Lost Era 05_ Deny thy Father - Jeff Mariotte [92]
“I waited for you to come out,” Felicia corrected him. “But it took so long, and the others were leaving. And then when you did come out, you went the other direction. You didn’t even try to catch up to us.”
“I thought if you wanted me around, you’d wait,” he said. “I guess maybe I was wrong.”
“Maybe,” she echoed, nodding her head.
“And then, on the moon. After that dinner, remember? I wanted to take you out under the stars and tell you then. But you went out with Estresor Fil instead. And after that, it seemed like you two were doing so well together, I didn’t want to get in the way.”
“Estresor Fil is sweet and kind and was gutsy enough to say what she felt,” Felicia told him. “Which you’re a couple of years late with. We’ve had some good times, she and I. We enjoy each other’s company. We like to be together. But what we have isn’t a romance, and it won’t ever be.”
“I thought…”
“I know what you thought, Will. Or I think I do. I also think you’re emotionally stunted. You don’t know what you want, and once you figure that out you don’t know how to pursue it.”
“I thought we were here to talk about your qualities, not mine,” he said with a weak grin.
“There’s a time for everything, Will,” she shot back. “You’re making me miss my class, I get to tell you how I feel. Fair’s fair.”
“Okay,” Will relented. “Go ahead. Let me have it. I deserve it, I know.”
She took to her feet again, as if this would be easier standing up, and started pacing before him. “Will, you’re a nice guy. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re frequently very sweet. You’re easy to look at. I like you a lot. But you’re so dense sometimes I can’t stand it.”
Will knew he was opening himself up, but he had to ask. “Dense?”
Felicia laughed so hard she actually snorted. Will would have enjoyed it if the sound didn’t make his head hurt so much. When she had composed herself, she wiped a tear away with the back of her hand and stood in front of him. “Look at me, Will. Am I unattractive?”
“Not at all,” he answered truthfully. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known.”
“Do I have any kind of objectionable odor? Any unsanitary or unsightly habits you know of?”
“Besides the snorting thing when you laugh?” he teased. “Of course not.”
“So it’s safe to assume that if I had wanted a boyfriend or a girlfriend during my time here at the Academy, I could probably have had one.”
“I suppose.”
“Especially since I’m not too emotionally naďve to go out and look for one, if that’s what I wanted.”
“You could put it that way,” Will admitted.
“And yet I don’t,” she pointed out.
“No, you don’t seem to. Not if Estresor Fil doesn’t count.”
“She doesn’t count.”
“Then I guess the answer is that you don’t. What was the question again?”
She lowered herself to her knees, now, in front of Will, and put her hands on his knees, looking right into his eyes. “The question, Will Riker, is just how long did you expect me to wait around for you?”
“For me?”
“Did I say ‘dense’?” Felicia asked, smacking his knees with her palms. “I meant impenetrable! The planet’s crust isn’t as thick as you, Riker!”
“Wait,” he said, slowly catching up. “You were waiting for me?”
Felicia covered her face with her hands. “Just don’t ask me why!”
“But that means… you…”
She pushed herself up on his knees again, bringing her face level with his. “I’m crazy about you, Will. I always have been. But you kept walling yourself off, closing yourself away from me. You hid from me for, what was it, six months? I would have said something but I knew you weren’t ready. I had to wait until you could make up your own mind, or you’d spend the rest of your life wondering if I’d pushed you into something. I wonder if there’s a Starfleet medal for extreme patience in the face of idiocy.”
A sudden vision of Trinidad clinking glasses with him at the bar flashed into Will’s mind. “Oh, no,” he said. “Speaking of pushing