Perfect for You (Short Story) (Fire and Icing) Read Free Page A

I got pregnant junior year and decided to transition to an Art degree. I had always loved art and I could do most of my courses online and turn the projects in at the end of the semester. It let me be home with Marshall while I finished undergrad and got my masters. Now I teach art at Arwen College.”
    “I had no idea you started your family so young,” Trent said. “So Marshall is…”
    “Nine,” Dawn said. “And Emmie is seven. I bet she and Beatrice would get along great. Emmie just finished first grade, too, and loves to read and play pretend and write comic books about princess dragons.”
    “Not princesses and dragons, but princess dragons,” Trent clarified, smiling when Dawn nodded. “Sounds like that would be right up Bea’s alley. She won’t touch a princess dress with a ten-foot pole, but loves dragons.”
    They talked about kids a little longer before talk turned to Trent’s bike shop and the various bike races he helped organize around Atlanta. They ordered another round and played a game of pool and Trent found himself laughing more than he had in months at the faces Dawn made as she took aim.
    “Stop it!” she finally said, laughter in her voice. “You’re deliberately trying to sabotage me.”
    “I am not,” he said, still laughing. “You just look cute with your nose wrinkled and your lip curled. Kind of like an angry badger.”
    Dawn rolled her eyes before blowing her bangs out of her face with a huff. “Angry badger. Great. That was exactly the look I was going for.”
    “Then you nailed it, baby,” Trent said, grinning. “Now hurry up and take that shot so I can finish beating you.”
    Dawn’s eyes narrowed. “You always were a cocky bastard.”
    “Was not,” he said, leaning his hip against the pool table, close enough to Dawn that he could smell the incense and cinnamon smell clinging to her long, black lace sundress. “I was shy in college.”
    Dawn snorted. “And I was the queen of France.”
    “Learning new things about you every minute,” he teased. “This is the best date ever.”
    Dawn’s breath rushed out and a frown tugged at the skin between her eyes. After a moment, she straightened, abandoning her effort to take aim on the five ball. “So this is a date?”
    “It feels like a date, doesn’t it?” Trent asked, hoping she’d say yes and, more importantly, agree to do it again sometime soon.
    Dawn’s bare shoulder lifted. “I don’t know. I haven’t been on a date in so long I think I’ve forgotten what they feel like. I’m not nearly as nervous as I usually am on a date.”
    Trent took a step closer and closed his hand around her pool cue above hers. “Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? It’s no fun being nervous.”
    “No, it isn’t,” Dawn said, but she didn’t sound convinced, and her gaze remained on the pool table. “I just…I don’t know…this is kind of weird, right? We used to hate each other.”
    “I have a confession to make,” Trent said, waiting until she glanced up at him before he continued. “I kind of had a crush on you back in school.”
    Dawn’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding me.”
    Trent shook his head. “I only kept arguing with you sophomore year to get your attention.” He shrugged. “I would have asked you out if you hadn’t already had a boyfriend. That’s how I knew Dave’s name. I did some checking around the end of freshman year. I was hoping you two weren’t serious, but…”
    He let his words trail off, watching Dawn’s expression for a sign of how she felt about his confession. For a long moment, she didn’t say a word, but then her forehead smoothed and her lips curved.
    “You know…I didn’t completely hate you, either.”
    He winced. “Well, a lack of complete hatred is a place to start.”
    She ducked her head and laughed. “No, I only meant that there was something about you.” She glanced up at him through her lashes, those long, smoky lashes that had always made her look a