Her Best Friend's Brother(26)
“14 hours! Wow. I mean I knew it was far but geez. Stil though it’s probably pretty cool, you should tel him to check out the toilets—I hear they flush backwards.” Libby laughed. “I think that’s an old wives tale, but I wil get him to find out for you. If I were going to do a year abroad, you know if I hit the lottery, I think I would rather see Europe. Maybe Rome. Or Paris—the French are al about pastries!”
They kept talking until the Pizza was cold. There was no use in leaving two slices though, so with exaggerated self sacrifice they each lifted a slice from the tray. “Fruit does not belong on a pizza.” Tony declared as he picked an errant piece of pineapple off his slice and offered it to her disdainfuly. Libby’s hands were ful with her own slice of pizza, and she reacted without thinking. Leaning in she nibbled the fruit out of Tony’s hand.
Desire, white hot, shot through Tony’s nervous system. Her soft wet lips closed over the tips of his fingers.
Her tongue flickered against pad of his thumb and her teeth scraped lightly against his skin. It only lasted half a second, but Tony was rooted speechlessly to his seat. Libby realized belatedly the intimacy of her actions, and she snapped back to side of the table and began eating with great focus. The tension was stil thick between them when the waitress brought their check. Libby reached for her purse, but Tony waved her off with a flick of his hand.
“You forget Lib. I’m gainfuly employed these days.” Tony’s grin went a long way to ease Libby’s nerves. “Not very gainfuly, but I am happy to spring for dinner. Especialy since the movie was my choice and it was basicaly a waste of two hours of your life.”
“You paid for the movie too, so Skee Bal is on me.” Libby puled a few bils from her purse and skipped over to the coin machine in the smal arcade area. Tony over to the coin machine in the smal arcade area. Tony was glad to have a few minutes sitting alone while he waited for the waitress to return with his change. He needed the time to compose himself before he joined Libby in the arcade or else he was going to be embarrassed. 4 times 6
is 24, 4 times 7 is 28, 4 times 8 is 32….
By the end of the evening Libby had thoroughly and humiliatingly trounced Tony’s Skee Bal score and between them they had earned enough tickets for a bag of sour patch candies, a beaded bracelet, and a plastic sheriff’s badge.
Tony proudly pinned the badge to his shirt pocket as they walked down Main Street to where they had parked their cars behind the bakery. “Hey where’s your bracelet?” He asked around a mouthful of the gummy candies.
Libby puled it out of her pocket, and waved it at him. “Right here.”
Tony took the child’s bracelet from her and snapped it free of the cardboard packaging. He was very solemn as he slid the bracelet over Libby’s hand. Before he could dissuade himself he placed a soft open mouthed kiss to the inside of her wrist, imagining he could feel her pulse jump. Dropping their hands between them he wordlessly laced their fingers together and continued down Main Street as though the two of them walked hand-in-hand on a regular basis. Had he ever noticed how slim her wrists were before? Of course not. He had never noticed any woman’s wrists before, because only Libby had the power to reduce him to a depraved-sex-obsessed-neanderthal.
He had tried—to notice other women that is. Al year he had been determined to find someone. Any one he could feel even a fraction of this connection with. It hadn’t worked. He had found himself depositing his dates back their front doors at the end of each night with polite excuses of early classes, or worries of on setting colds and he then he had gone home—alone.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?” Tony spoke as they reached their cars.
“Umm… I don’t know. Don’t you have to spend some time with your parents?” Libby thriled at the idea of spending an entire day with him. But she didn’t want to assume things, and then there were those old bad habits she needed to keep clear of. After al hand holding and plastic bracelets did not undying devotion make.
“I think we should make cookies. You suck so far as a teacher, but I am wiling to give you another shot.” Tony disregarded her question.
“You want me to teach you how to bake?”
“Just how to bake cookies.” He corrected her. “I have realy missed your chocolate chip cookies. I could come to the bakery.”
“Nah. You are a health code violation. We can go to my mom’s apartment.”
“Gee you realy know how to knock a guy down!” Libby twitched a smile at him. “Don’t take it personaly. You have to pass a food safety course to use our kitchen.”