I blinked and gently shook my head.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I pulled my phone from my pocket. We both started walking again as I unlocked my phone and read the message.
ELLIOT: Come to me. I have a job for you.
I rolled my eyes and swiped the message away, switching my phone to silent so I wouldn’t have to hear it go off again. I tucked it back into my pocket.
“I guess we’d better get started on everything you were talking about, huh?”
He looked down at me as a slow grin pulled at his lips. “Yeah, I guess we’d better.”
We traveled through downtown Chicago at night, doing nothing but talking and walking at our own pace as the city moved quickly around us. When we got hungry, we bought a street taco from a food truck so we could eat as we keptwalking. We didn’t have anywhere specific in mind. We were just wandering free. We talked about our pasts, our futures, we laughed, joked, and flirted. The city was beautiful with all its lights. I couldn’t help but feel like I was living in some romance movie.
As the night grew later, the temperature dropped. We grabbed a hot chocolate from a vendor and decided to take a seat on the Memorial Fountain. I turned to face him.
“I’ve had a really good time with you tonight.” He took my hand in his. His words made me smile.
“I’ve had a really good time too.”
“Do you think that maybe you’d like to do this again?” He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I mean, not this exact thing, but go out with me again?”
I smiled at his nerves that were suddenly showing through. “I think I would.”
“Yeah?” he asked, smiling as he was starting to lean in.
“Yes,” I giggled just as his hand moved up to cup my cheek.
He was only an inch away when he whispered. “Can I kiss you now?”
I couldn’t speak. All I could do was nod.
He was slow at getting that close, but the last inch was nothing. In the blink of an eye, his mouth was against mine. His lips were soft, and his tongue was gentle as it slid into my mouth to dance with my own.
The second I felt his warm tongue, the butterflies in my stomach came alive. My abs tightened, and the junction between my legs began to throb. I wondered when my body started to react that way because I’d never felt that ache until Elliot got his hands on me. Suddenly, all I could think about was Elliot and how I wished he were as sweet and as kind as Chase.
I knew Chase would never say the things to me that Elliot would. I knew that Chase would never spank me or demand thatI kneel beside him completely naked, all so he could ignore me. But during that kiss I was sharing with Chase, I realized that all the things I hated about Elliot were also the things that turned me on the most. I had a good time with Chase on our date. And I was even enjoying our kiss, but the reaction from my body wasn’t because of Chase. It was because of the things that Elliot had started and not finished.
Realizing that, I felt dirty. I had been taking all of the needs that one man had caused me to feel, and I was trying to find another to fill the void.
I was cheapening the whole night, the whole memory. What would happen if I did end up marrying Chase? In twenty years, he’d be telling everyone how he knew I was the one when we shared our first kiss in front of Memorial Fountain, and all I’d be able to think about is how he was falling in love while I was thinking of another man.
I slowed the kiss and pulled back, breaking it. I saw the depth in his eyes when they opened and locked on mine.
“It’s getting late.”
He nodded once. “I’ll walk you home."
And he did, just as sweet as ever.
That only made everything worse.
ELLIOT
She saw my text. I knew she did because I could see the read receipt, but she didn’t reply to it, and that pissed me off. I thought she was doing so well, but there she was, not even answering a simple text. How were we ever going to move to the next level if she insisted on breaking every rule I had in place?
I waited twenty minutes, thinking that maybe she was busy and would attend to it soon. After that time had passed, I sent another message.
ELLIOT: Come to me NOW, Evelyn.
