but I went for it. I banged in a right-footed ten yard shot off the post and right into the goal. The crowd erupted with cheer. Jasmine jumped up with her arms raised and a huge smile on her face.

  We were leading 3-2 with only 2 minutes left of the game. Hamilton attempted a shot for a tie, but our goalie, Phineas, jumped up high and blocked the ball with his head.

  The team and I took victory laps around the field. The win meant we toppled Stanford from the number one spot!

  Afterward, Hamilton came up to me. “Good shot, Alex.” He extended a hand.

  Hamilton and I used to play at the highly selective Elite Residential Soccer Camp every summer when we were kids. I shooed away his hand and gave him a big bear hug. “Thanks, Ham. Means a lot.”

  After the game, I climbed up into the stands to where Jasmine sat, talking with Dr. Dupree’s daughter, Laney. I gave Jasmine a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for coming.” I grabbed her hand as I took a seat next to her as I looked at Laney. She’d been going to school here but transferred to Berkeley a while back. “Hey, Laney. How’s Berkeley?”

  Laney smiled happily. “It’s fantastic. I got an internship at Google.”

  Jasmine exclaimed, “That’s exciting, Laney!”

  “Thank you!” Laney pointed to the tall, muscular guy sitting next to her. “This is my fiancée, Jett. We met at Cal.”

  Jett and I shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Jett.”

  Jett said excitedly, "Dude, killer winning shot against Stanford!" Turning his thumb down, Jett blew a raspberry in disdain for the school.

  Jasmine squeezed my hand. “That shot was amazing!” I squeezed her hand back, happy she thought so too.

  Leaning in close, I kissed the soft spot just behind her ear. “Thanks, babe.” Turning to Laney and Jett, I asked, “What are you two doing in town?”

  Jett answered, “I’m the quarterback at Cal. The Miami Dolphins invited me to come check the facilities out.”

  Laney nodded eagerly in agreement. “While we’re out here, we thought we’d visit Mom.” Laney smiled at Dr. Dupree.

  Dr. Dupree exclaimed happily, “If Jett plays for Miami, they’ll be moving back to Florida.”

  “That would great. I know you two must miss each other,” Jasmine said to Laney and Dr. Dupree. Her eyes looked wistful as she spoke to
them.

  Laney hugged her mom. “I miss her so much, but I’m happy to hear Alex is working in her lab. You know, keeping an eye on her for me.”

  Dr. Dupree and Laney had a really tight mother-daughter bond. I wondered if seeing their close relationship bothered Jasmine. She rarely talked about her mother, but I wrapped my arm around her waist, just in case she needed some extra support.

  Jett said, “Nice to meet you, man. We’re flying down to Miami in about an hour. We gotta hit the road.”

  We shook hands again. “Thanks for coming. Good luck with the recruitment process.”

  Laney hugged Jasmine. “I’m glad you’re at UF. You look so happy. I’d tell you to say hi to your dad for me, but I’m pretty sure he’d just grunt, but tell Joseph, I said hey.” Jasmine and Laney shared a laugh.

  When they were gone, I asked Jasmine, “Do you have a little more time to spare this afternoon? I have a surprise for you at my apartment.”

  Jasmine’s green eyes lit up like glorious emeralds. “I have all the time in the world today. My dad is out of town, and Joseph can handle the restaurant without me.”

  All the time in the world? I could hardly contain myself.

  Back at my apartment, Jasmine walked around admiring the place. “This is really nice. Do you live here alone?”

  “Yeah. I’m not really into roommates. Too distracting.”

  Walking over to the sliding door to the balcony overlooking the clear pool, she asked, “How do you afford this? I’m sorry. Is that rude to ask?”

  I shrugged. “No. It’s not rude. I get paid a salary for working in Dr. Dupree’s lab. Also, I coach my little soccer tots. Plus, I’m on scholarship at UF with a sports stipend.”

  I watched as her eyes roamed over my trophies above the fireplace. “Impressive.” She walked over to me, hugging me from behind. Her hand ran up and down my stomach under my shirt. Her hand on my bare skin thrilled me.

  I turned around to her and said, “Quick shower. Don’t go anywhere.”