Eric blinked a few times. His lips drew a firm line, that frown he made without ever turning the edges down. He drew himself up into a standing position. "No?" he asked.

"We can't get married just so we can have more sex."

"That's not why I asked! That was just a…you know...a segue. I know what I want, Tami. I want you. And I thought all this was headed in that direction. I thought we were talking about the future. About us. What have we been talking about, if not marriage?"

"It is headed in that direction," Tami said. "It's just not there yet."

He took in a breath and exhaled it while looking at his bare feet on the brown, shag carpet. "Let's finish getting dressed. My dad will be home anytime now."

Once Tami had her skirt back on, they went and sat in the rocking chairs on the back porch. Tami explained to him that she loved him and could see herself married to him one day, but she wanted to finish college first. "It's important to my mom that I do. It's important to me." She told him that she wanted to be supportive of his dreams, but she also wanted her own career. "And how can we be married and be at two different colleges 200 miles apart? I've been the pastor's daughter my whole life. I don't want to go straight to being somebody's wife. I want to be me, Tami Hayes, for a few years first."

He didn't say anything. He pushed off the porch with his bare feet, and his rocking chair bobbed back and forth.

"Don't be angry," she said.

"I'm not angry. I have no right to be angry. I'm just disappointed. And a little embarrassed."

"Don't be embarrassed. It's not like you did it in a restaurant, in front of people."

"Nah, but I put my heart on my damn sleeve and you just brushed it off like it was a stain."

"I did not," she said firmly. "And you can't brush off a stain."

"Sorry my metaphors suck."

"It's a simile, actually."

He laughed. "I don't even know why I love you so much. You break my heart and then correct my vocabulary."

She smiled. "Because you don't want an easy girl. That would bore you."

"Well, there's never a dull moment with you. That's for sure."

"Eric, I'm sorry if it felt like I was rejecting you. That wasn't my intention. I love you. We're just too young to get married."

He sighed. "I know you're just being practical. And, honestly, my dad would rip me a new one if he knew I'd proposed to some girl before I had the means to provide for her."

"I don't expect you to provide for me."

"I'm sure you don't. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't want to be able to."

He rested his hand on the arm of his chair. "I know we're young, Tami. I know that, but I just…I'm sure about you. And I want to know you're sure about me. Because I don't want to go away to college and then get some phone call one day, like I did with Lisa, just…goodbye. I found someone else. Out of the blue like that."

"Don't you feel your relationship with me is different than it was with her?"

"Sure. But I didn't see that coming."

"You don't think I'm a little bit scared too?" Tami asked. "I mean, Mo cheated on me. When I was right in the same town as him."

"You think I might cheat?"

"No. But, honestly, I didn't think Mo would cheat either. I was blind. And I think I've grown up since then. I think I can see things more clearly now. But sometimes I still doubt my own perception."

"Well, don't doubt me." He looked at her tenderly. "I know what I've got in you, and I know I'd be an idiot to risk it."

He leaned over and kissed her. When he pulled away, she noticed how unruly his hair was, still askew from their lovemaking, and she felt a sudden wave of fondness wash over her. He looked at his fingers on the arm of the rocking chair as he spoke, in a quiet voice: "Could we maybe have…you know…an unofficial engagement? I mean…like…a private understanding just between us?" He dared to look at her now. "And I'll ask officially when we're college seniors? With a real ring and everything?"

"Like an engagement to be engaged?"

"Yeah," he said. "That's a good simile."

She chuckled.

"Can we?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah. We can have an engagement to be engaged."

She was warmed to see his nervous face morph into a grin. He was leaning in again for another kiss when the porch door opened. He drew back abruptly, hit his head on the back of the rocking chair, and Tami giggled.

"Show a little more coordination, Eric," his father said. "Tami, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Tami would not like to stay for dinner. She would like to avoid Mr. Taylor's company, but Eric had eaten dinner at her house multiple times now, and she'd dined with the Taylors only once. She thought she better be polite. "I'd love to. Let me just call my parents and let them know."

"Good. I've already started cooking. It should be ready in twenty minutes. Eric, come in and set the table." And then he was gone through the screen door.

"Wait," Tami said. "He's already started cooking. Your father?"

"Yeah. My mom has a book club tonight. She won't be home until after nine." He stood. "I better get that table set."

Tami stood also. "Your father cooks?" The king of the table, who had waited for his wife to bring him everything the last time Tami visited? "Is it going to be edible?"

Eric laughed. "Sure. He's worked in the restaurant business since he was fifteen. You think he doesn't know his way around a kitchen?" Eric shook his head as he lead the way inside.