“Hey there.”
John’s voice was deep and husky, almost as if he was choking on his words while saying them. Ariel looked up at him.
“You’re going to have to stop rubbing my leg. I don’t really want you to stop, but it’s making concentrating on this movie really difficult for me if you know what I mean.”
Smiling up at him Ariel said, “I know exactly what you mean.”
She did stop rubbing him but she didn’t move her hand. As the movie drew to a close and the credits started to roll on the screen neither of them made a move to get off of the couch. Finally after the screen went dark John reached for the remote.
“I have no idea what that movie was about.”
“I think it had some zombies in it at one point.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
They both laughed and John sat beside her and clicked the TV off. Now they were sitting in the dark together. Still no one was moving to get up. The sexual tension in the room was palpable at this point and Ariel felt like at any moment it was just going to explode. At least she hoped it would.
“So I guess I should show you where the guest room is and turn down the covers for you.”
“If you want to.”
“What do you mean, if I want to? It’s early in the morning; I would rather you not drive home this late.”
“That’s not what meant John. I do want to stay here, I just meant, well, we’re both adults, we could stay in the same bed together and not necessarily do anything, right?”
“Hmm when I invited you over here and asked you to spend the night, sleeping together isn’t what I had planned. I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
Ariel pulled herself away from him making some space. It seemed like he didn’t even want to be in the same room as her.
“Ok.” Ariel stood up in the dark and felt John move beside her, probably reaching for the lamp. She headed down the hallway the nightlight from the hall bath guiding her way until she came to the door across from John’s. Opening it she heard John say her name from down the hall. She ignored it and went into the room shutting the door softly behind her. She switched on the light and heard John moving around in the kitchen now and opening the back door, letting the dogs out. She had managed to forget all about Bruno in her humiliated walk down the hallway. She kept telling herself that he was just being respectful; he didn’t want to rush into anything. But was the ghost of his past fiancée going to haunt anything that could possibly be between them. She wasn’t used to this whole dating thing, but she knew that most guys wouldn’t turn down an offer from a woman twice in a row if they really were interested in something with that woman. Wishing she had just said she’d go home after the movie was over Ariel climbed into the bed and switched off the lamp. This just sucked, and her feelings were really hurt. How could he just not want her at all? It hadn’t even seemed to bother him to say no. His eyes had told her a different story all evening and he had said that his cooking could inspire him to marry her, but that was said in jest. Feeling confused and hurt Ariel squeezed her eyes shut to keep the tears from slipping out. She felt so stupid. She had gone and thrown herself at him again and he had easily and casually rejected her.
John was traveling down the hall, she heard him stumble and mutter a few choice words. She smiled to herself knowing that it was her overnight bag left forgotten in the hall that he had most likely tripped over. Well it served him right. He knocked on the door to the guest room and then whispered “Ariel” a few times. She ignored him. She heard the door knob turn and she rolled over in the bed facing away from the door and scooted the furthest from that side of the bed. She heard Bruno, he was sniffing around the room and then the familiar dip in the mattress as he climbed up beside his master.
“Ariel?” came John’s whispered inquiry.
She ignored him, he probably knew she was awake since she had just rolled over but she didn’t feel like talking to him.
“Hey, I know you’re awake.” the whisper was a bit louder this time. Sighing she decided to see what he wanted.
“What?”
“Are you ok?”
“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You left the living room before I could even finish talking to you.”
“I didn’t think you had anything else to say.”
He grunted and she felt him sit on the mattress as it dipped again.
“I said the wrong thing again, or maybe just not enough to explain myself. Every time I say something you don’t like you run away. Ariel, I would love for you to come in my room and sleep with me. I wish I could tell you that I have that kind of control, to feel your body next to mine and ignore the fact that I want to touch you. For me it’s been a long time since I’ve been with a woman and there is definitely something there between us. I just want to make sure that we move forward when we’re both ready. I had a wonderful time with you tonight.
“John?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t make me wait forever.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that.”
Famous last words apparently. The next morning John was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs when Ariel came down the hall to see what the racket was about.
“Since you made dinner last night, it only seemed fair that I would make breakfast.”
She smiled at his effort noticing that almost every skillet and mixing bowl in the house appeared to have been used to make two omelets.
“I was in a little while ago and let Bruno out to use the restroom, he and Mallard had breakfast and I left them in the yard to play for a bit.
Breakfast was casual and they both chatted about work and things they had planned for the summer. Ariel was going on a family vacation to the mountains at the end of the summer and in a week or so John was a having his annual summer bar-b-cue at the house. John asked if she was free Sunday evening in a few weeks and invited her over to his mom’s house for dinner. Shortly after breakfast Bruno and Ariel got ready to leave, Ariel had to work that night, John had the day off but she wasn’t so lucky. She also had to remember to put in a leave request for the next Sunday, it shouldn’t be too much trouble though. In her almost two years at her job she had only taken 4 days off and had a PTO bank of over 6 weeks of time off to take. They made plans to see each other the next day for lunch at the park where the dogs had played the week before. Ariel offered to pack a picnic lunch and John would bring a cooler of beverages.
Work was fast paced and the time went by quickly. Ariel had a hard time concentrating at times. She was wondering what John was up to and if what they had between them was a relationship at this point. Were they just friends? When she left his house earlier that day he had walked her out to her car and placed her bag in the back seat. He did give her a brief hug but had quickly released her. After work that night she went home crawling straight into bed and setting her alarm for 10am so she would wake up with plenty of time to get the picnic basket ready.
The next morning was bright and sunny. Ariel quickly dressed in a summery sundress and slipped on some sandals to go to the grocery store. She picked out some prepared salads, Cuban sandwiches from the deli counter and some cheese and fruit she could easily cut up and place in plastic containers before she left for the outing. Back at the house she decided that she would wear the sundress and sandals, even though this was not what she would typically wear to go to a park, this was pretty much a date. She swiped on some lip gloss and a touch of mascara and went outside with Bruno and her basket. As she was climbing into the car he cell phone rang it was John.
“Good morning.” He sounded horrible, groggy and tired.
“Hi.”
“Sorry to tell you this but I got talked into going out last night with the guys to this little country dance hall out near Brandon. I’m a little hangover and I don’t think I’d be the best company at our picnic. Would it be ok for me to take a rain check? I hope you didn’t go to too much tr
ouble.”
“Ok. Have a good day.”
She clicked off before he could say anything. It was probably a little rude to hang up on him, but she had woken up early, even though she had to work this afternoon and gone to the grocery store spending a third of her budgeted money for food for the week on him and he had so casually decided to go out the night before and get wasted knowing they had plans for lunch the next day. This time her feelings weren’t necessarily hurt. She was just pissed. It was a reality check that showed pretty clearly how much he thought of her. That stung a little but she decided not to make effort on him again, plus she was going to send him an angry email. That would show him.
After sharing the picnic lunch with Bruno she had calmed down a bit. Saucy and Sean were both snoring from across the hall in their room and she left a note for Sean on the kitchen counter letting him know he was welcome to the fresh fruit and left over potato salad and chicken salad in the fridge. He and she were both on a tight budget so she had a feeling that he would welcome the offer. Maybe she should have just woken up Sean and asked him to go on a picnic with her, he would have said yes with no hesitation, even if he was exhausted, but he was also her best friend and best friends often did those sorts of things for friends.
Before she got dressed for work she responded to an email from her boss asking if she could cover a shift for a co worker for some OT on Wednesday and also an email from her brother asking her to come and see his band play at a local bar. She agreed, that was something she would ask Sean to do. Sean and her brother were pretty close, with James really looking up to Sean. She didn’t think James would warm up quite as quickly to a cop as he had her free spirited roommate. Now she wrote an email to John.
John –
I know it was rude of me to hang up on you earlier but I was pissed at you. I have to leave for work in a little while, 1:30pm to be exact. I worked last night until 2am, came home and went right to bed because I knew I had to be up early to get the picnic ready and meet you at the park. I woke up early and went to the store spending almost a third of my weekly grocery budget to buy things for a really nice picnic for us. I’m not mad about spending the money because I had a really tasty lunch, but still, that was not the point. Then you called me less than a half hour before we were supposed to meet up to cancel on me because you got drunk last night and wanted to have longer to sleep it off before work. I’m not mad like I was before, but I am disappointed, I thought that you were a different person than this. Have a nice nap.
-Ariel
It didn’t sound too sad or sappy did it? It did sound a little final, but maybe it should. She really had no one to ask and Sean wasn’t so great when it came to relationship advice. It did sound a little bitchy and angry and she had a feeling she would regret that later on, but for now, she felt validated in her feelings and wasn’t about to change a word of what she had written. For as mad and hurt as she had been he was lucky the note was as civil as it was. She decided not to dwell on it for too much longer. She hit send and it went to his work email address. Finishing up her before work routine she ironed her uniform and got dressed. That night at work was busy, but not too bad. Ariel took a break near the end of her shift and went to sit outside on a bench getting some fresh air. Frank, an older guy who was a night security guard was out there smoking and he came to sit with her. They chatted about the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, not that she had a great interest but Frank spent most work day driving around in the hospital security truck and listening to the play by play for his favorite team. She felt a little refreshed when she went back in and the rest of her shift flew by.
Arriving at home around 2:30am she saw that Sean had left the light on for her over the front door. It was nice to have a thoughtful roommate. Bruno was at the door with his tail wagging away. Maybe it was silly of her to even be interested in a guy, she had a nice place to live, a dog who loved her and a supportive family, did she really need the drama and stress of adding in an unknown? Especially one who was a jerk sometimes and then a great guy the others? The thing was, after her ex she just hadn’t met anyone that had made her feel the way that John did. He was confident and sure of himself, and safe. It just made her feel protected and happy and incredibly turned on to be with him. But obviously he was much more interested in getting drunk with his friends then even making it to their dates. She had vowed all day and on the way home not to check her email right away, maybe in the morning. Her curiosity got the best of her and she went to her room like a moth to the flame to check, just to see if he had written her. His response was sitting in her inbox.
Ariel-
Can we talk? Give me a call when you get home.
John
At least he wanted to speak with her to talk about it, but still, did she even want to bother? She had heard from her female friends how guys could be great at saying the right thing but not sincere about what they were saying. How was she going to know if he was full of shit or not? She didn’t have much if anything to compare this to. This was all so confusing. Should she call or just let it go? As much as she wanted to let him sweat she also really wanted to talk to him, to be with him. She picked up her cell phone and just made the decision that she was going to call him. This was it. The phone rang a few times and went to his voicemail, it was after 3am so she couldn’t be mad at him but she was the one who was going to have to stew on it now. A few moments later a text came through.
“I’m outside, will you come out? I’m in my truck I thought we’d ride up to the beach and talk for a bit.”
That was interesting and a bit romantic, if she hadn’t been upset with him. Leaving a note for Sean telling him where she was on the kitchen island she went out and saw John’s large truck at her curb. She was wearing pajamas again, a tank top with a sports bra and some comfortable pants she often wore to the gym. She opened the door to the truck and climbed up into the seat.
“Hi.” He said.
“Hi.”
“I’m glad you came out. Are you ok with going to the beach for a little bit to talk?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
They drove to the beach on the west side of Tampa and John drove around the barricades with his truck and parked in the beach parking lot. He turned the truck off and rolled down the windows.
“Would you like to sit close to the water? I brought a blanket with me?”
Ariel nodded. That sounded good to her, it sounded cozy. Trudging down the beach a ways John stopped after a few minutes to spread out the blanket.
“This ok?”
Ariel nodded again and John gestured for her to sit first, as gracefully as possible she sat over to the furthest corner of the blanket as much as possible without making that too obvious. John sat down next to her. He had changed into jeans and a button down polo, he looked pretty appealing. There was a nice way that his veins stood out on his tanned and lean arms. A girl couldn’t help but to notice.
John was sitting close to her, but not too close, almost as if he was being careful not to touch her. He didn’t seem in any hurry to say anything and Ariel wasn’t going to be the one to start the conversation. He wanted to come out here and talk, so he could talk and she would listen and see what he had to say. Might as well enjoy the nice night while out here, it was warm and breezy, thundering a bit off in the distance with heat lightning putting on a little show in the distance blouds. Ariel layed back on the blanket and stared up. John was resting back on his arms not saying anything either, but he seemed to slowly be relaxing. Ariel liked it out here, she felt safe and was pretty sure no one was going to bother them. Surprisingly no patrol cars had been through the park either, but this was in John’s patrol area and it would not surprise her if he had asked the next shift after him to give this little park a pass for the evening’s rounds. Sighing, Ariel let her eyes close and listened to the surf. There was something almost magical about being out here near the water at night, especially when she was with a guy who she also thought was pretty spec
ial himself.
Ariel heard her name and then John was shaking her shoulders a little.
“Did you doze off on my? Maybe I should get you back home, I didn’t even think about the fact that you just worked a 10 hour shift on your feet all day.”
“No, I’m just fine.”
Ariel opened her eyes and looked towards John to find him laying next to her on his on the blanket looking right into her eyes. She had to look up into his face.
“I wanted to apologize to you. The other night when you stayed over at my house, I didn’t want you to feel like I didn’t want to be with you. It’s not that. I really like you, I don’t want to scare you away, but I could see myself with you for a long term thing. When you cooked for me the other day, no one has done that before. You just made yourself right at home in my kitchen, you didn’t complain or change anything, and you just came in and cooked like it was your place already. I liked that. It was nice to come home and have someone other than Mallard with me. It’s just that after everything that happened with my ex I’ve been really cautious. Plus, you’re so young and I don’t want you to look back on this someday and think I was the older guy taking advantage of you. There is an age difference between us, not too huge, but still, my friend Jeff’s already calling me a cradle robber.”
“John, I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
“I know that and maybe it’s part of my hang up. So, when Jeff and the guys wanted me to go out last night I didn’t want to go. I wanted to call you and see if maybe you wanted to meet up and watch a movie or come here and hang out or something. They just kept pressuring me to come out with them. They don’t want to see me hurt again and they think you’re too young for me. They kept saying that it was better for you and for me if I just move on now.”
Brothers in Blue: The First Love Match Page 5