“What movies do you like?” he asked.
“I’ll watch anything, but I prefer a comedy. I don’t even care if it’s a little hokey.”
“Favorite pizza?”
“If it’s on a pizza I’ll eat it. I’m really not picky. Are you keeping notes?”
“I’m making a list on my phone, so I don’t forget anything,” he said, and we both chuckled.
“Make sure you do, there’ll be a quiz at the end of the week.” I liked Tig, and I didn’t hate the idea of spending more time with him. Hopefully it lasted more than a week or two.
“Thanks again for lunch, this was really thoughtful of you,” he said, and we sat and chatted about anything and everything and nothing at all until it was time to return to work.
“I’ll see you later,” I said and after gathering everything up and tucking my ice chest away, I went back to work and tried like hell not to obsess over him.
Ten
Tig
When it was finallytime to leave, I hurried out to my truck and was surprised to see Isaac had already left. I’d gotten so involved in what I was working on, the day had slipped away. Checking the time, I thought about calling him, but hewas expecting me. And pizza, so I drove right to the only place in town that served pizza and ordered two with everything. My phone buzzed with a message, and I knew who it was without even looking.
Isaac: Where the fuck are you?
Tig: Just getting the pizza, I’ll be there soon. Is there anything else you want?
Isaac: I can think of a few things ??
Tig: I’ll be right there.
I picked up some soda and bottles of the lemonade he’d brought for lunch because I wasn’t sure I wanted to drink beer and work tomorrow. One of the joys of not being twenty anymore that I tried not to dwell on. After loading everything into my truck I drove the short distance to his house. That was something I did sort of miss about living here, nothing was too far away. But as a teenager it was suffocating and made me want to leave as soon as I was able to get out. It felt like everyone knew everything I did, or if they didn’t, they thought they did.
Isaac’s house was one of the small homes that all looked the same and were owned by the same landlord. They were all kept nice and most of the people that lived in them had lived here when I was in high school. The street was quiet as I pulled up to his house and after adjusting the pizzas and drinks in my arms, I hurried up to the door. As I was standing there trying to figure out how to knock, the door flew open.
“Get in here, I’m starving,” Isaac said as he simultaneously grabbed the pizzas and kissed me. “What did you get?” He set the boxes down on the counter, opened the box and rubbed his hands together like an evil villain that was planning on taking everything.
“Save some for me,” I said, drawing a laugh from him. He took a slice out and after taking a bite, held it out for me.
“This is so good, thank you,” he said before kissing me again.
“Thank you. Did you figure out what we’re watching?”
“Yes, well I have a few for you to choose from.” He took out two plates and put three slices of pizza on each before pouring us both a glass of lemonade. We carried everything to the living room and sat on the couch using the coffee table to eat from. “Now, are you in the mood for scary or funny?”
I took a bite of pizza and thought about it for a moment. “How about something scary and then something funny?”
“Perfect,” Isaac said and turned on the flatscreen. “I saw this advertised and thought it might be good.” He played the trailer to a movie about a group of people who go looking for their friend and end up trapped in a haunted hotel where they die every night but come back to life the next day.
“It’s likeGroundhog Day,” I said.
“What’s that?” Isaac asked.
“It’s an old movie. We can watch it next if you want.”
“Sure, I’m up for anything,” he said before making sure I saw him look me up and down.
“Oh, I know you are,” I said, not even taking the time to deny it. He’d made his feelings very clear, but I appreciated he respected what I wanted too. No matter how hard it was turning out to be.
He grinned and leaned in for a kiss before starting the movie which turned out to be a murder fest with lots of weird monsters sprinkled in. It wasn’t great, but it was entertaining, and we laughed at some of the scenes that were meant to be scary but really weren’t. By the time it was over we’d eaten both pizzas and were relaxed against each other on the couch.
