Free Unfinished by Shae Scott Page A

interesting. It was just one more reminder of how much I had missed him,
missed us.
     
     
    It was nearly
3 hours later; the guys at the table had given up over an hour ago and stumbled
back to the hotel.  They seemed like a good group.  I liked seeing him like
this.  When we were growing up he’d always told me how his goal was to get out
of town and make something of himself.  He wanted to do big things and prove
something to his family.  Honestly, I think it was more about proving something
to himself.  But I was glad to see that he had done it. I’d had no doubt that
he would.  He was just that determined and focused. 
    “I think they
are about to shut it down,” Owen said, glancing around the room.  The waitress
had done last call awhile ago and the lights were slowly starting to come up. 
    “Yeah, I think
they are going to kick us out,” I laughed.  I reached for my coat and began to
shrug it on. “This was fun.  A nice surprise,” I smiled across the table at
him.  He smiled back, giving me his megawatt smile.  It made me laugh. 
    “What?” he
asked laughing. 
    “I just
haven’t seen that big grin in a long time,” I laughed making it to my feet.  He
raised his eyebrow at me and grunted.
    “Yeah, well, I
don’t have occasion to use it all that much,” he said. He took my hand in his
and started to lead me to the door.  The feel of his hand in mine brought back
the jolt and butterflies that I had managed to shed during our conversation. 
Now I was right back to frazzled mess.
    “Where are you
parked?” he asked, looking down at me. I pointed to where my rental sat beneath
a streetlight. We walked towards it and I felt growing disappointment at the
fact that we would be going our separate ways.  Now that I’d seen him face to
face I hated the fact that he no longer lived in the same city as me.  It had
been a nice buffer when we were just chatting and emailing, but now…now that I
remembered what it was like to be around him, the idea of him living hours away
just made me sad.
    We’d reached
my car, but I still hadn’t made a move to leave.  “I really don’t want you to
walk away and me not see you again,” he said, his voice a little gravelly. 
    “I talk to you
all the time,” I smiled, leaning back against the car.  I was feeling
lightheaded from the beer and a little heady from his proximity.  I couldn’t
deny the pull that I felt with him.  It made everything feel a little off
kilter and yet completely steady all at once.  I was having a hard time taking
the boy I knew and the man in front of me and reconciling the two. 
    “Yeah, but I
like seeing you while we’re talking.  I’ve missed this,” he smiled. 
    “I like seeing
you, too,” I admitted.  His eyes were hypnotic and I know I could easily get
lost in them.  I’d always known it was dangerous to get lost in those eyes. 
But now, after all of this time, things were different.  We weren’t kids
anymore. Looking at the man in front of me and the reaction my body was having
to him was enough proof of that.  This man was more than I could handle.  I was
pretty sure of it.  Still, there was that pull. 
    “Good,” he
said leaning in a little closer.  I felt my breath catch wondering if maybe he
was going to kiss me. He seemed to be wondering the same thing as question and
indecision danced across his features.  I was sure he was about to close the
distance, but then he moved back.  I felt real disappointment at the loss of
proximity.
    We were quiet
again, neither of us wanting to end the moment.  I couldn’t help but study
him.  I began to catalog each of his features.  I wanted to be able to amend my
mental picture of him from this point forward.  Just in case.  It felt like he
was about to walk away from me again and I couldn’t help but want to find a way
to stall him.
    “Look, I know
it’s late and that you have an early flight in the morning, but if you want to
hang out