Teaching Mr. Graham

Chapter Forty

    Tatiana was drawn to the LCD towers. She watched the different faces that flashed across the screens.

    Aubrey followed and embraced her from behind.

    It felt good, being able to touch him and be held by him without having to worry about someone from class seeing them. For this brief stint in time, it felt like they were an honest to God couple. "What are some of the things you want to show me?"

    "Uh..." He paused. "All of the answers that came to mind would probably result in you slapping me. So..."

    She laughed and smacked his hands, snugly linked around her rib cage. "Earlier, you said you wanted to show me the world. Where would you start?"

    "Oh, that."

    "Get your mind out of the gutter, Mr. Graham."

    He chuckled and took a deep breath. "Where would I start? Ah...well, I'd have to take you to Toronto first. I mean, that's only right. Show you around my city so you can see my old stomping grounds. Show you the diverse culture there, the fine dining. Take you to a Raptors game. After that, I don't know. The world would be our oyster. You know? I want to show you the city of Paris at night, so you can see how beautiful the city is when it's lit up. I want to show you the sandy beaches of St. Maarten. I want to spoil you in Dubai, which is one of the most indulgent cities I've ever seen in my life. Show you the sights of Sydney, Australia, or Auckland, New Zealand, locations I've only recently grown to appreciate. Maybe have some tea and crumpets in London or visit a couple of castles in Ireland. Or we can go to Tokyo, and feel like giants. Show you some of the waterfalls in Jamaica."

    She closed her eyes and envisioned what he was describing.

    "There are areas I want to show you closer to home, even. I want you to experience the humility and love in Houston, or the turnt up craziness in Atlanta. At least once in your life, you have to stand in the middle of Times Square and just...appreciate the fact that you're there. Feel just how close-knit New York City is, then jet off to Los Angeles, which is spread out as far as any large city can be. You can come to Miami with me, see just how colorful that city is, and how sensual." He held her close. "There are so many places, so many things I'd want to show you. There's so much that I've gotten to see myself, and for the longest time I've regretted not having someone that I love to share those experiences with me. More than anything now, that is what I want."

    She turned around in his arms and looked up at him.

    "The more I get to know you, the more I feel like you are what I want." His eyes were intense, and she could see the lights from the LCD towers reflected in them. "Which is why, I don't care how careful we need to be. I don't care how watchful we need to be. I will do whatever it takes to keep you in my life. If I'm getting a little too flirty with you, and you catch me slipping, just let me know. I'll back off, if you want me to back off. Just...don't pull back from me or walk away from me."

    "I don't want you to back off," she said quietly.

    "Then what do you want?"

    Immediately, her mind summoned up memories of their makeout session from Wednesday. She wanted to feel his lips on her lips. She wanted to feel his hands on her skin. She wanted to stare into his beautiful eyes for forever, and even that wouldn't seem long enough. She wanted to be with him, truly be with him, in a way that felt carefree. She wanted to be the type of young woman that he would be proud to have on his arm. Too timid to speak all of those sentiments to him, she summed up all of those desires into one sentence: "I want to see the world with you."