Free In Her Eyes by Wesley Banks Page A

But it wasn’t even that, it was the way he said it.
    Before Casey reached the bottom of the stairs, Ben jogged over and blocked her way. He held his hands up in front of him to stop her. “Hey, that was just a joke.”
    “It was a bad joke,” she said as she stepped around him and towards the gate she had come in.
    “Okay, it was a bad joke, but remember I’m not good at jokes. I was just shocked to see you.”
    Casey turned around and took a couple steps toward him. “I’m sorry. I just…”
    “Lost your phone? Got a new number? Probably something along those lines, right?”
    Casey smiled. “Let’s go with lost my phone.”
    She thought she could see a bit of hurt and disappointment in his eyes behind the light-hearted façade.
    “You know this all could have been avoided if a certain girl would stop playing games and just let me take her out.”
    I am so not playing games, she thought. But even as Casey thought it, she realized it wasn’t entirely true.
    “Benson, this isn’t the damn Bachelor,” Coach Melvick yelled from mid-field. “Stretch out and then you can go flirt as much as you want.”
    Ben waved playfully. “Thanks, Coach, that was extremely helpful.”
    Ben turned back to Casey.
    “Okay, so take me out,” she said.
    Ben looked down at his watch. “It’s about seven-fifteen. Give me, like, fifteen minutes and we can go.”
    Casey bit her lip. “I can’t tonight…” Nikki was only supposed to watch Emma until eight.
    Ben didn’t hesitate, though. “Okay, how about tomorrow morning?”
    “You want to take me out tomorrow morning?”
    “Does seven a.m. work?”
    “Like seven in the morning?”
    “Yes, you see, a.m. stands for ante meridiem, which is Latin for before midday. You did go to medical school right?”
    Casey rolled her eyes. “I’ve just never been asked out at seven in the morning before. Where are we going to even go?”
    “I’ll take that as a yes.”
    Casey thought about it for a second. She hadn’t planned on taking Emma to daycare tomorrow, but a half day would be fine, she thought. “Okay, do you want me to write down my address?”
    “Benson Hayes Wilder!” Coach Melvick yelled again.
    “Will you text it to me?”
    “Okay,” Casey said.
    “In case you get confused, it’s that one number that’s been calling the past four days.”
    “Ha. Ha,” Casey said before Ben jogged off.
    “Wait,” Casey said. “Where are we going?”
    Ben didn’t turn around.
    Does he not know girls need to know these things?

23
    Ante Meridiem
     
    April 10, 2015
     
    Casey had a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house in northwest Gainesville. It was in a small community a little ways away from the hospital. Far enough away to avoid most of the endless foray of house parties, but close enough that she still felt a bit of the college life.
    It was 6:53 a.m. when Casey heard a car pull into the driveway. She pulled back the curtains from her window and saw a clay red truck with a yellow trim stripe. Letting the curtain fall back in place, she headed toward the front door.
    She walked through the open dining room and sat her cup of coffee down next to the sink. She shook her hands like she was trying to dry them off without a towel. Her body tingled with excitement and the 500 mg of caffeine. Casey was so wired that she thought she could actually feel the caffeine block the adenosine receptors in her brain. Calm down, calm down, calm down. Holy cow, I should have stopped at my second cup of coffee.
    The knock at the door echoed lightly throughout the house, bringing Casey out of her momentary panic.
    As Casey opened the front door she got this sudden feeling like she was forgetting something. That feeling went away when she saw him, though. Ben was wearing jeans with a yellow and brown plaid shirt that was rolled up and tucked in, a brown belt, and brown boots. It was the first time she’d seen him wearing something other than orange and blue workout clothes.
    He held out a white