Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)

“Are you going to go home with him tonight?” Her seriousness drew laughter out of me.

“Geez Mon, I don’t know. I don’t really know anything about him. He’s hot, he plays music, and he sings. Oh, and he’s from New Hampshire, we have the same taste in music and we sing well together. That’s all I know.” My responsible side came up for air for the first time after 24 hours of swimming in desire.

“You two have serious chemistry. I haven’t seen that look on your face since Adrian.” She winced a little as she said his name.

“You can bring up Adrian, Monica, we broke up like five years ago. We dated and had great sex. I fell in love but he didn’t fall in after me. That’s all.”

Monica also knew that wasn’t all there was - she was there. She held me as I cried. When Monica and I first met Josh at Finnegan’s, I saw sparks between them immediately. Still, she nearly asked my permission to date him. She treated what happened with Adrian with great care, even though it was years old. Maybe she knew more than I did how much it hurt. The dissolution of that relationship didn’t dissolve my belief in love, though. What I was feeling for Bo was completely soul-shifting.

I had to tread carefully, even though my bones ached and my soul thirsted for everything he had to offer. I’d spent the last day trying to think spontaneously, to remind myself that I didn’t care he would have to go home. After just a second kiss, however, I was starting to care.

Josh and Bo came back outside as Monica and I were dusting the sand off of ourselves.

“You guys want to come back to my place?” I asked, noting Monica’s gaping mouth.

They all agreed, and off we went. I knew it was risky to have someone I barely knew over to my house, but my friends would be there. And, if something should happen when we were alone, I’d know how to get out; an advantage you don’t have when you’re in unfamiliar territory. We each got in to our respective cars and I used the drive home to gather the nerve I’d need to ask Bo to stay the night with me.

By the time we got to my apartment, I was riddled with indecision. I wanted to spend more time with Bo, but I didn’t want to play the Sex Card too early as a means to get him to want to spend more time with me. I wanted him badly, but the memories of what happened with Adrian reminded me to proceed with caution. I was already feeling things beyond physical desire for Bo, and I didn’t want to ruin that.

I gripped my steering wheel with the frustration that I couldn’t deny myself the physical satisfaction of this beautiful man because I was afraid of endangering a relationship we didn’t even have. Ugh! Still, it would be no for tonight.

The four of us headed into my apartment and opened up a bottle of wine in the living room. Monica and Josh settled for different chairs, which allowed Bo and me to sit together on the couch. I loved watching Josh and Monica look at each other. Her intense personality matched her dark eyes, and Josh looked like he was carved from the earth; he grounded her. They were truly fire and earth.

Josh is the type of man that my parents would love to see me with. He strums a guitar well enough, has the type of relaxed personality my parents thrived on, and he is nice to look at. I’d never really been physically attracted to Josh; almost as long as I’d known him he’d been with Monica. But I appreciated those qualities in him, which is why we hit it off as friends. The heat of the man sitting next to me was enough to break my view of “The Josh and Monica Love Show.”

“Hey, where’d you go?” Bo shook me out of my daydream with a warm hand on my knee.

“Ah, you know, young love.” I gestured dramatically at Josh and Monica, which caused Josh to chuck a pillow at my head.

Over the next couple of hours I learned a lot about Bo. He was in town on business for the foundation he works for. He said he didn’t want to bore us with details, but his trip had to do with fundraising. He graduated from UNH six years ago, placing him only two years older than me. Perfect. He had one younger sister, Rachel, whom he hadn’t seen in a couple of years, but his voice softened when he spoke of her. The big brother role looked good on him.

“What about your parents? Do they still live in New Hampshire?” I stroked the back of his hand, my other arm on the back of the couch.

“Uh, well, they died four years ago. Car accident.” The words staggered their way out of this throat.

“I’m so sorry.” My hand rested on top of his and gave a little squeeze.

“It’s OK,” he exhaled, “I was out of college and on my own as it was. Physically it was more of an adjustment for Rachel. She was a senior in high school and had to grow up too quickly.” His eyes focused on something that wasn’t in the room. I decided to drop it.

“OK,” Josh interrupted, “Monica and I are heading out. I’ll be in touch this week Bo.”

“K, Man, thanks. Talk to you later.” Bo got up and shook Josh’s hand.

“Ember, call me tomorrow, K?” Monica asked as innocently as possible.