Perfect Alli: May 27, 2013

Alli:  May 27, 2013

Thor and I drove for fifteen minutes in the rain while I told him all about my future plans. I didn’t want to talk about myself. It didn’t fit into my "escape-my-life weekend." Most guys get a little intimidated by my plans, but he actually sounded interested. So I told him what he wanted to know and I tried not to think about how the conversation wanted to make me vomit.

I had no idea where we were when we ended up on another dirt road and the skies grew even darker, inundating us with a relentless waterfall across the windshield. The wipers couldn’t keep up. Thor threw the truck into park in the middle of the road, unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to me in his shirtless glory, saying, “I’d rather look at you anyway.” His eyes so dark that no pupil showed, he unfastened my seatbelt and pulled on my arm to gently draw me closer to him. “So…Alli, you’re going to be a doctor. What kind of doctor are you going to be?”

His words may have been innocent but his eyes said something completely not. Play doctor with me, they coaxed. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my eyes to the pouring rain, just to catch my thought. “My mom is a psychiatrist,” I said. I didn’t want to see his expression when he heard that. People are always unsettled by her profession. “And my dad is a neurosurgeon.”

“A brain surgeon?”

“Yes,” I said with little enthusiasm, turning my eyes back to him. He gazed at the ceiling of the truck with his head against the window as if he was contemplating something I was oblivious to. “It would be easier if I followed in one of their footsteps. They have all kinds of networks. And that’s what they want,” I continued.

“You don’t,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Was I that transparent?

“I don’t know what I want. I’ve known since I was a little girl that I’d go to medical school. It’s not really a choice I made.”

His brow furrowed and I wondered what I had said that troubled him. He reached out grasping a strand of my red hair between his fingers before tucking it tenderly behind my ear and asking, “If you could be anything you wanted, what would you be?”

“I’m going to be a doctor.”

“That’s not what I asked.” A smile etched on his face as his fingers traced my clenched jaw. “What would you be if you couldn’t be a doctor?”

This was pointless. “It doesn’t matter. That’s what I’m going to be.”

“Well…my brother is in his third year of residency out in Boston and he always says there’s not enough money in the world to make medical school worth it. The way he describes it, a person needs to be consumed with the desire to make a difference in the world or it will never happen. You sound like you’re doing it for your parents.”

“Don’t you think that you’re being a bit arrogant to assume you know me?” My words came out harsher than I intended and his hand pulled back from where it was touching my face as if I’d burned him. I don’t know what is wrong with me. Why can’t I just keep my mouth shut?

“Whoa. I guess it’s true what they say about redheads. Feisty.” His last word said slow and sexy, as he raised one eyebrow.

“Jerk,” I said, but I couldn’t help the smile that crept across my face and his cocky look made me chuckle.

“I guess that’s a sore spot. We can switch it up. Are you seeing anyone right now?”

“Would I be here, if I was?” I don’t know why I was so irritated and I needed a padlock for my mouth.

“Like you said, I don’t know you. Is that a no?”

“No.”

“So you are seeing someone?”

“No. I am not…” I began, but his lips swallowed my words.

His hand wove under my hair and curled around the base of my neck, pulling me toward him to deepen the kiss. His tongue parted my lips in a slow mesmerizing push and I flattened my hand on his bare chest, not to push him away, but to suck him closer somehow. I needed this—needed to get lost, to disappear into a world not my own. As I fantasized about this kiss leading to the middle of a dark romance novel, his hands skimmed down my body to my hips and then, without warning, Thor pulled back. He blinked as if he was trying to gain control, while I looked at him in disbelief.

“You have the prettiest blue eyes,” he said.

“Thanks.” It came out as a whimper. What kind of answer was that? I’m sitting here alone with this completely hot guy who is telling me how pretty my eyes are and for the first time in my life, I forgot how to talk. My mouth is either without a filter or not working at all.

“We should get going before I throw you down on the seat and have my way with you.”

Please! I wanted to say, but my mouth still wasn’t connected to my brain. Instead I just stared at him.

His gorgeous smile twisted brazenly. “You’re going to have to wipe that expression from your beautiful face because that’s the look that makes me want to take advantage of you.”

I smiled. I could feel the heat spread across my neck and I knew I was blushing. He flung the truck into gear again and within minutes, (I don’t know how we got there) we were in the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant. One minute we’re on a deserted road and the next we’re in some dinky little town. Did I black out?

We sat in the truck eating sub sandwiches as he told me about how he had just graduated with a degree in engineering after five years at UW and was going to the U of M for his masters. He and his brother were sharing an apartment near campus.

“How many siblings do you have?” I asked. This obviously wasn’t the same brother who was in residency. Being an only child sometimes it’s hard for me to understand the sibling relationship.

“Four, all boys,” he answered. “I’m the youngest.” Holy moly five boys.

“Your poor mother,” I said.

He laughed. “I was my parent’s last try for a girl.” He waved his hands in front of body like he was presenting himself. “As you can see it didn’t work out for them.”

“Their loss, my gain.” My mouth was working again. Surprise. I sounded like Megan.

He chuckled. “I have to head back to the Cities today, but come to my place on Friday. My brother and I are having a few people over. I’d like you to come.”

His words held promise and as we headed back to join our friends at the lake, my stomach spun with excitement. I was looking forward to the following weekend for the first time in forever.
Copyright 2014 Susan Schussler