My Next Partner Will Lie Beside Me & Discuss a Good Book

I’ve always yearned to lie beside the man I love and discuss a good book.  To me, the mere idea of it feels romantic.  Intimate.   Even arousing.

No man I’ve cared for thus far, my ex-husband included, enjoyed reading books.  Sure, they’d scour over a newspaper or the odd motorcycle  or hunting magazine.  But when it came right down to reading an actual book – fiction or a non-fiction – it was brushed off off as ‘unmanly’ or ‘uninteresting’. 

It’s not that I didn’t try – sometimes I practically pleaded with them to read.  But I’d hear:

“Ohhhh, but it’s so big.”

Or:  “Just sum it up for me real quick.” 

Or:  “Are there sex scenes? Naked pictures?  Does someone get killed?”

So I’d resort to placing it obviously on their nightstands.  Unmistakable.  A flashing reminder:  READ ME!

Yet there they always remained.  Untouched.  Unopened.  Collecting dust.

So I gave up and accepted.  I told myself, “Lots of men don’t like to read.  It’s a personal choice, Delaine.”

But you know what? 

It always kinda hurt.

And now…now, as I think about what qualities I want in my next partner, that romantic, long-ago vision returns.  It’s not that I’m expecting an English professor – it’s just that I’ve learnt quite enough about dirt bikes, hunting and fishing.   

 I want the sharing, the communication, the stimulation of a like-spirited partner – on all levels.  I want connection, attentive ears, thoughtful responses, maybe even a good debate.  I want to watch him scour the pages as he ventures to the same place I eagerly roamed.

Yeah…

I want a partner who will lie beside me and discuss a good book.