“Nope. I’ll be here in Miami. Gotta work, Red.” He patted his stomach. “I kind of like to eat, you know?”
Were his finances really so tight that he couldn’t take a weekend off work, even for the holidays? The idea of him eating a microwave dinner all alone in his apartment seemed too depressing.
“But where will you spend Thanksgiving? Will your mom be coming down to visit you?” From what little Ben had told her about his family life, she knew he’d never known his father. All he had were his mom and a half-brother who was twelve. She also knew that Ben sent money back home to help them. He hadn’t told her that outright, but one day during a study session a receipt from Western Union had fallen out of his backpack. She’d picked it up to hand back to him, but not before she’d seen that he’d wired money to his mother.
“My mom won’t be visiting. So, if you’ll be back in town by Sunday, we can meet as usual?”
Yes! “Sounds good,” she said trying to sound very cool about the whole thing. She tried to concentrate on the equation in front of her, but she felt too restless for math tonight. She knew he worked as a bouncer in a local bar, something she’d always been curious about. “Do you like your job?”
“No,” he said honestly. “But the money’s good and the works not hard. And it doesn’t interfere with my school schedule.”
She covertly studied his six foot three frame. He was solid and nicely muscled but he didn’t have the kind of body you got from working out in a gym twenty-four seven. The way he was put together seemed more naturally seamless than a forced regime of heavy weightlifting. Like he’d been born with all that muscly wonder.
“I guess it wouldn’t be hard. I mean, not for you.” The idea of any of the local college boys giving him a hard time seemed ridiculous.
He leaned back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head causing his biceps to bulge deliciously. “What do you mean, not for me?” His dark eyes were hooded, and something about the way he looked at her reminded her of how much older he was. Not in years, maybe, but everything about him screamed sex. She, on the other hand, was probably giving off the nice-but-geeky-girl-next-door vibe. No wonder he’d never made a move on her.
“Just, you know, I doubt anyone would mess with you,” she said. “I mean… I would certainly never try to mess with you.”
He tried to hide his smile.
“Are you laughing at me?” she demanded.
The humor in his eyes died. “I would never laugh at you, Red.” There it was again. That something in his tone that made her pulse hitch and her panties go damp.
She quickly changed the subject back to integrals.
Thanksgiving at home was busy. Uncle Bob and Aunt Viola drove down from Whispering Bay, and her brother, Eric, who was a senior at Georgia Tech, brought a new girlfriend home. There were high school friends to catch up with, and the Christmas tree in the Pantini house always went up on Black Friday. Decorating it alongside her mother was one of Jenna’s favorite holiday traditions. And of course, there was college football to watch, but as much fun as Jenna was having, she couldn’t wait to get back to Miami.
Sunday evening, she met Ben at their usual time, but the sign on The Bean’s door said it was closed for the entire holiday weekend.
“That sucks,” Ben said. “Want to hit the library instead?”
The library was certainly conducive to studying, but they couldn’t have the frequently loud back and forth laughter that marked their conversations. She tried not to look as disappointed as she felt.
“The library is great, except I brought you this.” She handed him a large Tupperware container. “I figured since you couldn’t go home for Thanksgiving, I’d bring Thanksgiving dinner to you. It’s just a bunch of leftovers,” she babbled feeling more foolish by the second. “Turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. And…there’s also panettone. It’s a dessert, a family recipe handed down from my nana. It’s my brother’s favorite. We usually only make it at Christmas, but I thought…maybe you’d like to try it. Only, since there’s no food allowed in the library you’d need to refrigerate all this right away, so it doesn’t go bad.”
He stared at the container, like he was unsure what to do with it. “Did you make the panettone just for me?” It was a simple question, but it felt like he was asking a whole lot more.
She could answer him one of three ways.
The first way was a complete fabrication.
Of course not, silly! I made it for my brother, but since there was so much leftover, I figured I’d bring you some. You can eat it or you can toss it. Either way, no skin off my nose.
Then, there was the absolute truth.
Yes. I stayed up till three in the morning making this just for you. I told my brother it was for him, but that was a big fat lie.
Or she could go with a less dramatic, but still honest version.
“You’re always teasing me that because of my red hair I can’t really be Italian, so I wanted to prove it to you. Go ahead and taste it. I dare you to find a better version of panettone this far south of a Brooklyn bakery.”
He laughed, and Jenna knew then that she had it more than just bad for Ben Harrison. She was in love with him. What was she going to do when this semester was over and they didn’t need to study for calculus anymore?
“You must be psychic, Red, because I’m starving. Want to find a place to both eat and study?”
“My roommate doesn’t come back till tomorrow morning, so we could go back to my room. No one will bother us there.” Did she really just invite him to her room?