Free Scars and Songs by Christine Zolendz, Frankie Sutton, Okaycreations Page A

see me.  Her smile made my freakin’ knees weaken.
    “I was going for a run. Thought you or Conner would be up for one,” I croaked breathlessly, just from the sight of her.  It was as if I was looking at a ghost.  Like it was Selah standing right in front of me .
    She laughed with a smile that shamed the sun. “Conner won ʼt be up for a while.  Shane, did you even sleep?  I only got like three hours.”
    A warm rush of heat ran across my cheeks and forehead.  I hoped she never finds out I stayed in the bar and watched her, stayed up all night thinking about her, or waited all morning outside her front door just to be with her.  “Nah, I ʼll sleep later. I have too much energy.”
    She smiled wider, “Wow, that must have been a really great lap dance, huh?”
    “Shut up!” I nudged her with my elbow and laughed.  I ran, heading for Central Park and started on the same loop as the day before.
    Thankfully, she ran slower and we talked about all the people we passed on our path. We quickly made a game out of it, creating a life for the person, each story funnier than the next.  She had a sense of humor like no one I had ever met before.  A few times, she had me almost stumbling into trees because I was laughing so hard.
    I ran with her for three hours and I didnʼt want to stop.  I followed her up her front steps. Her beautiful sweaty hands held the door open for me and I went right in.  We sat together on the couch and laughed while watching the television.
    All along, I thought about how I shouldn ʼt be there. I shouldnʼt be next to her, but I was in love with looking at her.
    “Oh , my, God! Did you two just have sex out here? Ewww. Grace! Come on, Shane, really?” Lea yelled when she and Conner walked into the room. They both had the most horrible bed hair. Grace and I laughed.
    Grace placed her hands over her chest and in a sweet southern accent asked, “What? Y’all seriously think we just had sex? Here on the couch?”
    The way her voice sounded and the beautiful innocent expression she gave made me lose complete control of my laughter and I couldnʼt stop.  “If you guys look like this after you guys get freaky, thatʼs awesome. But, no, we just came back from a run.  I wouldnʼt touch Grace if you paid me.  Sheʼs really a man,” I explained to them, choking on my laughter.
    Grace’s smile lit up the room, her eyes dancing with secrets and whispers I desperately wanted to be part of.  I softly nudged my hand against her knee to get her attention. Her eyes widened as my fingers brushed against the soft material of her pants, and I heard a low gasp escape through her lips. “I ʼm starving. Grace, you hungry, bro ? Iʼll make you breakfast.”
    Her wide eyes narrowed playfully as the look of disbelief shadowed her face. “Are you even capable of pouring cereal into a bowl?” she asked.  I can cook almost as great as I am in bed.
    “Are you insulting me?” I laughed.
    “Um. No not really. It was an honest question,” she smiled.
    I walked toward the kitchen and waved her to follow. “C ʼmon. You have to be just as hungry as I am after all that sex, I mean all that running.”
    “Oh, so now you’re saying you do have sex with guys?” she laughed as she threw a couch pillow at me. I couldnʼt stop myself from smiling as she followed me in.  We left Lea and Conner in the living room gawking openly at our flirting. 
    I rummaged through the refrigerator and all the cabinets, knowing exactly where everything was. There were way too many times I had crashed over at Lea’s and made it up to her by cooking Conner and her a meal. Usually, it was to get away from the other guys partying and their crazy antics. I would just tell the guys I spent the night over at some girlʼs place; they always believed me.
    “So, honestly, why did you think I wouldn ʼt be able to cook?” I asked as I settled on making an omelet. I stripped off my sweaty shirt without a thought and started to make