Crazy Sweet Love: Contemporary Romance Novella, Clean Interracial Romantic Comedy (Flower Shop Romance Book 3) by Marisa Logan
Authors: Marisa Logan
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considering how tight my pants had been the past few days. All of the Easter candy on the various tables didn't help much either. I consoled myself by saying that it didn't count, since it was a holiday. Jesus would have wanted me to have some chocolate.
After lunch, people started dividing the kids up into groups for the Easter egg hunt. They divided everyone by age. The pre-K kids were brought down to the playground, where the plastic eggs were scattered about mostly in plain view to give them an easy time of it. Some of the slightly older kids, TJ included, were brought to a little patch of trees between the pavilion and the parking lot, where the eggs were at least a little bit harder to find.
While the kids were having their fun, I spotted something I hadn't thought about for years. “Hey,” I said to Tom, tugging on his arm, “come check this out.”
“What's up?” he asked, following along.
I led him to the edge of the tree line where a few pine trees grew close together. I searched for a minute to find the right place, then lifted one of the lower branches, revealing a path to the interior. I led Tom inside, and we found ourselves surrounded by pines that mostly blocked us from view. We had to duck down to avoid banging our heads on more branches, but the growth was sparse on the inside.
“What's this?” Tom asked. “Your secret garden?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No. It was my favorite hiding place here when I was a kid. Here, look.”
I pointed to one of the trees, where two hearts were carved into the trunk. “Kimmy did this one,” I said, pointing to one that read “K.L. + J.H.” “It was the first girl she had a serious crush on. They sort of dated for awhile when she was like, fourteen. When she carved this was when she first told me she liked girls.”
“And this one?” Tom asked with a smile, pointing to the other heart. It read “Irvine 4 Ever.” “Who was 'Irvine'? Childhood crush?”
My face turned bright red. “Oh God. Sort of.”
“Sort of?” His smile widened.
“Well,” I said, “it's kind of embarrassing.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, prodding me gently in the shoulder. “We all have silly crushes when we're kids. When I was thirteen, I was madly in love with my social studies teacher.”
“That's perfectly normal.”
He stared me down, grinning. It was clear he wasn't going to let up. “So, who was Irvine? Boy at your school? Teacher? Online friend?”
I looked away, laughing at my own foolishness. “Actually...he was a video game character.”
“Oh.” Tom stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing.
I laughed as well. “Look, he had this cowboy thing going on, and it used to get me all hot and bothered, okay?”
We had a fit of giggles for a few moments. “It's okay,” Tom said. “I'm sure he was no more unobtainable for you than Mrs. Stevens was for me.”
He reached out and his fingers brushed against mine. I clasped his hand and looked up at him. My giggles started to subside, leaving me feeling warm and energized. Our eyes met.
Then he kissed me.
He pulled me close in the cramped confines between the pine trees. I reached up and cupped his face in my hands. His lips were soft and his chin rough with just a bit of stubble. His arms wrapped around me and held me close. We shared a moment there, under the trees, like I hadn't experienced in a very long time.
The moment ended when we heard some kids racing by and shouting. We pulled apart, both smiling and laughing. I peeked through the branches to see if we'd been caught.
“Wow,” I said.
“Wow, indeed.” He held my hand, studying my face as if seeing me for the first time all over again.
We didn't talk about it right then. It felt best just to savor the moment. Though by unspoken agreement we decided to slip back out of the trees and rejoin the group before anyone noticed we were missing.
As we were circling back around the pines, Kimmy caught sight of us. I looked at her,
After lunch, people started dividing the kids up into groups for the Easter egg hunt. They divided everyone by age. The pre-K kids were brought down to the playground, where the plastic eggs were scattered about mostly in plain view to give them an easy time of it. Some of the slightly older kids, TJ included, were brought to a little patch of trees between the pavilion and the parking lot, where the eggs were at least a little bit harder to find.
While the kids were having their fun, I spotted something I hadn't thought about for years. “Hey,” I said to Tom, tugging on his arm, “come check this out.”
“What's up?” he asked, following along.
I led him to the edge of the tree line where a few pine trees grew close together. I searched for a minute to find the right place, then lifted one of the lower branches, revealing a path to the interior. I led Tom inside, and we found ourselves surrounded by pines that mostly blocked us from view. We had to duck down to avoid banging our heads on more branches, but the growth was sparse on the inside.
“What's this?” Tom asked. “Your secret garden?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No. It was my favorite hiding place here when I was a kid. Here, look.”
I pointed to one of the trees, where two hearts were carved into the trunk. “Kimmy did this one,” I said, pointing to one that read “K.L. + J.H.” “It was the first girl she had a serious crush on. They sort of dated for awhile when she was like, fourteen. When she carved this was when she first told me she liked girls.”
“And this one?” Tom asked with a smile, pointing to the other heart. It read “Irvine 4 Ever.” “Who was 'Irvine'? Childhood crush?”
My face turned bright red. “Oh God. Sort of.”
“Sort of?” His smile widened.
“Well,” I said, “it's kind of embarrassing.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, prodding me gently in the shoulder. “We all have silly crushes when we're kids. When I was thirteen, I was madly in love with my social studies teacher.”
“That's perfectly normal.”
He stared me down, grinning. It was clear he wasn't going to let up. “So, who was Irvine? Boy at your school? Teacher? Online friend?”
I looked away, laughing at my own foolishness. “Actually...he was a video game character.”
“Oh.” Tom stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing.
I laughed as well. “Look, he had this cowboy thing going on, and it used to get me all hot and bothered, okay?”
We had a fit of giggles for a few moments. “It's okay,” Tom said. “I'm sure he was no more unobtainable for you than Mrs. Stevens was for me.”
He reached out and his fingers brushed against mine. I clasped his hand and looked up at him. My giggles started to subside, leaving me feeling warm and energized. Our eyes met.
Then he kissed me.
He pulled me close in the cramped confines between the pine trees. I reached up and cupped his face in my hands. His lips were soft and his chin rough with just a bit of stubble. His arms wrapped around me and held me close. We shared a moment there, under the trees, like I hadn't experienced in a very long time.
The moment ended when we heard some kids racing by and shouting. We pulled apart, both smiling and laughing. I peeked through the branches to see if we'd been caught.
“Wow,” I said.
“Wow, indeed.” He held my hand, studying my face as if seeing me for the first time all over again.
We didn't talk about it right then. It felt best just to savor the moment. Though by unspoken agreement we decided to slip back out of the trees and rejoin the group before anyone noticed we were missing.
As we were circling back around the pines, Kimmy caught sight of us. I looked at her,
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