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She sighed, turning to shoot me a glare. “Because…Max not only wanted to eat waterside, but he then wanted us to go into the bar and sit and watch a football game.”
“No,” I said, genuinely shocked. There was no fizz in making a girl sit with you and watch sports on a first date. Especially because I’m sure, she expressed her disinterest in watching.
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to the tea kettle, pulling it off the stove. “It was the most miserable thing ever.”
Her tone held a note that wasn’t joking, and guilt flooded my chest. Her ex-boyfriend always made her watch football and basketball with him, and would even get mad at her if she would read a book or use her phone during it. He made her miserable, so I’m sure tonight was truly awful.
I fled the space between us in the kitchen the second she put the hot kettle down, wrapping my arms around her, banding them across her chest. I leaned my head down, nuzzling it into her neck.
She softened after a second, muscles relaxing under mine.
“I’m sorry, Belle,” I told her, squeezing my arms a little tighter. I had to refrain from kissing her neck in this position.
Her hands reached up and tucked around my forearms, her head tilting to rest against mine. “It’s okay. But you owe me.” Her voice was light, and I sighed in relief.
“Now, please explain why you thought Jessica would be a good idea.” I moved my arms away from her chest, pinching her sides.
She shoved me away, turning until we were face to face. “The same reason you thought Max was a good idea!”
Then we were both laughing again.
After her tea was finished, we both moved to the living room, where we recounted our poor dates. How Jessica never let me finish a sentence and how Max made everything about sports.
7
Isabella
Afterourdisastrousfirstround of dates last week, both of us decided that we should actually take it seriously. If we were going to spend time on this, it might as well not be wasted.
So Monday night, Landon and I decided to talk through the qualities of potential candidates. I had three girls in mind that I knew Landon could like, and I asked him yes or no questions to help me narrow down the selection. He did the same with me, and by the end of the night, we’d made our choices.
This time, I’d set Landon up for a date at a bar so that he didn’t have to dress outside of his comfort zone. He, of course, thanked me profusely and wore chinos and a t-shirt.
For me, he set it up so that I would drive to the location instead of being picked up. Just in case anyone tried to hold me hostage to watch a football game again.
“You look great, Belle,” Landon complimented the second I came out of my bedroom. I was wearing a light blue sundress that came to my mid-thigh. It had spaghetti straps and a straight neckline. It was pretty adorable, and I loved that I had an excuse to dress up now. The date was only at a local restaurant, but I loved wearing dresses. I didn’t care if my date showed up in sweatpants; I was still going to dress nice.
“Thanks,” I said, ruing my hands over the tops of my thighs to smooth out any wrinkles. I was thankful for the late summer tan that I had because otherwise, I would be too pale for this outfit.
“Maybe I should just take you out tonight instead,” he said, and I laughed.
“Sure,” I joked, shaking my head as I went to the kitchen for some water. I was ready too early, which was normal for me.
“Call me if you need anything tonight, okay?” Landon said, appearing in the doorway.
I nodded, and he vanished. The door to the house opened and closed quickly.
The second date was definitely better than the first. Once I arrived home, I was at least not the most annoyed person in the world.
Landon had set me up with someone that contracted with his department at our firm. Apparently, they’d gotten along well enough to exchange numbers and hang out a few times.
Trent was easy-going and polite. He opened the doors for me and pulled out my chair. Most importantly, he never mentioned football or any other ball sport.
He ordered food for me after a long interview about what I did and didn’t like. It was actually pretty sweet, and what he chose for me was amazing. Since it was a Cuban restaurant, I ended up trying something I would have been too nervous to order otherwise.
I sat on the couch, lifting my feet onto the table to ease the ache there. The heels I had worn were so cute and showed off my toned calves, but they were murderous to my feet.
Turning on the TV, I decided I’d wait up for Landon. I wanted to hear about his date since I’d concluded that I’d matched him with the perfect girl.
