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Alenca thought she was dealing with her crush pretty well, all things considered. Sure, Vadeyn Milirose was in two of her classes, and they were in the same club, which made avoiding him impossible, not that she wanted to. They were friends. Just friends. Vadeyn was the kindest man she’d ever met – kind and compassionate and gorgeous, too – there was no way he was single.
(She might have been afraid of asking.)
Still, she thought she was handling and hiding it well. She was sitting at a table on campus, having just gotten out of another gruelling lecture, and was eating lunch with a few friends – but then they started giving her looks.
“What?” she finally asked, throwing down her plastic fork. They burst out into giggles. No help.
“When are you going to do something, Alenca?” one of them finally asked, trying hard to hide her smile. “You practically went starry-eyed after he said hi to you this morning.”
Alenca didn’t bother trying to deny it, because yeah, she did swoon a little on the inside. Faced with soft-looking brown hair and bright green eyes and the gentlest smile, how could she not? Instead she groaned, covering her face with her hands. “Is it that obvious?”
The chorus of responding yeses only made her groan louder. If she looked up, they’d be looking smug, for sure, so she kept hiding her face.
“What if we paid you?”
“Yeah, like – “ there was a brief pause. “Would you just go find him and tell him for a hundred bucks?”
As her friends laughed she could feel her cheeks burning. Either not noticing or not caring, one of them added, “If we’re paying you a hundred bucks I want my money’s worth – go and kiss him for a hundred bucks.”
There was another round of laughter, one that ended fairly abruptly, and Alenca sighed. “I’d pay a hundred bucks to kiss him,” she admitted into her palms.
Finding silence where she was expecting more good-natured ribbing, Alenca raised her head and found her friends staring behind her.
“Um,” said the voice of a mortified Vadeyn Milirose.
Alenca looked back so fast she felt her neck crack and – yep, there was Vadeyn, his face looking as red as hers felt. His eyes were locked on her. His gaze was charged with something she couldn’t quite place, but it kept her frozen to the spot even as her friends started to make their excuses for leaving. While her mind raced for something to say, to appear calm, she shot Vadeyn what she hoped was an apologetic smile.
Knowing her luck, she probably looked nauseous.
“I’m –“ she started, once they were alone, only to be interrupted by Vadeyn’s nervous, “So…”
He frowned out of reflex. “Sorry.”
“No, I…” You shouldn’t feel bad for interrupting me, was what she wanted to say, but she knew that if she let him, he’d probably just brush everything off, and then where would they be? God, he at least deserved an apology.
An apology was a concrete place to start, too, so that was where she began, doing her best to look him in the eye because, well, it wouldn’t feel genuine if she didn’t.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to hear that – “ the sudden look of shock on his face made her stop and, feeling herself blush again, she hurried to add, “not that it makes it okay, I guess – I mean, for me to be talking about you like that – like it was just some kind of cash transaction… we were just joking around.”
Vadeyn’s eyes crinkled as his frown deepened. “Joking around?”
Her “no,” was automatic when she saw a flash of hurt in his eyes. Alenca let out a quiet groan and rubbed her face before continuing, “No, no, that’s – that’s not quite right either. I don’t think of you like a joke – just the idea of being paid or paying to kiss you is – ugh.” She buried her head in her hands again, taking a few deep breaths, trying to figure out how to put her thoughts into words.
His sudden warmth next to her on the bench jolted her out of it, her attention snapping back to him, her eyes widening when she found him much closer than she expected. It was hard to focus with him right there, her focus dancing between his eyes and his hair and his lips, and, overtaken by pure infatuation, the truth came tumbling out.
“The joke was… how much I like you. And how bad I am at hiding it,” she added, looking away out of fear of his reaction, “and how little of a chance I have. It’s not that I don’t like you, or that I don’t – I don’t want to kiss you, or – “ she stopped for a moment, absolutely burning at this point, “ – or other things. Because I do. All of those. A lot. But I don’t – I didn’t want to ruin what we had, which – which telling you anything definitely would have done, considering… hell, listen to me.”
Out of words – out of air – Alenca let out a laugh. Best case, he would laugh along, and they could brush it off, or so she thought until Vadeyn reached out, gently taking hold of her chin and guiding her to look at him. Her laughter left her in a heartbeat at his touch. All rational thought did a samba out the door at the sight of his face.
“I am,” he told her, that frown gone. In its place was a smile that lit up his entire face with pure joy and adoration – it would have made her fall for him, if she hadn’t already. “And, uh,” he added, “for the record? Me too.”
Alenca had only a half-second to process what he’d said before he closed the distance between them – almost. He stopped a breath away. If Alenca had thought she was burning before, well. It was nothing compared to the sudden heat of Vadeyn’s gaze on her face, on her lips.
“Alenca,” he whispered, then smiled, then kissed her.
For all the passion in his eyes, it was gentle, almost reverent, from the way his hands cupped her face to the way his lips moved against hers. The few points of contact they had sparked shivers throughout her body and she instinctively placed her hands on his chest, seeking more. There was something about the way he touched her that made her feel adored.
When he pulled back from her, breathless, it was only to press his forehead against hers, carding his fingers through her hair to hold her close. She was too breathless to complain – and even if she wasn’t, how could she, with how he was holding her like she was something precious? After another moment, she finally opened her eyes, only to find him looking at her as if trying to commit her to memory.
She opened her mouth to say something, but she found herself faltering, too absorbed in how Vadeyn lit up, eager to hear whatever she had to say. Her happiness bubbled up from within her and she laughed, rubbing her nose against his before swooping in for a kiss, this one quick.
“Thank you,” he whispered as she pulled back, and it made her laugh again.
“Thank you.”
It was Vadeyn’s turn to steal a kiss from her. When he pulled back, he was absolutely glowing. Alenca would have been happy to sit there forever, but the sounds of nearby conversation reminded her that they were still very much in public. So, rather than claim eternal ownership of the bench, she pulled away from Vadeyn with a wry smile and stood up.
“I did say I wanted to do other things.” She let the idea settle in his mind for a moment, getting a little thrill at how he flustered at the implication, and held out her hand. “And I do know a pretty good café nearby if you want to go for a coffee…”
There was a flash of disappointment on his face that she almost missed, quickly replaced by another one of his sweet smiles as he got up to join her. “Coffee sounds good,” he said, reaching out to take her hand, “and the company sounds even better.”
The coffee wound up costing around six dollars. The two slices of cake added another eight. The way Vadeyn held her hand over the table, occasionally brushing his thumb over her knuckles – that was priceless.