I Never Planned on You

by Stefanie Jenkins

  I let out a loud giggle and shrug—not my fault she sucks in the kitchen. She continues. “But in all seriousness, D, I’m proud of you. I mean, look at you…actually going on a date, and hello, that kiss last night.” She fans herself as if she’s on fire.

  I can feel my cheeks redden as I remember not only that kiss but all the others. I nod in agreement that I have come a long way.

  The waiter brings our drinks and salads. I begin to push the food around on my plate. My stomach is full of nerves, but I know I need to eat something, so I eventually take a bite. “To be honest, Hails, I’m not sure how to feel. There is something about Kyler that, I don’t know how to put it in words…”

  She quickly cuts me off. “You don’t need to put it in words because you just smiled when you mentioned his name and that, I think, is enough.”

  And Kyler did feel different, not that I spent much time around other men, but I feel different around him, as if he can make me whole and fill all the broken parts of me.

  “Can I be honest?” I ask while taking a bite of my salad, and Haylee nods. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I mean, I’ve only ever been on one first date and that was when we were thirteen. What if I’m no good at it or Kyler realizes how much of a mess I am? Then it’ll just be awkward.”

  Snapping me out of my word vomit conversation freak-out, Haylee raises her glass at me, nodding for me to pick mine up as well. “I know you are scared, but that’s how these things go. I knew Zach my whole life, but I almost threw up from nerves before our first date.”

  I let out a giggle, and she gives me a stern look back, knowing I am thinking of the time she threw up in his gym bag from the dare. Deep down, though, I feel a little bit of sadness knowing that I wasn’t here for her to calm her nerves and help her get ready.

  “What I’m trying to say is just take it one day or date at a time, okay? Now cheers, bitch—to us being back together and being able to gossip about boys and it not be my brother.”

  I go to open my mouth to interject that her stories these days do include my brother, but I keep my thoughts to myself. “Now spill all the juicy details of Lawson because I am dying to know!”

  We cheers and I fill her in on everything that has been happening over the past few weeks—our first kiss, hanging out, and of course last night and this morning’s activities. The waiter clears our plates and brings the check.

  Haylee claps her hands together after finishing the last of her drink. “Kyler would kill me if I got you good and toasted before your date, so let’s head on out and I’ll help you get ready, just like old times.”

  Old times… That catches my breath for a moment as I think of all the dates with Em that Haylee had helped me get ready for.

  She can sense my hesitation as I rise from my seat, and walks around to my side of the table and places her hands on my arms. “Whatever you are thinking—stop it. There’s no need to overthink this. He’s a good man, Dani. Zach loves the guy, and so do I. Your brother wouldn’t be okay with this if he didn’t think so, and last night the entire ride home he was giddy as a fucking schoolgirl over the thought of you two finally getting your heads out of your asses. Anyone in a three-foot radius could feel the tension between you guys. We’ve watched it go down for weeks just waiting for it to explode.”

  Maybe we weren’t as secretive with our feelings as we thought, if Zach and Haylee picked up on something between us. I guess I’m doing this—I’m really doing this. Time to go get ready for my date.

  HAYLEE HELPED me curl my hair and apply a little bit more makeup than I typically wear. I went so long with not caring about my appearance that it feels good looking in the mirror and seeing myself dressed up like this.

  I turn around to Haylee staring at me. “What? Does it look okay? It’s too much, right? Maybe this was a bad idea.”

  Haylee jumps up from where she’s sitting on my bed. “Oh no you don’t. You look amazing. Kyler isn’t going to know what hit him, and I have a feeling dinner and whatever he planned may be cut short because I’m sure once he sees you in this outfit, the first thing he’s gonna want to do is get you out of it.”

  I can feel a flush creeping up my neck at that thought. Haylee had convinced me to buy some matching sets of lingerie—“Just in case,” she joked—a set that I happened to have put on under my clothes tonight—just in case, of course. But I’m not sure I’m ready for sex yet. Kyler meant what he said last night that we can take it one step at a time, but this morning…holy shit, I had forgotten what it was like to be touched to orgasm by a hand that belonged to someone besides myself, to be craved, and now that I’ve had a reminder of what that all feels like, I’m not sure if I want it to go away.

  I apply a little bit more lip stain on my lips and fluff my curls one last time as Haylee shouts, “I’m going to check on the boys. See you out there, D!”

  Before she can fully exit the room, I call out, “Hey, Hails.” She turns to me with one hand on the doorframe and one by her side., “Thanks!” I don’t need to explain what my thanks are for—she knows. That’s the thing about my best friend: we don’t always communicate with words.

  Grabbing my purse, I smile at my reflection and swallow big before heading out into the living room.

  Haylee walks out of the bedroom first and meets me and Zach in the living room. She is looking at me funny, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. Haylee walks over to where Zach is sitting in the chair and sits on the arm, putting her arm around him while he reads something on his iPad.

  “Everything okay?” Zach asks Haylee without even looking up.

  “Yep, everything is great. She’ll be right out.”

  Okay, well, that settles the question of whether or not she was going to bail on me, but I still don’t know what’s up with that expression on Haylee’s face.

  Why am I so nervous? It’s not like I haven’t gone on dates before. I need to act cool. Be cool, Ky! It’s just a date! You guys have been out before—just this time it’s without anyone else joining us. Shit, you’ve already tasted her pussy, why be nervous all of a sudden? In the middle of my ridiculous pep talk I hear the clicking of heels against the floor, and my eyes slowly lift to see her.

  I hear Haylee whistle in the background, and I’m thankful it’s a low whistle and not her eardrum-bursting one she usually does. I don’t turn around to see their reactions. My eyes are trained on Dani, this absolutely beautiful creature walking toward me. I’m the luckiest bastard in the world for getting to take this girl—no, woman—out tonight.

  My eyes travel up her body, first noticing the black heels on her feet, and I hope one day to get her naked wearing just those. After I notice her fuck-me heels, I travel up her sexy, toned legs in skinny jeans that fit her in all the right places. Would I be a total pig to ask her to spin around so I can check out her ass? Damn! As I continue up her body, my eyes stop on her tits that are spilling out of her fancy-looking top thing. Dani doesn’t usually wear low-cut tops, so I can’t help but wonder if she is doing it on purpose just for me. Either way, I’m sure as hell not going to complain. I need to stop thinking about taking that top off and dragging my tongue along her breasts to suck on her hard nipples or I’m going to A) make this all super uncomfortable having a major hard-on in front of my best friend, B) end up taking her out here on the couch with an audience, or C) need to go back to my room and change my pants.

  I try to think thoughts of the least sexiest things…dead bugs, road kill, grandparents getting it on… Okay, that last one was definitely not necessary and makes me shiver a little, but at least it did the trick and I can feel my dick deflating and at a pretty quick rate. It works until my eyes meet Dani’s. She looks so shy right now, but she smiles big at me. A real genuine smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

  It’s not until Zach clears his throat behind us that we are both knocked out of the trance. I walk over to her, and she bites her lip, looking a little nervous. When I reach her, I place my hand on her c
heek, brushing my thumb up and down in hopes of calming her nerves. She leans into my touch.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.”

  “You look beautiful.”

  She blushes at my comment and leans into my palm. “Thank you.”

  “You ready to go?” She nods her head yes. I remove my hand from her cheek and take her hand, intertwining her fingers with mine.

  Zach stands and goes into protective-dad mode, thinking he’s so funny. “All right, you kids have fun. Be sure to have her home by 10:00, or I’ll be on the porch cleaning my gun or maybe send a search party out for you.”

  Haylee smacks his arms. “Dumbass. You guys have fun. Don’t worry about this assclown. I’ll make sure he’s nowhere near a gun or the front porch.” She rises from the seat and waves goodbye as she walks into the kitchen.

  Both Dani and I roll our eyes as we walk past Zach and head out the front door. When we get to the passenger side of the truck, I push her against the door lightly and meet her lips with mine. Her mouth opens, welcoming my tongue…and we’re back to my dick getting hard again. As our lips lock and kiss hungrily, she wraps her hands around my neck and pulls me closer. I know she can definitely feel my erection now. I pull back, knowing that if we don’t stop now, I might not be able to. When Dani finally opens her eyes, the blue is sparkling even in the darkness.

  “Sorry, I wanted to do that ever since I saw you walk into the living room.” I open the truck door and wait for her to get in.

  “I wouldn’t have complained if you had.” She gives me a devilish smirk before she climbs in and closes the door.

  I adjust my pants for what seems like the millionth time lately and walk around to the driver’s side. When determining our date, I thought about doing something fancy and heading into the city, but that might have been a little over-the-top. So I really racked my brain and came up with the perfect idea. There’s a small music festival down at the park tonight with food trucks and music. There are also some vendors too. Now that the weather has gotten warmer, there are lots of cute events put on in town.

  The ride to the park is a little quiet, but I think we both have a little bit of leftover nerves—mine brought on in hopes she likes this, and hers I’m sure are because she has no idea where we are going or what I am leading her into. I gave no hint whatsoever as to the details of our date.

  When we pull up to the parking lot of the park, she looks around, trying to figure out where we are going. Before I can tell her to wait for me to walk around and open the door for her, she gets out of the truck the same time I do. She is clearly excited to see what I have planned. I originally hadn’t planned on this being our first date, since I just asked her last night, but I remembered seeing the event posting before and was going to see if everyone wanted to go anyway. It just worked out perfectly.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see. Just this way.” I place my hand on the small of her back and lead her toward the area where the food trucks are sitting. Her eyes widen when she sees the trucks all lined up, surrounded by lights and picnic tables. On the outskirts of that area is a stage where a band is currently playing. I think they’re local, playing country music, and people are even dancing in front of it. What a great setup. I think I’ve even impressed myself with this date; hopefully she is impressed as well.

  She turns to me and places her hands on my hips. “Oh my God, this is awesome!”

  “Really? You like it?”

  She nods and places a quick kiss on my cheek.

  “Well damn, if I knew this was the reaction you’d give me, then maybe I should’ve taken you out a long time ago.”

  “Don’t push your luck, Lawson.” She turns around and looks at all the different food trucks. There’s a burger truck, Italian ice, taco truck, falafel truck, and then I spot it… “It’s So Gouda”—the everything cheese truck. “So, what are you in the mood for?”

  I reach for her hand, lace our fingers, and pull her in the direction of the cheese truck.

  As we get closer, her eyes light up and I bet her mouth is watering because there is a huge sign on the side of the truck that says, “Voted best cheese fries three years in a row!”

  She stops in awe, and I step behind her, wrapping my arms around her middle, and lean down closer to her ear. “How do cheese fries sound?”

  She lets out a little moan that lets me know I made the right call with this.

  “And, not just any cheese fry, but I happen to know they use curly fries.”

  She moans again and this time as she does it she leans back against me, her ass rubbing up against my dick. I don’t think she does it on purpose, but I’m not fully sure.

  “Is that a yes?”

  Dani turns around and is smiling from ear to ear. “I will always say yes to cheese…especially if it’s on fries. I’d put that shit on everything if I could. Well, maybe not everything.” She looks lost in her thoughts, probably thinking of foods she wouldn’t put cheese on, when I reach back and pinch her ass. She jerks forward.

  “What was that for?”

  “Sorry, just trying to get your attention…and can you blame me for wanting to have my hands on that ass? Damn, you know how to fill a pair of jeans.”

  Busting out in a fit of giggles, she shakes her head at me and turns around, pulling my arm to get in line to order.

  After enjoying a large plate of cheese fries, a chicken quesadilla, and a small order of fried mac and cheese along with two raspberry lemonades, we both are stuffed to the brim. I love a girl that can eat. Nothing sexier than a girl with an appetite—true, I ate most of the food, but my girl can surely get down on some cheese fries. I was so turned on watching her lick the cheese off her fingers.

  We spend the rest of the evening walking around, browsing the little stands set up, and I even get her onto the makeshift dance floor for a few dances.

  When we arrive back home, we sit in the driveway for a few moments, unsure of how the night will end. I’ve never taken a girl I lived with out on a date. Do I kiss her at the front door? Do I kiss her inside? Do we just go our separate ways? Do I walk her to her bedroom?

  I am surprised when Dani leans over the center console and grabs my cheeks in her hands, pulling my face to hers, and devours my lips. What started out as a simple kiss has turned into heavy breathing, hands groping, and private parts grinding. I’m not exactly sure at what moment Dani climbs over into my lap, but hell, I’m not complaining. When she pulls away, I miss the contact already. Her cheeks and chest are both flushed, and I bet if I reached into her panties I would find them soaking wet.

  “We should probably get inside. I’m worried Zach is spying out the window or something.”

  I laugh because sadly I know my best friend is not above pulling some shit like that just to be funny.

  This time, I tell her to wait there. I quickly jump out of the truck, adjust my pants, and run around to her side of the truck and open the door for her. As she slides out of the truck, she is in close proximity, her chest pressed up against me.

  “Yeah we should definitely get inside, like now,” I breathe against her skin.

  “Uh-huh.” If anyone was looking, they could probably see the sparks flying between us with the sexual chemistry. What I wouldn’t give to push her up against the truck and slide my cock deep inside her. Calm down, Ky, before you both get arrested for indecent exposure.

  I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her close. She puts her arm around my waist, and we walk up the walkway to the front door. As we get to the front door, she starts to giggle.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing. It’s just like, do we say good night here and do that awkward walk where you say goodbye and then keep going in the same direction as that person…or do we just walk in? I’m sorry, I’m rambling, I’m just nervous. I mean…”

  I stop her words by bringing her mouth to mine, plunging my tongue forward, not even waiting to ask for permission. I thread my finge
rs into her hair, pulling her to me as if she were my lifeline. I’m starting to realize that maybe she is. She lets out a noise that goes straight to my dick. This is one hell of an ending to the perfect date. I’m a little worried that she will think I’m expecting something more to happen once we go back inside.

  “For the record, I don’t plan to say good night now, but I just had to give this date a proper good-night kiss. And then I plan to walk you inside, take you to one of our rooms, wrap my arms around you, tell you that I had an amazing time tonight, and fall asleep with you in my arms.”

  “Are you sure you’re real?” She looks up at me with hooded eyes—eyes so full of want, desire, and lust. This girl…my girl…continues to surprise me more and more each day.

  Jokingly, I touch my chest, stomach, arms, and lastly run my hand over my cock that is extremely hard. “Hmmm…I seem to be pretty real.”

  Dani runs her pointer finger from the base of my neck down to the bottom of my shirt. “So it seems.”

  I place a quick kiss on her forehead, take her hand in mine, fingers laced together, and run my thumb along the top of her hand while I use the key to open the front door. This seriously has been the best date of my life.

  Sitting in the front seat of Kyler’s truck, I watch him load our bags in the back before slipping into the driver’s seat next to me. We are headed to my parents’ house for Mom’s birthday weekend. I had offered to help prepare all of Mom’s favorites. I couldn’t wait to be back in the kitchen with my mom and Ms. Natalie. Zach and Haylee would be joining us later.

  I see Kyler look over to me from the corner of my eye. “You okay? You seem quiet.”

  I play with the hem of my shirt. “I have a confession. I sort of haven’t told my parents that you and I are…” I motion between the two of us.