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I lifted my head to look at him.His blue eyes held a sparkle as they met mine, and I felt like I’d just had my first kiss.“What are we doing, Donovan?”
He moved his hand up a little more, burying it in my hair.I closed my eyes as his fingers tenderly teased the long strands.“Do we have to answer that right now?Because all I want to do at the moment is just be with you.Like this.”
With lines like that, he was going to kill me.There was no hope, no way to defend myself when his words were melting me into a gigantic puddle of slush.
“We don’t have to answer right now,” I said a little breathily, opening my eyes again.“Please, just kiss me again.”
The slow smile on his lips made my heart beat faster.“I can do that.”
Chapter12
Donovan
Wrappedin my thick black coat, a scarf around my neck and wearing my thickest jeans and boots, I left Nan’s house to meet Nova for our date.
I’d asked Nova on a date.
I’d also spent most of the afternoon with her on my lap, kissing her, and it was the best fucking afternoon I’d had in ages.
Was I right to kiss her knowing I wouldn’t be staying around for much longer?Maybe not.But I couldn’t help it.The time I’d spent with her was showing me I could still care about people, and that day, I’d seen her take my nan from heavy with grief to light and relaxed with just an apron, some Christmas music, and a lot of cookies.When Nova had sat chatting with my parents as easily as if they had never lost contact, I knew I was screwed.
Gorgeous, kind, unassuming, sweet...I’d just wanted to be close to her.And now we were going on a date.I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous about it.Maybe because I hadn’t been on an actual first date in three years.Some of that was due to the global pandemic, most of which I’d spent in New Zealand, but even since then, there hadn’t been a single person I’d wanted to take out.I’m not going to pretend there weren’t a couple of one-nighters along the way, but as for dating...there had been nothing.
I was about to head down Nova’s path when she opened the front door and stepped out.She was wearing a long black coat buttoned all the way to the top and those damn knee-highs again.She also wore a black hat with a bobble on the top, which would be needed in the almost zero-degree temperature.It had been unbearably and unusually cold for the last couple of weeks, but I was getting used to it now.
Nova smiled as she walked towards me, her keys in her hand occasionally glinting as they caught the glow of the streetlights.
“Hey,” she said as she reached me, where I stood just beside her car.
The pause was awkward.We’d spent all afternoon kissing, but we weren’t exactly together, and yet this was a date.Was I meant to kiss her in greeting?Did she expect me to?
Get your fucking shit together, you dick.
I leaned down and lightly pressed my lips to hers.“Hi.”
She smiled up at me, the now-familiar blush on her cheeks.“Shall we get going?”
“Sure.”
Once we were in the car, Nova started it up, making sure the heater was on, and I said, “Do I get any clues as to where we’re going?”
She shook her head.“Nah.I’ll just drive.I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
She turned out of our street onto John Nash Drive, a name I’d learned after getting the town bus with Nan several times when I was unable to drive.The long street was deserted, aside from one man walking a dog.His pace was quick, like he was in a rush to get out of the cold, and he puffed out wisps of breath as he hurried along.
“Is your nan okay?”Nova asked, glancing at me.
“Yeah.The nap did her good, and she seemed much brighter when she woke up.”
Nova nodded.As I glanced at her profile, I knew what she was thinking.The rigidity in her shoulders told me exactly what was on her mind.Of course it was.It had been on my mind too when Nan had woken up.Did I tell her what happened with Nova, or just say nothing for now?It was a very short debate since I didn’t know where any of this was going.
“She doesn’t know we kissed, but she does know we’re going out for a drink and not just one of your Christmas tasks,” I told her.
She nodded again.“It’s really helpful that you know what I’m thinking without me asking.”A grin crossed her face.“I wasn’t sure if that was a weird question.”
“It’s not weird.I didn’t know whether to tell her either.I just told her you’d spoken to Mum and Dad and that you and I decided to go out tonight.”
“What did she say?”
