The Wedding Wish

word,” he assured her, settling his own backpack in place. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long?”
    “Just a few minutes. But that’s okay. Been checking my new class schedule.”
    “For the fall?”
    “Summer session, actually.”
    “No kidding? I’ll be here too.”
    Their eyes locked for a heated moment.
    Even though it was so long ago, the memory of their first kiss seemed like yesterday. Robert bringing his ineffectual mouth to hers. Of all things, wearing braces! He’d been so inept, she’d nearly bitten his tongue. Not that he’d blamed her entirely. Even then, he knew he’d probably deserved it, as awkward in his approach as he was.
    “It’s a little warm out for coffee,” she said. “I think I’ll grab a soda. Can I get one for you?”
    “Uh, yeah. I mean, no.” He felt his temperature spike again and wondered if there was something wrong with the AC in here. Robert shifted on the bench, extracting his wallet. “I’ll get both of ours. My treat.”
    She reached in her backpack and handed him her perma-refill tumbler. “I’ve got the enviro-friendly cup. Hope you don’t mind.”
    “Very ecological of you,” he said, taking it from her.
    He quickly cleared his throat, thinking he must look like an idiot. Flustered by some ridiculous reverie more than a decade old. “I’ve got to tell you, Isabel, you look terrific. How long has it been?”
    “Oh gosh, has to have been at least…sixteen years!” She studied him a moment, then delicately arched an eyebrow. “And I mean it quite sincerely when I say you look fantastic too. Totally…buff.”
    “How was your class?” he asked, hearing his voice grow froggy.
    She pinned him in place with pretty blue eyes. “Revealing. And yours?”
    He stood so quickly, his knees knocked the table. “Uh, no, I wasn’t in class,” he said, starting to walk away.
    “Really?”
    He nearly stumbled over his own feet walking backward. “Let’s just say I had a debt to repay.” If Isabel hadn’t been in that studio, why was she eyeing him so suspiciously? Like she could see right through him, or at the very least clear down to his skin.
    “Are you okay?” she asked as he nearly collided with another student.
    He shot her a tight smile. “Fine. Just fine. Diet drink should help.”

    Isabel watched him walk away, thinking a man with his physique didn’t need to worry about diet anything . And she should know. She’d just studied him in incredible detail. He headed for the drink dispenser, glancing over his shoulder with a tense smile. Why was he on edge all of a sudden? He’d seemed just fine when they’d run into each other outdoors. Could it be he’d seen her sitting in the art studio? Practically drooling in the far recesses of the class? Isabel noted Robert had jammed her cup below the ice dispenser, but his eyes were still glued on hers. She watched wide-eyed as ice spewed forth and began to tumble over the rim of the cup.
    Robert stared down in horror at the cascading display. He yanked on the cup, but it wouldn’t budge, wedged somehow between the back of the machine and the lip of the dispenser. Something inside the ice machine started churning loudly as ice began to spit…spit…spit… past the jammed tumbler and onto the floor. Robert grabbed the cup with both hands and yanked hard, his face crimson from the neck up. Isabel glanced around the room and raced to his rescue, wrapping her hands around his on the icy cup. “I can’t move it,” he grated between clenched teeth as the machine whirred louder, burying his loafers in cascading ice.
    “I’ll help!” she called above the commotion as others in the Student Center gathered to stare. She tightened her fingers around his, leaning back to give herself leverage. “On go!”
    “Go?”
    “Ready… Set…”
    “Gotcha!
    “Go!”
    They pulled hard together, and the cup jerked free. Isabel fell back on her bottom as Robert slid to his knees beside her, and an icy avalanche ensued, pinging them both with constant fury. Robert grabbed a cafeteria tray from a nearby shelf, shielding them both from the onslaught. As he reached a hand toward Isabel to help her stand, a hefty woman pushed past them. “Excuse me!” The university worker in a hairnet with big, burly arms strode straight to the machine and hit the ice dispenser button—hard. The machine whined to a halt, and the ice assault stopped, finishing with three little spews of cubes near the end.
    “Are you