Read Write to Me for Free Online Page B

He felt strange, ill at ease.
    “Letty told me her husband suffers from Alzheimer’s. It’s so sad. It must have been unnerving, Howard not remembering you from one moment to the next.”
    Unnerving. That was the word. She took his arm, and he was glad. He felt a bit like Howard, holding onto someone strong, to keep himself grounded. He smirked to himself. Aren’t you supposed to be the strong one, Dunn, being the man and all?
    “I had to throw your ice cream away,” she told him. “It was melting.”
    “That’s fine.” He couldn’t stomach it now, anyway. “Why don’t we walk?”
    Last week, his jaundiced view of marriage had colored his regard of the older couple. Now he could only think how frightened Howard must have been, believing a stranger had followed him into the men’s room. How terrifying not to recognize someone you’d been chatting with only a few moments before.
    A sad situation, but at least he had Letty. A safe harbor. Someone he could depend on. If Howard were all alone? No longer a sad situation, but a tragic one.
    What will your life be like, forty, fifty years from now? Will you have someone like Howard does? Or will you be as alone as you are now?
    It never troubled him before. He was working, living his life, dating and bedding a variety of women. He’d never felt any need to settle down. In fact, the prospect sickened him, as all he could think of was the glue-trap of his parents’ marriage.
    But not every marriage had to be like his mother’s and father’s.
    Gloria, still holding his arm, strolled by his side. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. She shuddered. “That doesn’t sound good.”
    “No.” A fine mist of rain began. He squeezed her hand and nodded toward a gazebo in the distance. “Let’s head over there.”
    Their clothes and hair were damp by the time they reached the structure. Bryan tried not to let his gaze linger on the way Gloria’s pretty sundress clung to her curves.
    She smoothed her shoulder length hair. “It’s frizzing up already. I must look awful.”
    “No.” Without thinking, he threaded his fingers through her dark tendrils. Her hair felt delightfully soft and luxurious. “It’s lovely.”
    Her breath caught, and her hands fell to her sides. Bryan went still. He didn’t want to stop touching her. The air around them felt electric, from the storm or from their mutual attraction. If he took one step closer, he could kiss her…
    Thunder rumbled again, and fat heavy drops of rain began to fall. Gloria stepped back, her smile hesitant. “How have people reacted to your new haircut?”
    He took her cue to put some space between them. “I’ve gotten quite a few compliments, actually.”
    The corner of her mouth lifted. “From your adoring female students, I’m sure.”
    His eyebrows flew upward in surprise. Was there a tinge of jealousy in her voice? The thought pleased him.
    She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have said that. Of course, you’ve gotten compliments. The cut is very becoming, if I do say so myself.” She moved to sit on a wooden bench in the center of the gazebo. “We should talk about the letter.”
    He blinked. “Ah. The letter.” Of course they’d come round to that again.
    “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “That’s why we’re here, yes?”
    No. He didn’t want to waste time talking about the damn letter, but he’d boxed himself into a corner. It was the only way she’d continue seeing him.
    Man up , his better self urged. Tell her the truth. She’ll be pissed, sure, but she’ll get over it. Then you can tell her how you really feel.
    And how did he feel? This whole adventure began with him wanting to get Gloria into bed. He still wanted that, but he wanted more, too.
    Something new for him. Uncharted territory he had no idea how to navigate.
    “You mentioned last time that Courtney’s parents didn’t have a happy marriage,” she said, shifting down the bench as he sat beside her. “Do you think