Read Online My Daughter's Boyfriend by Cydney Rax - Free Book Online Page B

a dozen bargain book tables. We pored over just about everything, from exotic cookbooks to celebrity biographies.
    “My dad wouldn’t want to read about Paul Reiser.”
    “How do you know?” I asked.
    “Because Paul Reiser is not Aretha Franklin.” He smiled and held up the Queen of Soul’s autobiography.
    “Okay, now, what about this book on the history of African-Americans? It has some fabulous photos. And look here, your mom might like this one on decorating.”
    “Okay,” he said and grabbed the books.
    I was shocked, embarrassed. Acted like I was picking out gifts for my own folks, but Aaron didn’t say a word. We waited in line until he got rung up; he signed the credit card slip, and grabbed his merchandise.
    “Now what?” he asked, looking at his watch.
    “You got to be somewhere?”
    “Nope. You?”
    “No,” was my gentle reply.
    “Then let’s go around the corner and check out a movie. Come on, let’s go,” he said.
    “Aaron, I don’t know about that, it’s—”
    “It’s time out for excuses, Tracey. I want to cheer you up. Get you away from it all, from sitting around the house hoping that Steve Monroe might call. Steve ain’t gonna act right. Bump Steve.”
    “But Lauren—”
    “Lauren ain’t thinking about you or me. She’s at the sleep-over having fun and hanging out with Regis and her crew. Ain’t nothing wrong with us going to the movies. I mean, if there is, let me know and we can part right now. I’ll go back to my lonely apartment and hang out with my roomie Brad, if he’s even there. And you’ll just go home and look at sad-ass tearjerkers on cable.”
    I broke into a grin and gave a swift and unbelieving shake of my head. And even though I was sure he saw me shaking my head, I wondered if he could tell that my soul was also shaking from deep within.
    TEN MINUTES LATER I WAS SO NERVOUS I didn’t notice what movie he picked. Even though I wasn’t hungry, he took the initiative to order hot buttered popcorn, a large Coca-Cola, and plenty of Good & Plenty. Aaron led us down the aisle and let me sit in the chair near the wall in a dark movie theater. The film had started fifteen minutes before, but Aaron kept glancing at me. Made me blush. I liked that attention, yet I felt weird being with him. I wished I could totally relax, but I really didn’t know how to achieve that.
    If only this were Steve sitting next to me, and making me feel the way he was supposed to, the way he used to, then maybe I wouldn’t have felt so edgy, and maybe I could let go of fear.
    Aaron didn’t seem to be having as tough a time as I was. While he looked at the movie and laughed or commented to the screen, I just sat there going through the motions. I was in the movies, yet I wasn’t. At that point, where we were didn’t seem to matter.
    About halfway through the flick, at the part where a couple began making love, my hands started perspiring. I cast my eyes away from the screen to the chair in front of me. Aaron glanced at me again. I felt his arm go around the back of my chair.
    “You doing okay?”
    “I—I’m fine.”
    “Yes, you are,” he said with gentle respect.
    “Aaron,” I objected, but warmed inside at his wonderful attention.
    “I’m not flattering you. Just telling you the truth,” he said, like he could care less about my little protests.
    I felt foolish. Wouldn’t hurt to be gracious.
    “Well, thanks. I need that.”
    “Hey, did you guys come to the movie to watch it or to hold a conversation?” remarked a loudmouth moron sitting behind us.
    Aaron draped his arm across my shoulder and smiled me into a smile. He then surprised me by giving me an exaggerated hug. I’m sure he did it to annoy the people behind us, but I was also wondering if he put his arm around me because he simply wanted to.
    Once the movie ended, he walked me to my car. I drove him to another area of the parking lot so he could get his. I wasn’t surprised when his car followed mine to my