52. Date Number Two
Date Number Two
Sheridan
Every part of my body hurts…like literally throbs, even my fingers. Deacon and Gabe are evil, evil men. They bonded over tormenting me—which is kind of what I hoped would happen. Minus the pain part.
But I need to get up out of this ridiculously comfortable bed and get ready for my run. Fly is going to message me soon. He’s always prompt…which I really love about him. But this morning I could do with a lazy prince.
My body protests as I start moving around…eating anything more than a granola bar isn’t an option this morning, even though I desperately need calories. My pantry, aka my suitcase, is starting to look a little bare.
Fly
Bring a change of clothes down with you and your purse.
What?
Sheri
Why?
Fly
I couldn’t wait to see you, and I thought we could run together in my forest.
Sheri
Wait…you’re here?
Fly
Yup. And I brought coffee in case it’s one of those mornings.
Sheri
You’re incorrigible.
Fly
Is that a yes?
Hmm.
Sheri
Yes, but give me a few minutes to pack my bag.
I make a mad dash through my room, tossing stuff in my purse and grabbing an extra bar for Fly. If we stop at a gas station or something, I’m going to need to restock. The supermarket would be cheaper or a discount food store, but I doubt that’s an option.
Tip-toeing downstairs when you're excited isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
The second I step out the door, there he is with a smile on his face and two cups of coffee in his hands.
“Where did you find an open coffee shop at this time of morning?”
“Urbium never sleeps.” He sets the cups down on his hood and walks over to me slowly, like a predator stalking his prey.
My knees go weak, and the urge to giggle bubbles up in me.
“I’m going to have you in my arms for the whole day.”
“Um…I think your mechanics are off a bit. If you’re planning on driving the motorcycle, I believe I’m going to have you in my arms today.”
“Good point. And an important technicality that I think we need to make up for right now.”
His lips land on mine softly at first.
My bag slips from my fingers and plops onto the ground.
We break away slightly and look at it.
“I think you distract me.”
“Good to know.”
“Oh…I need to set a reminder on my phone to message Dahlia so she doesn’t worry when I don’t come back from my morning run.”
“You don’t need to worry about that.” He bends over and picks my bag up. “She’ll know you’re gone.”
“How? I just snuck out.”
“Security cameras. Maverick takes his wife’s safety seriously.”
“You mean…he’s watching us.”
“Probably not. But he saw me meeting you at the door.”
“Oh…maybe we should leave now.”
He grins at me, leans down, and kisses the tip of my nose before taking my hand. “You must be looking forward to our run.”
“Yes.” My body just isn’t.
“That was the most half-hearted yes I’ve ever heard.” He opens my door and helps me up into the seat before grabbing the coffee and running around to take his own.
“I’m looking forward to jogging with you and seeing your trail, but…” How do I explain this? “You know the friend I told you about? The one I helped yesterday.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, what she needed help with was her grandson.”
Fly gets a weird look on his face as his knuckles tighten on the steering wheel.
“The grandson was in therapy and refusing family visits and basically becoming a hermit.”
“So she wanted you to become friends with the grandson.”
“No, she wanted me to marry him.”
The car swerves for a second before Fly rights it.
“Maybe we should talk about this later.”
“No. It’s fine…She wanted you to marry the grandson.”
“Yeah, Viola seems to have meddler tendencies, but she has a kind heart.”
“And the grandson?”
I twist to face Fly. “This is the wildest thing. Her grandson is Gabe Vincenti. The football player Gabe Vincenti. Do you follow football? He got hurt winning the final game a little while ago.”
“Do you like him?”
“Of course, I mean, how could I not like Gabe Vincenti? He’s the best quarterback in the world. I’ve had him on my fantasy team for the last five years.” Who am I going to pick next year?
“No, Sheri, I mean, do you like him?”
“Excuse me? You didn’t just ask me that. But you did.” Tears fill my eyes. “You actually said that.”
“Sheri, I—”
“There is no excuse. That was a rude thing to ask…No worse. I just kissed you, and you asked me if I liked some football player. I just kissed you, and you asked me if I like a football player.”
“Sheri.”
“This was supposed to be a perfect second date. We’re on a date and you asked me if I like another man. I should lie. I should lie right now and tell you that I’m hopelessly in love with him. We’re getting married and having six dozen babies.”
“Six dozen?” Fly raises an eyebrow at me.
“What? He looks like the type to love babies and convince his wife to keep populating the world with perfect miniature football players. But that’s not the point. I’m mad at you.”
“Okay.”
“That’s all you have to say? ‘Okay’?”
“I would tell you that, ‘I’m sorry for being jealous. That hearing another man’s name on your lips made me see red for a second.
That I love you. That it appears I’m bad at these things we call relationships, but I so badly wanted this to be the perfect second date.
’ But all I keep picturing is you having six dozen kids. ” Fly smirks.
I swat at his arms. “There’s nothing wrong with six dozen kids.”
“Except your uterus might explode.”
“Details.” There’s a smile on my face even though I’m still a little mad and trying to pretend that he didn’t just blurt out the three words I never thought I would ever hear. Maybe it was just a casual thing.
“How many would you really like to have?”
What? Excuse me! He didn’t just ask me how many kids I want. “Six dozen sounds like a nice round number.”
“So does two. But I’d be open to four.”
WHAT!?! “Four, you want four kids?!?”
“I’d be open to four. How many do you want?”
“I don’t know. Why are you asking me questions like that? This is our second date.”
“Isn’t that what dating is about…getting to know one another?”
Fair point. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about having kids.”
“Never?”
Like it’s odd for a woman to never think about having kids…Fine, it’s kind of odd, but if he knew how I grew up, he’d understand. So tell him. “Never.”
“Well then, think about it and get back to me.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“That’s one of the reasons you like me.”
Arrogant much? “And what are the others?”
“I’ll tell you later while I’m kissing you.”