"Could we find somewhere to sit? Do you know someplace with like, benches, and a fountain or something?"
He sips at an Icee, less of an Icee and more of a blend of colored sugar and foam because the machine is on the fritz.
Keeps asking he if I want some.
I give in, the idea of our tongues hooking onto the same straw
Slurping up the same brownish slush
Makes me warm.
I know it shouldn't,
that it's wrong to feel this way.
Back to the question,
"You mean like James Street?"
I answer, laugh
Then regret it.
He gets embarrassed
When I point out silly things he says.
He thinks I'm smarter than him.
He's too brilliant for that to be true.
He smiles and turns away his face,
Shyness, feigned or maybe not,
"I should have known that."
We go there now, that place it feels like I've been to hundreds of times with him
But realistically it's probably a few dozen at most.
I tell him it's alright, stop blushing.
So here we are, where we used to sit in a summer long past
I thought I could be with him forever,
Deep and premature infatuation
Though still lingering and creeping back into my fore-mind at the worst times
I feel that something's crept back into his as well.
He's acting nervous,
Keeps saying things and getting embarrassed for no reason.
My chest empties,
I think two years ago
I'd be happier with this.
But it's now.
When I'm home I drift to sleep with one question swimming in my head--
How many people can you love at once?