Best Dating Rules by Tamie Dearen (no david read aloud .TXT) 📕

“She’s fine, I guess. I haven’t actually talked to her this weekend.”

“Oh.”

Emily squirmed a bit in the uncomfortable silence. How could she start the awkward conversation about their feelings? Maybe with a question. “So, how long do you think we’ll date?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

“I wanted to talk about that, too.” Spencer smiled, squeezing her hand. I mean, I was thinking maybe a year. Maybe less. Even a year seems like a really long time to me. But, I thought, since I graduate in December. Then I’d get a job and save some money. But, you know, I might not even get a job here. It’s all sort of complicated.”

Her heart turned upside down. He was planning to give her a year, and even that seemed like a long time to him. She should be glad. That was probably longer than he’d dated any other girls. But somehow, talking about how it would be over after he graduated and got a job, made the end seem so certain. So, Grace was wrong after all. He didn’t love her. And she’d done exactly what she’d tried not to do. She’d fallen in love with a guy who didn’t love her back.

She struggled to stop the flood of tears. She shouldn’t be crying—she was going to ruin the time they had left. Hadn’t she decided she was going to enjoy him while she could? And who knew—maybe if they dated for that long, he might fall in love with her, too. Or maybe he was in love with her, but didn’t realize it.

His eyes were huge. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know,” she sniffed. “A year... I guess a year is good. I was actually hoping for longer.”

He turned to her and picked up both of her hands in his, tenderly lifting them to his lips. “It can be two years if you want. I’m willing to wait.”

That’s right. She’d forgotten he’d be going without having sex for as long as they dated. No wonder he only wanted to date for a year. She took a long shuddering breath. It was too late now—she’d lost her heart to him. So if he offered her a year, she’d take it. And when it was over, if he hadn’t fallen in love with her, she’d pick up the pieces of her heart and move on.

He reached with one hand and brushed a tear off her face. “I know you think I’m a big player, but that’s more reputation than truth. I’d never cheat on you. You believe me. Right?”

“Even if...” She hesitated. She had to get this question off her chest. “Even if it means no sex the whole time we’re dating?”

“I’m not dating you for sex. I know you don’t believe in sex before marriage. That’s fine with me. But...”

“But what?”

“But, I’m hoping you’ll let up on the no-kissing thing now that we’ve talked.”

“Actually, I decided to change that policy yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” he groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know. I thought you’d guess somehow. You kissed me on Monday, before I lifted the hiatus.”

“I think maybe we need to work on our communication skills.” He shook his head.

“Well, at least we talked tonight.”

“Yes,” he smiled. “Yes, we certainly did.” His hand moved under her chin and tilted her face up to his. Then he leaned toward her and bent down to touch his lips lightly against hers. He kissed her upper lip and then her lower lip, sucking it gently into his mouth. “You taste so good.”

“It’s Ginger Crinkles,” she said.

“No, it’s you. You taste good. You smell good. I love everything about you.” He returned his mouth to hers, gently kissing her lips. She felt an ache in her heart. He’d almost said he loved her—almost, but not quite. Then her mind became a blur as he deepened their kiss, tasting the inside of her mouth with his tongue, sending electricity down her spine. He played with her tongue and enticed it into his own mouth. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and feel the thud in her chest. Abruptly, he broke the kiss and pulled away.

“I don’t know if I can make it a year,” he teased. “I’d really like to do a lot more than kiss you.”

Her face must have looked as stricken as she felt at his words, because he quickly backtracked. “I’m just kidding. I can wait. Please don’t cry.”

He bent down to kiss her again. His lips caressed hers gently. “Emily...” he moaned and then he was kissing her forcefully, bruising her lips with his passion. “Emily, I...” he breathed the words across her lips.

The door cracked as Claire flung it open, and they sprung apart, sporting guilty expressions. “We’re gonna play charades,” she announced. “Come on.”

Spencer rubbed his elbow where he’d slammed it against the arm of the glider. “I guess our talking time just ended.” Then he whispered in her ear, “But I enjoyed it while it lasted.”*****

Anne watched Emily pushing her food around on her plate. She and Steven had decided to keep their news a secret from the general population for a while. But they’d agreed to tell the family members when the time seemed right. Anne had thought tonight might be a good time to tell Emily, so they’d invited her up for dinner. It was Wednesday, and they hadn’t had a chance to chat since the previous week. But now, watching her distracted movements, she knew they needed to talk about other things instead. There was something wrong, and it was probably an affair of the heart.

“So, how’re things with Spencer?” she probed.

“Fine. They’re fine.”

“You’ve been going out a lot lately, right?”

“Well, we had been until recently. But he’s been busy every night this week.” Her voice whined even as she attempted to appear nonchalant.

“What’s he busy doing?”

“How should I know? He doesn’t tell me,” she snapped.

“Sorry. I just wondered.”

“Can’t you ask him what he’s doing?” asked Steven.

“Oh.