Chapter 39
Herry rasped his knuckles on the door to Opal's house and stepped back to wait for the answer. Rain pattered gently on his head and speckled his white shirt. When an answer did come his jaw dropped. The stunningly gorgeous girl in front of him looked down sheepishly, tapping the toes of her flats together. That dress, it made him want to run his hands up and down the curves of her sides. For once her blonde curls didn't look like she had just been standing behind a jet engine, they were controlled into perfect ringlets, dozens of them bobbing against her shoulders.
"You look beautiful," he told her and when she peeked up trough her eyelashes his stomach fluttered.
"You don't look so bad yourself," she said quietly and then added with a smirk, "for being in jeans."
"What?" he looked down at his dark wash jeans, "They're the only thing I had."
"I don't have a hard time believing that," she smiled and started for his truck.
"They're really not that bad, right?" he asked in sudden urgency, turning after her.
She laughed, looking back to shake her head with a smile that froze the breath in his lungs, "They're fine."
She climbed into his truck and looked out her window to him, still standing in the middle of the walkway to her front door. In prompt she raised an eyebrow. Herry shook his head and hopped over to his truck. Opal kept her gaze cast out the window to hide the grin she couldn't suppress. She watched the gentle rain fall as Herry pulled off from the curb, sad the weather was begging to turn more and more unpleasant as the wet winters of the British Columbia coast started to roll in.
The roads around the auditorium were thick with vehicles and people when they arrived. Herry drove through the parking lot several times over before he snagged a lot at the back.
"Sorry I couldn't find a spot any closer," Herry said, rubbing the back of his neck as he switched off the vehicle.
"Don't worry about it," Opal said with a warm smile, letting herself out.
"You ready?" Herry asked after he rounded his truck to join her.
"Um-hum," she nodded. The rain was only a slight nescience to walk through. It did give a refreshing aura to the air. As they navigated their way through the packed parking lot Opal studied Herry as she twisted her hands together. He was watching the cars and the people closely as he lead her to the auditorium. She bit her lip and hesitantly reached out her hand to slip into his. He startled slightly and looked down at his hand. A warm smile tugged at his lips while he happily he entwined his fingers with hers.
Together they slipped inside into the foyer and filled through the admission line to stand. It opened into a much more comfortable sized room, people moving freely instead of jammed elbow to elbow.
"Do you know where to go?" he leaned down to ask over the constant bubble of conversation, "I've never been here before.
"This way I think," she tugged on the sleeve of his white button down, rolled up to his elbows. He snatched up her hand again as he followed her, together they weaved through the crowd to the auditorium and then down to their seats. She flicked through the program while they waited.
"Have you seen this before?" he asked her as she studied the names of the performers.
"Not Tchaikovsky, but I have been to symphonies before. Doubt I have to ask if you've been."
"Nope," he smirked and shook his head.
"Thanks a bunch Herry," she sent him a bright smile. Sitting though a classical symphony would be more than worth it for that smile.
"No problem."
"I owe you," she said, "We can do whatever you want next time we go out."
"There's already a next time?" he sent her a smirk.
She flushed and looked back to her program with a smile.
"How about sky diving?" he offered as if it was as casual as a movie.
Her smile dropped and her face turned as white as a sheet. She brushed her knuckles over her lips and looked to the stage in silence.
He laughed and said, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what you'd say."
She finally blinked and looked back to him, "You were kidding?"
"Did I get you?"
"Yeah," she exclaimed and reached up a hand to brush her bangs from her face. She fell back into her seat with a sigh and said, "Oh, thank god… or is it thank gods?"
"You'd do it if I really wanted you to, wouldn't you?" he said, smiling as he realized.
"Umm, I don't know, when it came time to actually jump I don't know if I'd chicken out or not," she said and narrowed her eyes in thought, she shuddered after a moment.
"I can't believe you even thought about it," he said, smiling wide. He couldn't believe it, he had expected her to turn down the offer immediately, not start her mental preparation. He found a girl that would jump off a plane for him.
"So what do you actually want to do?" she asked.
"Would you go rock climbing with me?"
"Yeah, I could do that," she nodded after slight consideration, "I'd like it if you took me to a wall like they have at the school's field house before an actual cliff, if that's cool with you."
"Yeah, of course."
"Oh, I don't have any equipment."
"I have tons," he told her, "and you can probably borrow Atlanta's shoes, I'd think she'd be the same size as you."
"Kay," she said with a warm smile and reached out a hand to squeeze his wrist, "This relationship, or whatever we have, it's going to be good. I'm going to try a shit ton of stuff I never would have thought of trying before." He returned her smile without even realizing.
He smirked and said, "And I'm going to learn a hell of a lot about music." She giggled and slipped her hand down from his wrist into his palm, interlocking her fingers with his. He kept watching her when she turned her attention back to the stage, smiling to himself as he ran his thumb along hers. This relationship they had already was good. Together they would be more than good, they'd be excellent.
He tried to stay engaged with the music when the orchestra started to perform the symphony, but it was flat out dull. Throughout the performance Opal would lean over and tell him about the technicalities in the effects of the music. He liked it when she'd do it, she always leaned close to him, put her hand on his arm or his shoulder as she whispered in his ear. Her breath was warm and tickled his neck in a pleasant way.
When the intermission came she turned to him and asked with calculating eye, "Do you like it?"
"Yeah," he said, looking to the stage as he did.
She smiled and said, "I won't make you go to any more. Maybe we could hit a concert for our next music date. Country, we'll both have fun."
He looked back to her and sighed with a crooked grin, "Am I that bad a lying?" She shrugged and sent him a mocking smile.
"I've always wanted to write a symphony," she told him as she dropped back into her seat, spreading her hands out wide through the air in front of her, "That's what I want to go to school for, composing, so I can finish the one I've started."
"Oh," he said in sudden realization, "Is that what you're always doing in class when you're scribbling in that notebook?"
"Yeah," she replied sheepishly, withdrawing her hands to twist together under her chin.
"You've written your own music?" he asked with impressed wonder.
"Lots," she said.
"But how do you know what sounds good together?" he asked.
"How do you know English?" she gave him a one shouldered shrug, "I don't know, that's the best thing I can compare it to. It's like writing a story." He nodded, but it cleared up none of his confusion.
"Can you play me something you've written sometime?"
"For sure," she smiled, she bit her lip and her heart raced as she added, "I'll play you one of the pieces I've written that you inspired."
"What?" shock plastered itself on his face like the splatter from a paintball gun, "You've written things about me?"
"Mmm-hum," she nodded, grateful for the dimmed lights of the auditorium hiding the blush on her cheeks. Before he could press her further on the topic the lights in the room faded and a Master of Ceremony came out to close the intermission. Herry found it marginally easier to enjoy himself for the second half. This Tchaikovsky guy, he wrote this whole thing for every single instrument involved. How long did it take to write one of these, make all of the different noises sound so good together? He found a small glimmer of appreciation for it, but that still didn't make it any less boring.
At the end, after the applause died down, there was a scramble of bodies shuffling down aisles and to the bottleneck of the doors. Herry pressed his hand against Opal's lower back and helped guide her through the traffic. She was grateful for the gesture and let him decide the path they took back outside.
Stepping out into the evening they found a downpour. Rain flowed down heavy from the sky, striking the continuous puddle that once was the parking lot. Opal groaned and hunched her shoulders watching the splashing of people rushing through the water to their vehicles, jackets pulled up over heads. Herry took her hand and started running off into the torrential rainfall, dragging her along with him. Even with the running they were soaked through not halfway to the truck, water gushing in their shoes with each step.
"Hurry up Herry," Opal pulled on the locked handle of the passenger's door, her teeth chattering.
"Why, are you cold?" there was a playful rise in his voice.
"Yes, open the door," she demanded and watched him though the cab of the truck, when he stepped away from the door she yelled his name.
"Come get the keys if you want it open," he called and rattled them.
"Herry," she yelled. He laughed and took off into the field beside the parking lot. She screamed his name again and followed him, shoes sinking into mud. He stopped and held the keys out to her, when she caught up she lunged to snatch them up, but he simply lifted them above his head.
"Hey, how do you expect me to get those?" she yelled, reaching up to wrap her hands in the crook of his elbow. She pulled down with all the strength she had, but he didn't budge an inch.
"Is that all you got?" he asked tauntingly.
"Just give me the keys," she whined and dropped her hands. He giggled and slipped them into his pocket, she jumped to jam her fingers into his jeans, but he tugged them away.
"Kiss me and I'll give them to you," he told her, cradling her hands in his.
"You'll have to come down here," she stood up on her tiptoes to meet him halfway, hands still tucked in his. She pulled back after only a quick peck and looked to him expectantly.
"Not good enough," he reached under her arms and pulled her up off the ground. Her heart started to pound when his lips locked onto hers. Her mind whirled when he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and ran his tongue over it. This was not going to be a like the kisses they had shared before, she was terrified she wouldn't know what to do. She let him ravish her, following his deep and hungry lead. A cold fire ignited in her stomach and its flame licked up her spine.
Her worries slowly evaporated, all that mattered was him drinking her in. His arms firmly wrapped around her, easily supporting her weight. The warmth of their bodies pressed together, biding off the cold touch of the rain streaming down her skin. She moved one hand up from his shoulders to the back of his head, pushing him down on her harder. She had to pull away when the fire in her core threatened to explode. They were both gasping for breath when she broke it off.
"Umm, that was better," he managed to breath out.
"I'll say," she replied and he set her back down to the mud. Letting his hands linger on his biceps, observed the curves of his cut body under his clinging white shirt. There were moment when she looked at him and saw what an attractive man he was, and they baffled her, how could she go from finding him adorable one minute and then sexy the next. Her breathing hitched and she looked up to him, his hair weighed down by the rain, falling in those chocolate eyes, his full lips parted slightly as he panted. And he was back to adorable.
She looked down to herself to see the curves that her own dress clung to, what about her body did he like. She wasn't nearly as fit as he was. She swallowed hard and looked back up to ask, "Why do you want to be with me? Shouldn't you be with someone more in shape than me?"
"What are you talking about? You're beautiful," he said.
"No, that's not what I meant," she said, "Shouldn't you be with someone who could have hiked that mountain with you?"
"But you did hike it with me."
"Not easily."
"Opal," he said and took her face in his hands, "I like you. You're fun to be with and you're beautiful. So just shut up, alright. Can we make this official?"
She bit her lip and nodded, a crooked grin pulled at the corner of his lip.
"So, do you want the keys still?" he reached into his pocket and held them out to her.
She smiled and snatched them up, turning to run back to the truck. He watched her go, seeing her body as a woman's. The fabric of her dress clung to her curves, accentuated her hips. Her defiant curls kicked up a fight against the weight of the rain, refusing to be restrained. She jammed the keys into the passenger door and quickly unlocked it to scurry inside. She leaned over to place the key in the ignition and the engine came roaring awake. She fiddled with the consol for a bit and then opened the door again.
"Herry come on, I don't know how to turn the heat on," she stood to lean over the door and yell, and then she tucked herself back inside the cab away from the rain. He smiled inwardly and strolled over, the rain panging against him and the water coursing down his skin barely registering.