eighteen: flirting with my husband

Jeb scratched the back of his head like he was trying to loosen up some words.  "There's a place I want to show you. Let's talk there," he turned and began walking.

So I followed.

For the next 20 minutes.

I watched his body move and knew that he was listening for me behind him. When I slowed, he did - without even looking back.

Finally, we edged off to a thinner path, less worn. Down some stones arranged like steps. And there it was, a waterfall.

Whoa. Pretty.

Jeb let the backpack drop off his shoulders. His flannel was stained with sweat. He pulled that off, too, and tied it around his waist. Then he pulled out his water and drank for a long time. He held out another bottle for me.

There was a bench and I collapsed onto it. The water wasn't cold anymore but it felt so good going down.

"You want lunch?" he rummaged through the main pocket.

"You've got lunch?"

"Uh, grocery store? You watched me buy it."

"I thought that stuff was for Mrs. Burgess. And I was busy keeping Levi from climbing into the coolers."

"Fair," his lips twitched. "I didn't even know he was strong enough to open those doors."

"Oh, yeah. That's why I've started leaving a chair against the fridge each night."

"Oh, the fridge has a child-safety lock."

"What?!"

"I'll show you how when we get back."

"Thanks," I took a few more sips of water and admired the waterfall. "It's beautiful, Jeb. I would have never found it. Thank you for bringing me here."

"Alice, about before... things are so complicated between us already, right?"

I started to argue and then stopped myself.

His expression mirrored my feelings.  "I'm thinking though, I mean...I'm thinking about you..."

"Me, too," I nodded. "I mean me thinking about you. Maybe dinner sometime?"

"Yeah. Though I like lunch, too," he flashed me a grin and gave me one of two pre-made sandwiches and a couple of cutie oranges. We watched the water falling as we ate and chatted about silly things. Afterward, I carefully tucked our wrappers back in the bag. I may not be super-close with nature but that didn't mean I wanted to trash it.

Jeb used his phone to take a few pictures. Then he went still. "Alice? Did you meet with Finn?"

"What? Oh, yeah. We put things to rest. It was actually kind of awful but I don't think he'll be whining on street corners anymore."

"It doesn't look awful," he sounded a little angry.

I reached out and took his phone. Holy Shit. Really? REALLY?!? Naomi had made a GIF of Finn putting his hand on mine. Over and over and over again. Him making that cheesy smile and then sliding that paw across the table...

I groaned. "It's not what it looks like."

"That didn't happen?"

"Not like that," I handed back the phone.

"What about this?" He turned the screen towards me. A picture that showed my face laughing at something with Finn across from me. It was titled 'RELATIONSHIP GOALS'.

Oh for the love of...

"What did you do to this girl?" Jeb sighed.

I dropped my face in my hands.

"Did you spit in her juice or steal her puppy or what?"

"What? No!"

"Look, I'm not blaming you for whatever her shit is. I'm just wondering if she's a menace to society or if this is a grudge match over something."

"It was a random roommate assignment. I had a single my senior year and I was supposed to get one again for my 5th year. At the last minute, there was a problem with my housing assignment. It's funny..."

"What's funny?"

"I was visiting with my dad when my residence advisor called with the news that they didn't have a single for me. Ari totally thought he should rent me an apartment. If I'd said yes, maybe we would have never met?"

"You think so?"

"I'm starting to believe that we'd have found a way to meet no matter what."

"Oh," I met his eyes and felt my cheeks blush.

"I like how you assume that's a good thing."

"Of course I do. So do you."

"Maybe," the dimple in his face deepened. "So Naomi was just some other unlucky senior?"

"Uh," I squinted, trying to remember. "Actually, I think she was there in the office because she also lost her single. The advisor said we would have been neighbors. They had a double in the graduate dorm they could give us if I wanted that and, on a whim, I agreed."

"On a whim," Jeb repeated, sighing.

"Yes," I bumped his shoulder. "Like I married you."

"Oof," he gave me a little half-smile. "So now I'm never going to live it down, huh? A single unplanned marriage means I'm a planning hypocrite forever?"

"Kinda," I laughed. "Yeah."

"All right, all right. Tell me about living with her. Did you suspect she felt like this about you?"

"It was fine, at first. Neither of us had furniture for a real apartment so we cruised a few thrift shops and got a table and stuff."

"You both paid?"

"No. Just me - but that was because we found a cute set that I knew I'd want to DIY and keep. We got along fine, I thought. She seemed starstruck by my dad. She joked about private jets and invitations to Hollywood parties a few times."

"Go to a lot of those?"

"Yeah, every weekend," I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Did she really date Finn?"

I shrugged. "She had actually been the one to suggest we go to Starbucks the day he walked me to my car. When we were ordering, they talked a bit and it was obvious they knew each other. But then she left me there and went off to class and seemed supportive of me and him."

"Seemed?"

"Gonna be honest, I was hip-deep in my internship and days would go by without us even seeing each other."

"Well, she's not supportive of you now."

"I don't get it. Have you ever had anyone just randomly hate you?"

"Actually? Yeah. My grandmother, for starters."

"Why-" And I caught myself, remembering someone had told me that parts of the family had never accepted a multiracial son. I suddenly felt nauseous.

"Don't worry about it," he whispered, reaching over and squeezing my hand.

"But it's awful."

"It was. And I worry for Levi, going through it."

"Not from my side!" I sat up straight. "I'll have you know that I have siblings from every corner of the world from Dad. I've heard my brothers complain about a lot of things but feeling left out was never one of them."

"These the same brothers that gave you a green car?"

I blushed. "It's a cute car."

"It's ugly as sin."

"We'll agree to disagree. I'm just saying that at least you know my family will be cool."

"But your family won't be around," he reminded me, his voice almost... sad? "But back to the point. What do you do about Naomi?"

"I don't know," I confessed. "My fear is you and Levi, too. She's, like, obsessed."

"I wonder why she went along with the plan if she was that into Finn. Maybe she was getting something out of it? Was she an actress, too?"

I froze. "You know what, I think she is. Or something theater-ish? Not like full-time or anything but she did something with a few plays last year. She put up posters in our lobby."

"Is that her major?"

I opened my mouth and then closed it.

Jeb laughed. "You didn't even know your roommate's major? Oh, that's sick."

"Bachelors of Arts, but not Fine Arts. Her interests were kind of all over, OK? Hey, I remember her parent's names! That counts for something, right?" I could feel my cheeks grow hot.

"If you're keeping score then, sure. I bet it does."

"I screwed up," I admitted. "We DID talk about all this stuff back in September but a lot happened since then."

He organized the backpack and zipped it up. "Alice, you need to write down the important things."

"I know," I sighed. "But in my own defense, she was always prickly."

"Hmm. So...While we're discussing all of the members of the anti-Alice Hydra League...how's Lonnie?"

I stood up and shook myself clean of any crumbs or stray leaves. "Haven't seen or heard from him. Maybe he's finally dropped it now that he knows I got married."

"You're such the dreamer," he patted my back. His iPhone rang and he showed me the name - Mrs. Burgess. "Hi....oh, yes. Yes, I'm his father. Yes, thank you. Actually, my wife is with me. Yes. We're on our way. Where? Yes, 45 minutes." He ended the call and stared at the phone for a second.

"What's up?"

"That was a nurse at the hospital. Mrs. Burgess collapsed and is in the emergency room. The guy said they have Levi."

"Why would they take Levi to the hospital if Mrs. Burgess collapsed? You don't take the toddler to a hospital unless, well, someone should have..."

"I don't know. He just said that they need a guardian for Levi. It's about a mile and a half to the car as the crow flies. I'd like to get there as soon as possible."

I immediately turned and helped him pack the last of our stuff up.

"Alice, can you run?" He pulled his bag over his shoulder.

"Not over rocks and hanging bridges," I shook my head. "But don't worry about me, for goodness sake. Just go. I'll make my way back and call a service for a ride."

"Leaving you is not an option," Jeb held out his hand and I took it. The jolt of fizzies shot up my arm and his eyes met mine. "There's a utility road. It's a bit longer but easier terrain."

I nodded. "OK, let's go."

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I updated the storyline a bit to get it back in the land of plausible contonuity. I added a bit of sweetness, too. Please hit that star if you like it! ...... xoxo, Bella