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22
Kelly
The last few days were nothing short of a full-fledged, all-men-on-deck assault. But in the very best way possible. When Darren told me he didn’t want it to just be friends, he was serious. It wasn’t just about wanting to get in my pants or even just prove we were still attracted to each other. That sounded ridiculous, but it wouldn’t be the first time I encountered a man who had his masculinity bruised by me saying I just wanted to be friends rather than pursue anything else and decided he was going to restore his faith in himself by seducing me. Whether that was really to prove it to me to have the final say or to keep himself looking good in his guy friends’ eyes was always up to interpretation.
But that wasn’t what was happening with Darren. There was definitely heat and intensity in the kiss he gave me. It was even more than the night we met. That was just instant lust and adrenaline. Birthday drinks gave him a bit more liquid courage and the knowledge I was leaving in the morning made me want something to mark my last night in the country. It was impulsive and heady, but it was incredible. The kiss he gave me in the garage was more. There was something behind the touch of his lips and sweep of his tongue. There was promise in them and tenderness in his fingertips as they stroked my neck. He was telling me far more with that kiss than just that he didn’t want to keep pretending we were nothing but professional anymore.
And it didn’t stop there. Darren didn’t intend to just have that one moment with me. He was fully dedicated to making sure I knew what was on his mind. The kiss took my breath away and immediately sent my desire for him skyrocketing, but there was something even more alluring about his careful attentiveness. He didn’t just want my physical attention. He wanted to show me I mattered to him as well. The sweet gestures of leaving me snacks in my locker and keeping me full of coffee might have seemed minor to other people, but they were precious to me. I felt recognized and acknowledged. I felt special and valuable in a way I never really had with other men. Darren was willing to take his time and not put any pressure on me, and that was incredible.
“Can I walk you to your car?” he asked a couple of days later.
It was the end of an extremely long day, and we’d stayed almost two hours later than we usually did so we didn’t lose momentum. Two of the other guys stayed with us so we weren’t alone, but now we were ready to go, and they had already drifted out. Darren stood at the open door to the garage, and I nodded.
“Sure,” I said.
We went to the lockers, and I got out my things. I couldn’t help but notice Darren watching me as I took off the coveralls I’d put on over my clothes because I knew I was going to get exceptionally greasy that day. There was still another layer of clothing on underneath, but it didn’t stop his eyes from flickering away like he had a moment of shyness. When I had everything, he led me through the complex in a leisurely stroll. Rather than just following the usual path that we took like we were going to lunch or leaving for the day, he brought me to another part of the field, so we had a little longer walking together.
Bright purple flowers covered this section of the field like a carpet, vibrant in the glowing late-evening light. As we walked through, Darren reached down and scooped a handful of the flowers up. He held them out to me, and I felt myself blush. No one had given me flowers in years, and the fact that they were wildflowers somehow made it even better. He didn’t just go off to a store and buy plastic-wrapped roses because they were what everybody got. The purple flowers made him think of me when he saw them, so he picked them and gave them to me.
They gave me a dreamy feeling all the way to my car and back to my apartment. I brought them inside and settled them into a coffee cup full of water. I stopped thinking about them much as I made dinner and gave Willa her bath. But they suddenly came back to mind when I tucked her into bed and read her a bedtime story. As soon as she fell asleep, I went into the kitchen and got the flowers. Bringing them into the living room, I set them on the coffee table and sat on the couch to stare at them.
