Read THIEF: Part 3 for Free Online Page B

good—and take note of the difference: I’m not angry and hurt, staring at myself.I’m smiling.And I’m not focusing on the girl in the lenses.I’m looking at the face behind them.
                  Alex blinks, clearing his throat, and lets go of my hands.“You, um…want to start the documentary?I can point out the places I’ve been, if you want.Or I can just keep my big mouth shut and let you enjoy it.”He laughs again, a little nervous.
                  It’s kind of adorable, how scared he is to kiss me.I don’t know if he’s just old-fashioned, bad at reading me—because I’m making it fairly obvious I’d let him kiss me tonight, and maybe a whole lot more—or if he honestly doesn’t realize how handsome he is.He’s got no reason to be nervous.Not that I’d tell him that.
                  So we sip our coffee, knees and shoulders touching, on the couch, and watch the documentary.Alex quietly tells me which cities he’s seen, what koalas are really like, which famous restaurants he loved and which ones he hated.It’s nice to hear his stories—he’s not braggy about it, like some college grads I’ve met—but it makes me realize how little I’ve done.At least, things worth sharing; I’m not entirely eager to recount my shoplifting or pickpocketing days, or the times I wound up in northern beach towns without rides, my so-called friends having abandoned me.Alex is worldly—literally—but my education came the hard way, and it’s not one most people value.
                  Slowly, about halfway through the movie, Alex sets his coffee down and puts his arm around my shoulder again, like at the park.This time, though, I lean a little further into him than before, propping my feet on the couch, so that he has to lie back instead of sitting so formally.I can hear his heart skittering in his chest and feel his muscles try to relax under my head.
                  “Erin?” he asks, towards the end.
                  I turn my head, looking up at him.“Yes?”
                  He stares at me a second, and I brace myself for the swoop of his face to mine, that adrenaline surge of the first kiss—the excitement of not knowing how far things will go on this first night.
                  Alex parts his lips and takes a breath, and I lean in just a bit further.
                  “Can I use your bathroom real quick?”
                  “Oh.”I sit up.“Um…sure.It’s upstairs, first door on the right.”I fall back against the pillows, waiting till Alex is out of earshot before sighing.I appreciate old-fashioned chivalry as much as the next girl, but it’s not 1954, here, either.
                  My phone lights up from the coffee table, the silent ping.I check my text messages: just one, from Fiona.
                  How’s the date?Any play? :P -Fiona.
                  I smile. Does shoulder-leaning count?
                  Just a couple seconds later, she answers, I think so.But then again, my boyfriend is gay. So what do I know.
                  I send back a half-frown. Tonight’s the break-up, huh?GL.Tell me everything later.
                  Will do.Have fun with Alex. :)
                  “Hey.”
                  I set my phone down and smile as Alex comes back downstairs.“Hey.You missed the end of the documentary—want me to rewind?”
                  Alex checks his watch.“Actually, uh…it’s getting kind of late.I promised my mom I’d help her plant some trees tomorrow.”
                  I stand, trying to hide my disappointment.“Oh…okay.Here, I’ll walk you to your car.”
                  Out in the lot, Alex jingles his keys and unlocks his car, but hesitates before climbing in.“I had a lot of fun tonight,