Hey, all. Been a while since I've written at all and this is my first submission on this site so...Please be gentle ;) And...I hope you like it. Thanks for reading! :)
*****
Nothing's gonna happen. You're gonna behave yourselves. Nothing's gonna happen. You're gonna behave yourselves. I was a woman on a mission. I knew what he wanted by all the "text-versations" we had been having, but this was our first meeting and he promised we were "just gonna hang out". And I was going to see to it that we did just that...And ONLY that. I was determined.
I walked down a carpeted, hotel-like corridor searching for his apartment door out of a line of identical white doors.
315.
I checked the text he sent me. Yup. 315. This was his door. Last chance for second thoughts. I knocked, unsure if I had knocked loud enough. The chance to walk away was going, going...He answered.
Wearing nothing but his underwear.
Definitely didn't expect that. I'm not sure what he saw on my face. Surprise? Appreciation? Disapproval? All of the above? I felt them all in one big swoop. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt: perhaps this was his normal attire when he was home alone. The other part of me knew that he remained this way on purpose, for me, because he obviously knew that I was coming.
"Come on in," He said with a crooked, mischievous grin, motioning me inside. His charming smile. Swoon. I returned it; an automatic reflex. Then I walked through the doorway. There was no more time for cold feet, no turning back now. I was in. An idea for better or worse, this was happening.
After he closed the door, he went over to the fridge and there was a clink of glass as he grabbed me a beer. Then he went to sit on the small, suede couch positioned in front of the TV. Something was playing on Netflix. He patted the empty cushion beside him, motioning me to join him on the couch. I took my beer and with a crooked grin, pointedly plopped myself on the opposite couch against the wall, several feet from where he sat.
Separate couches. That should do it. No naughty, sexy nothings were gonna happen if I could help it. No sir! I wasn't sure if I was trying to go through such extreme lengths more for his sake...Or my own. I knew his game, what he was playing at. And, I didn't plan on letting him win. Although I wouldn't ever admit it, a deep part of me wanted him to play...And wanted him to win.
I sipped my beer purposely, slow, and he was all-too eager to fetch me another when it was empty. And another when that one emptied. They were going down faster with each new bottle. I should never have had the first one.
"I can't hear you very well from over there," He insisted for what felt like the hundredth time. Three drinks and a movie and a half in, and I was starting to feel my resolve weakening.
SLIGHTLY. I was getting ready to consider switching couches, that is.
"Then turn the TV down," I suggested, giving him a playful smile. I was dodging all his attempts and it gave me great satisfaction.
"It's not that. You talk really quiet. I'll sit over here," He scooched himself into the farthest corner from me on his couch. "And you can sit over there," He pointed to the other, now unoccupied corner of his couch. "I'll stay over here and behave. Promise".
I eyed him for a moment, gauging, fairly buzzed. It wasn't the first time I'd been told that I was a little hard to hear so it seemed a credible reason enough. Same couch, but different sides? I could do that. Yeah.
"Fine," I leaned down to get my beer from the floor and got up from the couch. "Separate corners," I agreed, walking over to occupy my corner of his couch.
More drinks were had and more movies played while we sat chatting about this and that, everything. He started telling me about where he'd been and what he'd been doing over the couple weeks he had been away from work, leaning in to show me pictures on his phone. He seemed so genuinely excited to be talking about it and showing me all the places and things that he had seen and done, that I didn't protest when he scooched closer.