by T. N. Cole
“Kate.” I waited for her to look up from where she was working on her laptop.
“Hmm?” she replied absentmindedly while continuing to type furiously.
“Kate,” I said louder so she would pause and pay attention to me.
She stopped typing and smiled at me—I swear, I could never go a day without one of those smiles anymore. “Yeah, babe?” My heart stuttered a bit at the term of endearment. Fuck, get a grip, Tristan, I told myself.
“Go on a date with me.”
She scrunched up her nose. “We already have…” she trailed off when she realized that we actually, in fact, had not gone on a real date in the months that we had known each other.
“Go on a date with me,” I repeated, grinning at her.
She placed her laptop on the floor, and I mimicked her, putting my books on the floor just in time for her to launch herself on top of me. I grunted playfully, and she smacked my chest at my insinuation that she was heavy. She definitely wasn’t—in fact, she felt way too good on top of me. She rested her chin on my chest. “And what if I say no?” She raised her eyebrows while she watched my reaction.
I ran my hands up and down her sides while I pretended to think about how to respond. I rested my hands on her ass and pulled her up closer to me so that our faces were inches apart. “Well, I’ll just have to convince you then, won’t I?” We were both smiling when I threaded one hand through her hair to pull her in for a kiss.
I liked this. Kissing her. I had been careful not to let things go as far as they had last week when we got back from the lake. A guy only had so much self-restraint.
Without breaking our kiss, she shifted so that her legs were straddling my waist. Our tongues urgently tangled together. Kate started squirming on top of me, which of course made my cock stir to life. When she slipped her hands under my shirt, I broke away, panting, “Kate…”
She gave me a sly grin before sitting up and circling her hips on my dick. “What’s wrong?”
I shot up to a sitting position. My hands immediately went to her hips to still her movements. “Don’t start something you can’t finish,” I breathed, inches away from her lips.
“Who said I’m not going to finish this?” She placed her hands on my shoulders.
I leaned forward so that our lips were touching. Then, I moved my head from side to side to brush our lips softly together. Once. Twice. I paused so I could see Kate’s face. Her eyes were closed, waiting for me. I reached a hand up to trace her features. Her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids, and finally her soft mouth. She let me explore her face with my hand as she sat on my lap, lightly running her hand over my bare abs under my shirt.
“You’re beautiful.” I rested my hand on her cheek.
She smiled and opened her soft brown eyes to meet mine, leaning into my hand. “Then why don’t you want me?” she asked sadly, covering my hand with one of hers.
It was my turn to close my eyes. When I opened them, they blazed in passion. I moved so that I was cradling her face with both hands. “Kate, I’ve never been in a relationship. I’ve never remotely felt like this about anyone. Anyone, but you. I’m scared I’m going to screw this up. When we’re finally together, I want it to be perfect. You deserve perfect. You deserve more than just a quick fuck.”
“Something tells me that we could never just have a quick fuck.” She arched her eyebrow before purposefully grinding against me. My lips twitched into a smile, and she turned serious. “What if I don’t want perfect? What if I just want you?” she breathed, searching my face.
“You already have me, Kate. In more ways than you know.”
Her eyes softened. “So, you’re saying you want to take it slow?”
I didn’t know if I liked that term “slow,” but I eventually nodded my head. “I don’t want to fuck this up.”
“So, we’re starting with a date? This weekend?”
I gasped mockingly. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
She smacked my chest, and I caught her hand. I laughed and placed a quick kiss on her palm. “Yes. I’m taking you out on a date this weekend.”
“Is this going to be like that one movie? Are you implementing a five date rule?” she wondered aloud.
The five date rule: you couldn’t have sex until the fifth date. I grinned. “Do you want that?”
She chewed her lip as she thought about it. Then, she smiled coyly. “Let’s have our first date on Friday, second date Saturday, third date Sunday, and then next weekend we can do our last two dates. And then…we bang.”
“Oh really? You’re such a smartass.” I tickled her sides. She giggled and wriggled in an attempt to get away from me.
“Fine!” she shrieked while laughing. “We’ll just see how it goes!”
“Better,” I approved before flipping us so that I was pressing her into the couch. “And who even says bang anymore?”
Her smile spread across her face before my lips descended on hers.
I was nervous. I was actually fucking nervous. Had I ever even been on a date? I was pathetic. I was a twenty-two-year-old guy who had never been on an actual date with a girl he was interested in—for more than a quick fuck, of course. Shit, I wasn’t ready for this. I decided to take the stairs up to Kate’s third-floor apartment instead of the elevator to give myself time to calm down.
Oh, get a grip, you dumbass, Mel sneered.
I faltered, missing a step, and almost face-planted on the stairs. I hadn’t heard Mel’s voice in my head in almost two weeks. Not since the night I told Kate everything about her. Everything about us.
You forgot about me already, huh?
I gritted my teeth and continued climbing up. Go away, Mel.
So now that you have Katelyn, you don’t need me anymore? Is that it? You’re just going to move on and forget all about me? Seems fair, she kept going.
You have shitty timing, I told her.
Wow. Seems like I’m still an inconvenience even when I’m already dead, she responded flippantly. Did you think you were off the hook now that you don’t have to “try” to love me? You’re just going to forget about me and move on with Katelyn now? Happily ever after for you, woo hoo. Well, what about me, asshole? I’ll never get a happily ever after. I’m fucking dead.
I had reached the third floor by the end of Mel’s tirade. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. Yes, you’re dead, Mel. I need to move on. Kate makes me believe that I can move on. She makes me believe that I deserve to move on. I’ll always love you, Mel, but let me have a shot at life. Let me have the chance to finally breathe. Please.
And there was no response. Mel left my head as quietly as she had entered.
I shook my head to clear my mind. I kicked off the wall and continued my trek to Kate’s apartment. I took a deep breath before I knocked on her door. I could hear the faint clicking of heels against the floor as Kate came to the door.
The door finally opened, and my mouth parted in appreciation.
"Can we just stay in?" My eyes hungrily roved over her body. She was dressed casually but looked as gorgeous as ever. She had a thick cream sweater on over a short, flowy red skirt and black tights.
She stood up on her tiptoes to quickly kiss me on my cheek. "Nope. You promised me five dates, Westdyke. Let's go." She stepped past me, grabbing my hand and pulling me out to the hallway.
I groaned and playfully pretended to resist while she dragged me to the elevator. While I was behind her, my eyes remained glued to her legs in the tights and heeled boots. Man, it’s going to be a long night, I mused.
When we got in the elevator, she leaned against the opposite wall and scowled at me for making her do a little work. I grinned and closed the space between us in two steps. I rested my hands on either side of her neck and used my thumbs to tilt her face up to look up at me. Her eyes softened as she took in my mood. I leaned down to kiss her, and she pulled me closer with her hands on my waist.
The elevator dinged open and I wove my fingers through
her hair as we walked to my car. As soon as I had settled in my seat after helping her into the car, she turned to me with a sly grin. "So... Where are we going?"
"I don't know. I don't really have anything planned. What did you want to do?" I nonchalantly started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
She was silent for a few moments. I raised my eyebrows and looked over at her. She had her arms crossed, and she was pouting as she stared out the window.
I chuckled and reached out to tug her arm. "What's wrong?"
She let out an exaggerated sigh but let me take her hand. She played with my fingers as they rested in her lap. "It's just... Ugh, Tristan! You practically begged me to do this, so I've been really excited, and then you don't even have a freaking plan! I even look cute tonight!"
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst into laughter. "You're so damn adorable. First of all, you're not cute. Cute doesn't even describe your kneecaps. You're fucking beautiful. And second, of course I know where I want to take you.” Then I stopped.
“And…?”
I smirked and squeezed her thigh. “Just be patient.”
“First stop, food,” I told her as she stepped out of the car. I had driven us downtown and managed to ignore all her attempts to get me to spill where we were going. She had even resorted to joking about giving me a blowjob for answers. This would be worth me resisting it. I think. I took her hand and led her to 8th Street. There was a variety of gourmet food trucks lined up on both sides of the street. The night was perfect. The crisp, November air was refreshing. The moon shone brightly above us. I could hear music floating in the air from a nearby street performer. And most importantly, I had the most beautiful girl as my date.
“Food trucks?” She squealed and bounced in front of me.
I laughed and nodded. “You said you had never eaten from a food truck. This is me fixing that craziness. There’s like fifty of them here. Have your pick, baby.”
She jumped up and kissed me before we started walking. Good thing I had gotten here a good two hours before the second part of our date started because Kate insisted on browsing all the trucks first. On both sides of the street. Then we bought and shared food from multiple ones. She couldn’t contain her excitement, and she amused not just me, but everyone else around us. I, of course, couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She was even more gorgeous with her enthusiasm. She wanted to try practically everything, and then she would make me finish the food after she took a couple of bites. I didn’t mind—I would do anything I could to make sure her glow didn’t fade.
SHE GROANED AND SLUMPED into me, her face to my chest, as I leaned against the brick wall of a building. “Why did you let me eat so much food?”
My shoulders shook as I silently laughed. I kissed the top of her head. “I’m pretty sure I ate more than you did. And I can’t stop you from doing anything anyway.”
I felt her nod against me. “This is true… But still. I’m dying.”
“You can’t die from overeating.”
“I can. And I will. Right now.”
“You can’t. Or else you’ll miss part two of our date. And part three. You definitely want to live long enough for part three.”
Kate stood up straight to look up at me. She rolled her eyes. “I think I can guess what part three is…” My only response was to lean down for a quick kiss. “But I’m curious to see what part two is. Where is it?”
“It’s a few streets down. Do you want to walk or do you want to drive?”
“Ugh, I feel gross. Let’s walk all that food off.”
I shook my head in laughter. “Let’s go, babe.”
Twenty minutes later, we came upon a long line on 12th Street. I grinned and pulled her to the end of the line. She gave me a confused look as I smugly rested against the wall again. “What are we in line for?”
The guy in front of us turned to us. When he opened his mouth, I frantically made the cut motion across my throat and mouthed, “It’s a surprise.”
He laughed and nodded. “Sorry, girl. Your boyfriend says I can’t tell you.”
“What?” She turned and glared at me.
I pulled her to me, and even though she was sulking, she let me wrap my arms around her with her chin on my chest. “Aww…” I laughed and pressed my lips to her forehead. When I leaned back, Kate turned the full force of her Bambi eyes on me. I didn’t look away fast enough. “Dammit. You’re such a cheater!” She grinned. “You really want to know?”
She nodded and straightened so that we were at eye level with each other. I shifted so that I could reach into the back pocket of my jeans. I whipped the two tickets out and held them in front of her face. She let go of my shoulders so she could examine them. Her eyes widened as she read. “No way,” she whispered. “No fucking way!” she yelled. They were tickets to a secret show her favorite singer was playing tonight. Zander Scott was an up-and-coming artist from Dallas and Kate’s current obsession. I had heard that he was playing a few low-key shows while he was in town on his first tour opening for Jackson Bryan, and I knew it would be a perfect first official date for us.
I nodded, and she let out a shriek as she hugged me. “How did I not know he was in town? How the hell did you know he was here?”
I shrugged indifferently. “I’m just awesome.”
She squealed again and proceeded to kiss me until the people behind us not so nicely told us that the line was moving forward. “Wow, I think I’m going to ask him to come back every night if I get a thank you like that.” I grinned as we shuffled forward. But not really, because I definitely couldn’t compete with fucking Zander Scott.
She was too excited to reprimand me and instead squeezed my hand even tighter. The venue was tiny and general admission only—meaning I spent the whole concert standing with my arms wrapped around her. Kate somehow managed to squeeze us forward so that we were right in front of the stage. She was practically vibrating with excitement. When she turned around to look at me, my heart clenched at the sight of her wide grin. I could get used to this. I could seriously spend the rest of my life making sure that she smiled like this every day.
Wait, rest of my life? Where did that come from?
Before I could think too much about it, Kate turned so that her back was leaning on the railing. She looped her arms around my neck but looked down at our feet. “So… Boyfriend, huh?”
“What?”
“The guy in front of us earlier when we were in line. He called you my boyfriend. You didn’t correct him.” She looked up at me through her eyelashes.
I chuckled. “Should I have corrected him?”
She shrugged, still not meeting my eyes. I knew what she wanted. “Katelyn Blair Sharp, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?”
Kate finally looked up at me with a shy smile that took my breath away. She bit her lip and nodded. “I accept your offer, Tristan Kyle Westdyke.”
“Good. Because you were already mine anyway,” I breathed before crushing my mouth to hers.
She pulled back. “I still can’t believe we’re here. This is the best. Thank you, Tristan,” she murmured in my ear.
“Can this count as all five dates then?” I joked.
She smiled against my cheek. “Nope. But this is definitely going to get you to second base tonight.” She nipped my ear before retreating.
I acted shocked. “You mean I wasn’t getting to second base before this?”
She giggled, but before she could respond, all the lights flashed and a guitar riff thundered through the speakers. She whipped around and started cheering with the rest of the crowd.
I was totally right. Passing on the blowjob was definitely worth seeing Kate scream, sing, and dance her ass off. By the end of the show, her voice was hoarse, and the sexy rasp was turning me on. Not surprising, considering the surging excitement of the crowd by the time Zander came on stage, caused me to be tightly pressed against Kate the whole time. I definitely wasn’t complaining; however, I needed relief. Espec
ially since she was grinding on and teasing me all night.
Kate chattered incessantly about how amazing the concert was on our whole walk back to the car. I couldn’t do anything but watch her. I was mesmerized. She was probably going to think I was going insane with all the staring I was doing tonight, but I just couldn’t help it. It wasn’t until her smile faded that I realized she was actually stopping to ask me a question. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked if you had fun,” she said in amusement.
I actually did. Zander’s music was a favorite of mine as well, and even if they weren’t, Kate made anything worthwhile. I opened the car door for her. “I did. And I loved watching you have fun.” She gave me a stunning smile before getting in.
“Oh, my roommate is out of town this weekend visiting her mom. Which means you can stay over. If you want,” Kate threw out while pretending to examine her nails.
“Well, when the cat’s away…” I insinuated.
She snickered. “Well, I did promise you some action, didn’t I?”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded.
She sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll let you cop a feel later.”
“Hell yes!” I pumped my fist in the air.
Then she casually added, “And I am feeling pretty horny after all that dancing so I guess this will be good.”
I whipped my head toward her then back to the road when she winked at me. “You’re such a tease,” I muttered, adjusting myself as discreetly as I could.
“Tristan,” Kate moaned when I slammed her against the back of her door before I claimed her mouth. She had gotten really touchy during the last five minutes of our drive. We hadn’t separated since I helped her out of my car. She had jumped on me, wrapping her legs tight around my waist, and attacked my mouth. I wasn’t completely sure how we managed to make it into her bedroom.