Sweet Imperfection Read Online Free Page A

Jew, but it was different when it was his wife, whom he was supposed to be able to trust, making a life-altering decision for both of them. Alison wouldn’t have told him about it at all if he hadn’t found out and confronted her.
    He needed to put all of that behind him and consider the possibility of trusting a woman again. Maybe that’s why he felt so buoyant with Emma. She knew him, knew his faults, his embarrassments, and his ’fro tendency. And she didn’t judge or try to change him. She seemed to like him the way he was. He only hoped he could convince her to give them a chance to like each other in a different way.
    As engrossed as he’d been in the movie, he couldn’t get away from the scent of her—some summery floral scent that pervaded the air and made him want to bury his nose in her hair and stay there forever.
    They walked in silence as they dropped down onto West Street, on which sat a row of red-brick buildings that housed most of the freshman and sophomore classes during the school year. He had lived in Ashworth 9 his freshman year with a New Yorker named Cory, whose extracurricular activities tended toward smoking pot and flirting with every female in sight. Emma had lived one floor up with that annoying blonde girl, Brooke. He didn’t know if he and Emma had seen each other before, but he vividly remembered that Sunday brunch early in the fall when they’d talked for the first time. Campus dining hadn’t opened until eleven on the weekend, so if you were up earlier than that, you were out of luck or maybe consigned to ramen in your room. Nate had made it a point never to wake before eleven—Sunday or not—if he could help it. He almost hadn’t gone down to brunch that day, had thought about snacking on Bugles and Peanut M&Ms while playing some Grand Theft Auto . The ideal way to laze away a Sunday. But Cory had cajoled him into going downstairs and across the courtyard to the dining hall. He had admitted waffles and scrambled eggs, even if they were mediocre dining hall ones, were better than junk food.
    He had sat down next to Cory and a girl named Tallulah he’d recognized from his film class. Plopping down at the round table next to her was the cutest girl he’d seen so far as a college man. “Aren’t you in my Intro to Film class?” she’d asked. “Yeah, you’re the one who sleeps through every film. I was going to tell you to keep your snoring down.”
    He’d grinned at her sassy mouth and shot back some inane response. They’d been friends ever since. He’d been mildly disappointed when he’d found out she was dating someone—the editor of the school paper, he seemed to recall—but not surprised. Of course she’d been taken. She was the ideal woman. Pretty, smart, quick with a good-natured rib. Independent. Even if it seemed she always had a serious boyfriend, she never let him interfere with her friendships or studies. He had started dating a sociology major later that semester, so the attraction thing was off the table.
    Now it all came painfully close the surface. They weren’t kids anymore, and he knew how to ask for what he wanted. Still, he felt like an inexperienced adolescent as they approached the dorm building where he was staying. Hers was the next one over, but he hoped he wouldn’t need to walk her home. They paused under the lamp in the small courtyard outside the double-door entrance. Now was the moment. Nate swallowed his sudden tide of nerves, excitement, and insecurity and put his hand on her arm, keeping her close.
    She’d been laughingly recounting her favorite part of the movie, but her laughter died away when he touched her.
    He took a deep breath. “I’m going to do something I’ve wanted to do for fourteen years.” He bent his head down and kissed her before he could lose his nerve, before the opportunity passed. As their lips met and he felt the warmth of her mouth under his, he wanted this moment to keep going forever. So he made the kiss