3. Sylvan

3

SYLVAN

I rolled my eyes. Of course Irving would know my cousin. Of course . With two book lovers like that, it would be impossible for them not to find each other in a town as small as this.

"How interesting," I said, struggling to mask my disdain. "They'll be so disappointed to find out the match didn't work out, then."

"Yes, they will. They've had such success with it in the past, but I suppose failure is inevitable, even when one has a natural talent."

"This is going to hurt." I sighed, pursing my lips while I thought about how to let down my cousin easily. "We could…no, you would never agree to that .

"What?"

"Well, you could come home with me for the night. And then," I added quickly, "you could go home in the morning and we would never have to speak again. At least it wouldn't ruin my cousin's night, and maybe that would salvage the rest of the date since I was a whole 10 minutes late."

I waited for Irving to say no, but he remained silent for at least a minute. When he finally spoke, his answer surprised me:

"All right, why not? No one can say that we didn't try, at least."

"Well, then," I said, flustered, "let's go. I hope you don't mind getting your trousers a little wet."

"Excuse me?"

"From the grass," I explained. "I haven't had the heart to cut the grass around my cabin for quite some time. I believe it would be considered overgrown now, but I think it adds charm to the field. It does obscure some of my flowers, though, which is a shame. I love my garden even more than I appreciate the grass and clover. Anyway, we must leave before I carry on for much longer or we'll never get out of here. Come, let's say goodbye to my cousin."

Irving got up from the table, taking a moment to smooth out his suit and button up his jacket. He followed me to the front desk where my cousin awaited us eagerly.

"Leaving so soon?" they asked.

"We're going to my cabin." I smiled and gave a wink for good measure. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, eh, cousin?"

"Of course. Have a pleasant night."

"Oh, I'm sure we will –" A poke to my ribs cut me off and I glanced back at Irving, offering a nervous smile as an apology for whatever I'd said that annoyed him so much.

As soon as we made it outside into the cool night air, the stars twinkling above us, Irving groaned. "I hate lying to people I like – to anyone, actually."

"It's hardly a lie, though, is it? We're going home to my cabin where we shall, well, we shall do what many other adults like to do."

Irving turned to face me, his green eyes flashing with anger behind his glasses. "You can't be serious."

"Of course I am. I'm not going on a date with someone like you without getting anything out of it."

"Well, I can't speak to what habits you kept with your previous partners, but I'm certainly not having sex with a man I just met."

"Then I'm not taking you back to my cabin." I glanced back in the library doors, ensuring the Librarian couldn't hear us arguing, but they were busy scribbling away in a notebook without a care in the world, so I turned back to Irving, who had crossed his arms over his chest like an insolent child. "I thought we were going to turn the night around and make it fun after a rocky start," I continued. "I see now that I was wrong."

"I suppose we should part ways here, then," Irving said. "You can tell your cousin all about the date tomorrow like you planned."

"I thought you didn't like lying," I shot back.

" I'm not the one who will be doing the lying. This was your plan, therefore you get to see it through."

I huffed and turned around so that I didn't have to look at him anymore. I wasn't about to be the first one to leave the parking lot, so we stood like that for several minutes before I couldn't stand it any longer and turned around again.

"Look, if we don't go through with this now, we'll never know if we might have worked out together. I'm willing to give it a shot if you are."

Irving let out a long, annoyed exhale. His eyes said he was over this already, but he merely shrugged. "This will never work, but I'm tired of arguing. Let's go. I'll stay the night, but I will not have sex with you, no matter how much you think I want to – I don't."

His sudden willingness surprised me, but I tried my best to hide it. I wasn't the kind of man to be taken aback by unpredictability, even by someone who otherwise seemed so predictable.

"All right, I suppose I can live with that compromise. I hope you don't mind a long walk."

"How long are we talking?"

"Well…" I hesitated. "An hour or so."

Irving grunted.

"The view is lovely," I added quickly.

"It's 8:00 at night, we can't see the view," he said through gritted teeth. "Ugh, never mind. Let's just hurry so we get back to your cabin before sunrise."

"Oh, it won't take–"

" Come on. "

I cleared my throat and took a stride forward, Irving following me close behind. "You are a gem, aren't you? I have no idea what my cousin saw in you, but there must have been something."

"And what if there wasn't? What if this is all an elaborate ruse to put one or both of us in our place?"

"My cousin would never do that. You may know them as your former student, but I grew up with them, and there's not a tricky bone in their body. No, they saw something." I shook my head. "I only wish I knew what it was."