Arousing Love, a teen novel by M.H. Strom Read Free Book Online

union of flesh that makes someone
married in God’s eyes. I’m telling you this because the world
treats sex like a thrill ride at an amusement park, but sex is
something special. Jesus said, ‘What God has joined together, let
no man separate’. There’s never anything casual about it.”
    Why is he telling us this? Does he think
we’ve had sex?
    I looked at Joanna. She was looking at me and
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I hadn’t heard any of this
stuff before. No wonder Christians make such a big deal about
sex. But it kind of makes sense that God would give us a natural
way of marriage. We always add our own stupid rituals to
everything.
    Joanna was still looking at me. Is she
thinking how close we came to being married in God’s eyes? What if
we’d actually done it? I realized, with surprise, that the
thought didn’t scare me. In fact I liked the idea of being married
to her. Maybe I really am in love.
    Her father continued. “If you’re not ready
for the whole deal of marriage, and babies, and everything else,
then don’t even get started with the sexual stuff. And you’re not
ready yet, even if your bodies think you are. When you have
feelings for each other, your bodies go crazy with hormones.
Nature’s job is to make us procreate. That’s what attraction and
sex is for on a basic level, to make babies. Nature battles against
us sometimes, and it can be hard. Our souls seek a soul mate and
our bodies seek to procreate. You need to be wise and self
controlled, and not put yourself in a place where nature might
overcome your commonsense.”
    Joanna was blushing again, and her father
sighed. “I don’t mean to embarrass you, but I know the world
doesn’t teach these things. The world says sex is just a fun thing
to play with, but sex is more than just an exciting game to play,
and who you have sex with really does matter.”
    “What you’re saying makes sense,” I said
cautiously. “The world always lies about everything.”
    Joanna was looking at me strangely again. She probably thinks I’m just saying it to look good to her
parents.
    “There’s only one truth, Zach. Jesus said, ‘I
am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father
except through me.’ And only his truth can set you free.”
    It was too much. I just wanted him to stop
talking.
    “I should probably get going.” I stood
up.
    “Okay, well you’re always welcome to drop by
and have a chat with us, and if Joanna’s around, you can spend some
time with her while you’re here.”
    “Okay. Thanks for dinner.”
    Joanna stood up too. “I’ll show you the way
back,” she turned to her father. “Is that alright, Dad?”
    He frowned then nodded.
     
    We walked some distance from their campsite
before Joanna turned to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know he’d lecture
us like that.”
    “Is he a preacher or something?”
    “No, not really.”
    “At least we can keep seeing each other.”
    “Yeah.” She smiled. “Thanks for talking to
them. I know how horrible it must’ve been for you.”
    “Yeah, your dad’s okay, though. At least he
speaks the truth.”
    “You believe it’s true?” She looked
surprised.
    “Yeah, I think what he said is true. You
know, I realized something else . . . . ”
    “What’s that?”
    “The thought of being married to you didn’t
actually scare me.”
    Her face lit up. “Me either! I was thinking
about that too.”
    We stood there grinning at each other.
    “I should get back to my parents. I don’t
want them worrying about us.”
    “Hey,” I grabbed her hand as she turned to
go. “I love you.” My words were heavy with emotion. It was such a
powerful thing to say and really mean it.
    “I love you too.” Tears welled in her eyes.
She blinked, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
    I caught the salty tear with a kiss, then my
lips moved to hers, kissing her with all the love I felt for her, a
love set free from my intellect trying to convince me it