16
Cole
My mouth is on him as soon I could get my lips on his. I paced back and forth behind my door the moment that text came through, with him telling me to kiss him anytime I wanted to, and I wanted to kiss him in that exact moment. I wanted to kiss him all the damn time. I’m sure he didn’t mean for me to come pounding at his door at eleven at night, but his words were going off in my head like a broken record, and they wouldn’t stop until my mouth was touching his again.
I don’t even bother with shoes when I head over across the way. I regretted that once the cold floor went straight through my socks as I stepped outside. I didn’t care, though. I knock on his door, not expecting him to answer so quickly, but man, am I glad he did.
His scent wraps around me like a beacon. His coconut shampoo almost has me pulling away from him. Wait, what are the chances he has the same shampoo as the stranger from the party? And why do I keep calling James a stranger when I know his real name now? Maybe it’s because even though I have a name, he still is just a stranger, and I don’t know if that is even his real name. It’s just a coincidence, Cole. Don’t think too much into it.
I go back to sinking into the intensity of the kiss and caress his tongue with mine. I’m not sure I can pull away, but I know I need to. I want so badly to break the first date rules and pull him into his apartment, straight to his room. It takes everything out of me to pull away, but when I do, I almost dive back in for more. When he suggests a way to make our date better and follows it up by putting his hands in my pants, I almost lose all the restraint I had left, which wasn’t much.
I shake my head before removing his wandering hands. “I want to—god, Danny, do I want to—but we can’t. I want to do this right. I really like you, so I’m going to say goodnight and head back to my place before I push you onto your couch and take you right now with the door left wide open. I’ll see you tomorrow for our second date.”
He is still just standing there staring at the obvious bulge in my sweatpants while licking his lips. I tilt his face up to meet mine and press a kiss to his temple. “Good night, Danny.”
I feel his eyes on me again as I head back to my place. I almost collapse my body against the door once I enter my apartment, trying to recover from that kiss. Now I get all those cheesy songs about having shaky legs and weak knees and shit.
Tomorrow could not come fast enough. I’m already planning our next date in my head. I shoot him a text really quick, asking what type of movies he likes, and he answers quickly.
Me:Favorite kind of movies?
Danny:Romantic comedies, horror movies, pretty much everything.
Me:Great, I’ll buy our tickets tonight. That way, we can head that way after lunch—that is, if you want to start our date that early.
Danny:Yeah, lunch and a movie sounds good. I’m free all day tomorrow.
Me:Great, let’s go with a romantic comedy then. See you tomorrow, beautiful.
Danny:Goodnight, handsome.
Man, the things this man did to me. Things I didn’t know I could feel. I head for my room and close my eyes as soon as my body hits the mattress. I fall asleep quicker than I thought I would with thoughts of my and Danny’s kiss going through my mind.
* * *
My eyesopen to the room no longer being dark, which tells me it must be the morning already. That first taste of coffee wakes my taste buds, sending satisfaction from my mouth to my stomach. Buzz. My phone goes off on the counter nearby. I pick it up to see Paul’s name on the screen,
Paul:So how was the first date with your neighbor?
I shake my head, knowing that I probably need to stop telling Paul everything, but he’s such a nosy bastard.
Me:It went so well that there is going to be another one today.
Paul:Man, you don’t waste no time, do you?
Me:I’ve lived next to the guy for three years; I think it’s safe to say we already wasted plenty of time.
Paul:True. Well, make sure youget some tonight. In a way, it’s kind of like date three, right?
I think about that for a moment. I doubt me running into him at the diner the other day on New Year’s Day counts as a date, but hey, if Danny counts it, I won’t try to argue with him over it. I turn my attention back to my text from Paul.
Me:Worry about your own sex life.
Paul:Why, when your life is so much more interesting than mine?
Me:Not more interesting than your interest in someone like Melanie.
I set my phone back on the counter, wondering if Danny is having breakfast right now or if he even eats it. Not everyone is a breakfast person or an early riser like me. I reach for the cream cheese from the fridge and spread it onto my toasted bagel. The first bite reminds me of how hungry I am. I always feel like I haven’t eaten in days in the mornings. I was definitely a breakfast person. I was also a lunch, dinner, and snacks-in-between type of person whenever I had time to be. I swallow the last bite of bagel before heading to my room to get dressed for our date. I’m going on another date with Danny, and time seems to be moving in slow motion. I doubt I will be able to keep my hands off him for long.
