Chapter 11

He smiled and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road back toward town. He felt Carrie snake her hand into his.

“I saw the way you were looking at it, and I couldn’t resist. I’m sure it will look great on you.”

After a moment of looking at it, Carrie closed the box, set it carefully behind her seat, making sure it was secure and wouldn’t blow out on the way back, and then rested her head on his shoulder.

Rob’s eyes looked toward her when she did this, and he caught a glimpse of her right breast from that angle and saw a flash of black lace. She’s wearing the sexy one, he thought.

As he once again felt himself starting to get hard, he thought of how much he wanted to take her, to possess her, to pull off her clothes and make her see fireworks. He loved touching her breasts those few times, but held himself in check, not wanting to push things.

When she’d rubbed his crotch during that one particularly hot and heavy make-out session he thought he was going to cum in his pants.

I think we need to talk, he thought. Soon.

“Hey babe, I’m glad you liked dinner. When I said I’d make Italian, I’d hoped you’d be okay with chicken alfredo versus the traditional red sauce. I mean, I love red sauce, but Alfredo cooked from scratch, mmmmmmmmm good, ya know?”

Rob was looking over at her as he finished his piece of garlic bread. He was mildly concerned. Carrie just didn’t seem to be herself tonight. At first, he wondered if it was the food choice, but no, she seemed to really like Alfredo. Still, it was like she was ... distracted. Ah, Rob thought, maybe she got her period. That could explain it.

“I’m gonna’ clear these dishes.” He stood up, and saw there was some garlic bread left over, but noticed she was making signs to get up. “No no ... I got them this time. You finish up the garlic bread. I hope it wasn’t too cheesy.”

Rob wasn’t sure what to do next. He wanted to spend more time with her, but maybe she either wanted or needed to cut the evening short. Well, let me try something, he thought. If she wants to cut out early, she can just say so.

“Can anything ever be too cheesy? It was all so delicious! Thank you.”

As he rinsed and then placed the dinnerware into the dishwasher, he said, looking over at her, “So, any idea what you’d like to do tonight? Watch a movie? Or do you wanna go out, maybe out 197 to St. Mary’s River, you know, we could even fish a bit if you wanted.”

He saw that she had that pensive look again about her. He was about to ask her what was on her mind, perhaps even use the “Penny for your thoughts?” cliché.

“Do you think maybe ... would it be okay ... if we just sat and talked?”

Balls, he thought. Now I get it. “It’s been fun, but, I don’t wanna’ get too serious” and all that. He’d heard it before, and bet that that was what was gonna happen next.

He walked over from the sink, drying his hands on a dish towel, then sat down across from her again. Figuring it might be the last time that he did so, he reached across the table and took her hands into his. His confidence level was shrinking, but remembering his lessons from the war, he gutted it out and put on a good face.

“Sure! I like talking with you! Whatcha’ have in mind?” He painted a smile on his face and saw Carrie take a deep breath.

“These past seven weeks have been great. You have done so much for me that I can’t even begin to thank you. That night we met, that was the first time I had been out in public for six months.”

Rob nodded and squeezed her hands gently in acknowledgment.

“You have made me start living my life again, and your friendship means so much to me.”

Rob felt the blood in his body turn ice cold. FRIENDSHIP. There it was, he thought. The single word that topples relationships.

To keep the smile from fading, he had to speak.

“Babe, it means a lot to me too. I never expected to find someone here in town, I mean when you look around ... you know what I mean. Nice people, still. And then I found you.”

And now she looks confused. What the fuck? Maybe she’s just trying to be sweet, fuck if I know, he thought more to himself.

“This might sound strange, but I’m not sure what it is we are doing.”