Her voice unsteady, she whispers, “Wow.”
My hands squeeze her hips to ground myself. “Yeah, me too. Wow.”
“So…” Her voice is soft and a little uncertain. “What happens now?”
Letting out a breathy laugh, I try to cover my nerves. “I don’t know.”
Holding her a little closer so she can’t misunderstand, I say, “I know I don’t want to pretend that we didn’t do that and go back to acting like we’re only friends.”
Her eyes soften. “Good, because I don’t think I could either.”
The tension I was feeling in my chest eases, replaced with something warm and light.
“So, we figure out these feelings we have. Together.”
She lets out a breath and mirrors my grin. “Together.”
“I guess the first thing we should do is go out on an actual date.”
“A date?” She scrunches her nose. “Really?”
“Yes, I’m sure you have heard of the concept,” I tease, trying to lighten the moment. “I’ll plan something we will both enjoy and pick you up at your door. We will have an amazing time and make plans to do it again. I’ll bring you home and hope you kiss me good night.”
“Sounds enticing. I’ve never been on an actual date before.”
“I haven’t been on many myself.”
All my recent “dates” lean a little more towards hookups, to be honest, but that doesn’t seem relevant to this conversation.
“What about with Lily?” she blurts out. Her eyes widen instantly. “Sorry, that’s none of my business. Forget I said anything. I know you don’t enjoy talking about her, but I don’t know why. Oh, God, stop talking.” She drops her head onto my shoulder and mumbles, “Fuck my life.”
“It’s okay.” Slowly rubbing my hand up and down her back, I say, “When Lily and I were together, we were very young. We did more hanging out than actual dating. So, what do you think? Would you like to go on a date with me?”
She sits back up and pecks me on the lips. “Okay,” she agrees.
“Leave it to me. I will make all the arrangements. How does tomorrow night sound?”
“I don’t know, Ryan.” She rears back and shakes her head, then chuckles. “That’s kinda short notice.”
“Do you want to check your calendar?” I play along. “Maybe you have a better offer?”
“Nah. If I did, I would cancel to spend time with you.” Raising her eyes to mine, she says, “We’re kind of doing things out of order, aren’t we?”
“How so?”
“Well, we just had our first kiss,” she says, going back to play with the ends of my hair. “We’ve had more than one sleepover. You saw me at my very worst when I was sick. You’ve even met my crazy ex.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t change anything about our origin story.”
“Not even me stonewalling you this past couple of weeks?” She drops her eyes to my chest.
“I didn’t love that part,” I confess. Placing a finger under her chin, I tip her head back up so she will look at me. “I don’t want you to shut me out. I’m hoping you will learn to trust me.”
“I’m working on it.”
Given her history with Braden, I know trust won’t come easy. I’m willing to do the work so she knows I won’t let her down.
“The one positive thing that came out of the distance between us these past couple of weeks is that now I know what I feel for you is real,” I confess as I cup the back of her neck.
