A soul. Time. Leaving. Death.
And underneath, rebirth.
Is that positive, or negative? Does that mean he believes in rebirth, or that rebirth is gone, not to be found?
Or am I making up stories in my mind, and the symbols don’t really mean anything to him? Some people get ink just because it looks good and cool.
Yeah, okay. Jethro doesn’t strike me like that kind of guy, though.
I study his clean profile as I park the car down the street from the bookshop and kill the engine. “Was it your cousin again?”
“Huh?”
“The call. He called you yesterday, too, didn’t he? Donna told me.”
He closes his eyes, rubs them. “Candy…”
“Let me help, Jet.” I pull down his hands, stare into his reddened eyes. “Let us help. With whatever is hurting you.”
He doesn’t move when I unlatch my belt and slip my arms around him. He gathers me close and rubs his face in my hair.
“Your hair smells like my shampoo,” he whispers.
“It is your shampoo.”
“First my coffee and then my shampoo. What next?”
“Your clothes?” I inhale his scent of musky boy and soap, and close my eyes.
“Damn.” He groans. “I can’t go into the shop with a hard-on, Candy pop.”
“You think you’ll like me in your clothes?”
“And even more out of them.”
“You have a one-track mind
.”
“Only when you’re around.”
I pull back, laughing. “So you won’t tell me what’s going on with your cousin to get you so stressed? Not even a hint?”
Aw crap. He was smiling when I pulled away and now his smile is fading fast.
I place a hand over his heart, and it’s racing.
“Many years ago,” he says, and just like that his accent changes, thickens, “something bad happened and it’s not over, but nobody believed me then or now, and I… I’m afraid I was right, and that it’s all going to hell.”
“What do you mean?” He’s talking in riddles, and the fear in his eyes matches the fear that’s lancing through me. “Why did you run? From where? What didn’t they believe?”
But he only shakes his head and gets out of the car, heading toward the shop.
***
The day passes in a blur. Customers file in and out. Lots of students, too, preparing for the upcoming semester, which reminds me I should get some reading done myself. With everything going on, I forgot I’m in the middle of my studies.
Hey, it’s not every day your fantasy boyfriends waltz into your life and become reality.