John Matthew Is My Hero

A couple days ago Tracy posted the list of the heroes the newbies chose. Just so you don’t have to go back and check, here are the ones I picked:

Marc “Hunt” Hunter from Unlawful Contact- Pamela Clare
Hardy Cates from Blue-Eyed Devil- Lisa Kleypas
Kev Merripen from Seduce Me at Sunrise- Lisa Kleypas
David Masters from Wed Him Before You Bed Him- Sabrina Jeffries
Spike from A Man in a Million- Jessica Bird
Nick Romeo from Romeo Romeo- Robin Kaye
Julian Sinclair from The Duke of Shadows- Meredith Duran
Devin Freedman from What the Librarian Did- Karina Bliss

Let me say this was not an easy task. Take all of the heroes of all the books you’ve ever read and narrow your favorites down to eight? Is that even possible?! Apparently it is because all of us managed to do it.

Complicating matters was the fact that we could not pick a hero that was already on the Island. And there are a lot of darn good heroes on the Island. In particular, my problem was John Matthew from the BDB. You see, if I could have only taken one hero to the Island with me it would have been him. He’s my hero.

(Sorry LesleyW if I’m putting you on the spot since he is in your hut!)

I don’t mean my in a possessive way, but I can be a little… er… obsessive, and now that I’ve started the story I might as well come out with it.

I am so in love with John Matthew that I took an ASL course last spring. (Phew! That’s a load off my chest).

Of course, when people asked me why I was taking the course I always said it was because I couldn’t stand to take one more year of Spanish, but really that’s just because “I’m in this course because I’m in love with a mute ass-kicking fictional vampire from a romance novel” was an awkward conversation starter.

But besides finding out I’m actually pretty decent at ASL, some pretty good stuff came out of that class. Like I met a guy… a really great guy… let’s just call him John ;)

Somehow early on John and I had managed to get stuck in the friend zone. We were in what seemed like an endless cycle of fruitless flirting, tutoring sessions where no studying got done, a dinner that couldn’t be called a date and still neither of us could seem to work up the courage to make a move. I was starting to go a little crazy.

After our final exam he invites me over to his apartment. Finally, I think, one of us is making a move. Yes!

Um, no.

What do we do? We watch TV. Well, he watches TV, and I get bored and play with his cat. Two hours later, frustrated beyond belief, he drops me off at my house.

I may not have made a move before then, but I am not one to take things lying down! I marched over to his side of the car and stood there until he opened the window.

“John, this is finals week and this could be the last time I ever see you, so are you ever going to kiss me or not?”

A bit dramatic maybe. I was probably a sight, all 5’4” standing on a street corner, hands on my hips demanding to be kissed.

Pause. I’m sure my face is red now. Maybe I should have done this where there was an escape route?

Finally he gives me a sheepish look. “I didn’t want to take things too fast.”

Heart melting… though at that pace we probably would have gotten together in 2012 just in time for the world to end.

And then we kissed.

It was one of those kisses that throws you for a loop. The kind that reminds you of when you were sixteen and every first kiss was new and amazing. It sinks to your toes and you float home on cloud nine. The kind of kiss that reminds you of how amazing just kissing and being around someone can be.

In the end I was right- that was the last time I ever saw him. But that was a great note for us to end on.

Now, if it hadn’t been for John Matthew, I wouldn’t have taken that class. And if I hadn’t taken that class I wouldn’t have meet John. And if I hadn’t meet John, I wouldn’t have had that kiss.

Thank you, John Matthew. You are my hero.