Rum Spring by Yolanda Wallace Page B

anything like this.”
    “Neither have I.”
    Dylan turned to face Rebecca. Did Rebecca just say what she thought she said? “What about Tobias? What about your family?”
    “I don’t know the answers to your questions.”
    Dylan kissed Rebecca on the tip of her nose. “So let’s figure them out together.”
    Chapter Five
    The night Dylan turned eighteen, she watched The Age of Innocence, Martin Scorsese’s 1993 period piece starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis as ill-fated lovers in 1870s New York.
    “Who is that?” Rebecca asked when the actress appeared on screen.
    “That,” Dylan replied, pleased Rebecca was impressed by one of her favorite actresses, “is Michelle Pfeiffer.”
    “She’s beautiful.”
    “If you think she looks good in this, you should see her in Batman Returns. The scene where she licked Michael Keaton’s face in the alley made me want to run out and buy some heavy-duty white thread, some latex, and a sewing needle. Before that movie came out, I thought the perfect Catwoman had Julie Newmar’s playfulness and Eartha Kitt’s purr. After the film was released, I realized no Catwoman could be complete without Michelle Pfeiffer’s lips.”
    Rebecca reached for another handful of popcorn. “So when do I get to see that one?”
    “I’ll rent it next weekend.”
    “You don’t have it already?” Dylan’s movie collection, housed in a built-in bookcase that doubled as an entertainment center, took up nearly an entire wall of her room. “It looks like you have a copy of every movie ever made. How could there possibly be one missing?”
    “Batman Returns was okay and Catwoman’s part of it was terrific, but the Penguin’s backstory kind of turned me off. The writers spent half the film developing it and it didn’t really go anywhere. Or, at least, not far enough. If there’s a villain, I want to love him or hate him, not feel sorry for him.”
    “I love how excited you get when you talk about movies. Your whole face lights up.”
    “That’s because you’re here.”
    Dylan hoped the comment would lead Rebecca to step out of her comfort zone and share her feelings for once. She didn’t have to tell Dylan she was madly in love with her or anything, though it would have been nice to hear. Instead, Rebecca changed the subject.
    “What do you want to do for your birthday?”
    “I’m doing it.”
    “Watching a movie you’ve seen a hundred times?”
    “No,” Dylan replied, bumping Rebecca’s shoulder with her own. “Spending time with you.”
    “But don’t you want to do something special?”
    Dylan bumped Rebecca with her shoulder again. “I am.” When she noticed the funny look on Rebecca’s face, she paused the movie. “What did you do?”
    Rebecca looked sheepish but didn’t say anything.
    “Rebecca.”
    “Your parents told me they want to take you to dinner and I kind of said we didn’t have anything planned.”
    Dylan grimaced. “Please tell me you didn’t do that.”
    “Sorry, I did. Is that a bad thing?”
    Normally, Dylan didn’t mind family time, but this group outing would take away from her time with Rebecca. She didn’t want to make Rebecca feel worse than she already seemed to, though, so she tried to put a positive spin on things. “I’ve finally convinced Mom and Dad that Chuck E. Cheese is no longer my first choice for dining out, so it should be okay. And I’m sure being cooped up with me can’t be your idea of fun.”
    “I don’t care what we do when we’re together as long as we’re doing it together, but I don’t want to keep you from doing the things you normally do.”
    “You aren’t keeping me from anything. Don’t ever think that way. I want to be with you every moment of every day. When something or someone gets in the way of that, I get a little upset. I don’t mean to be so selfish or to sound like a stalker, but I live for these moments with you. I want them to be perfect.”
    “They are. I want to share my life