Chapter 05
We took photos until the sun finally sank beneath the horizon. Somewhere between soft touches and stolen kisses, the photoshoot stopped feeling like an experiment and began to feel like something real. The structure melted into an easy closeness, one I’d never experienced with anyone.
It was alarming and comforting and everything all at once. Being with her felt as natural as breathing. Every touch was intentional and anticipated for both of us. I could see it in her face as she did her best to read me through every moment. I kept waiting for the spell to break between us—for reality to do its thing—but it didn’t. Not even once.
Sadie left, and dinner followed, just the two of us. The vineyard’s restaurant glowed with low lights and a homey ambiance despite its sheer size. Staff gave us room unless necessary, and I was all too aware of the way they looked at May. There was a sort of awe in their expressions. I wanted to write it off as related to the amount of money required to rent out the place, but it felt like something more. Something deeper than that. I wanted to ask her but didn’t.
Hours slipped by unnoticed as wine glasses appeared and disappeared, each selection more decadent than the last. I indulged a little too much, but how could I not? I strictly stuck to ten-dollar wines while these were more expensive than my car. The conversation ebbed and flowed between playful and unexpectedly thoughtful. I memorized the way her nose crinkled when she laughed and how her hands moved with more animation when she got excited about the topic.
Time with her was simultaneously everything and not enough.
Eventually, the staff began the subtle routine of quietly shutting everything down in preparation for the next day. We were ever so gently shuffled out of the building to our cars. May’s hand slipped through mine as she walked with me to my car.
That was the moment it hit me: I didn’t want the night to end.
It had nothing to do with wanting to hook up with her—though, I knew I’d thoroughly enjoy every inch of her—and everything to do with I just… liked her. A lot. More than I had ever liked anyone.
Maybe the decision to invite her back to my place was impulsive, but I refused to think it was the wrong one. That didn’t help my nerves as I drove home with her car following mine. My fingers drummed anxiously on the steering wheel as the reality of it all began to sink in. My apartment was a small one-bedroom thing with little to offer, while she had enough money to rent out a whole vineyard.
Money wasn’t everything—I knew that—but it still bothered me. What if she thought less of me because I wasn’t in the same league as her? I didn’t want to think she was that kind of person, but I’d seen what the income gap did to people. To couples.
“Nope,“
I said aloud, shaking my head. I refused to go down that road. We weren’t a couple. If we crossed that bridge, then we could deal with the whole income gap thing.
My phone buzzed from the dashboard deck, lighting up with May’s name.
“All right, imagine this: you’re stuck on a six-hour road trip, and you can play one song,“
May began the moment I answered, “what song are you playing?”
I laughed at the ridiculousness of the question. It was so perfectly her and served as a great way to pull me out of my head.
“One song? For six hours?“
I exclaimed. “Oh, that’s torture!”
“Ah, but that’s the genius of it,“
she replied with that wonderful laugh I adored. “What you pick says so much about what you’re willing to endure.”
“Oh, really? And what would you pick?”
“I have a soft spot for Fast Car by—”
“Tracy Chapman,“
I finished for her. “That’s a good one. Fuck, what would I choose…”
She made tick-tock noises as I hemmed and hawed my way through trying to pick one.
“This is so hard,“
I told her. “Okay, fine. I’d have to go with Don’t Stop Believing, but only because it’s a fucking fantastic karaoke song, and road trip karaoke is a must.”
“Road trip karaoke is always a must,“
she agreed. As we turned down my street, she let out an awed sound. “This is a cute street!”
“It’s not bad,“
I said. My apartment was one of many small buildings on the street, each housing just four apartments. Most of my neighbors were older people just doing their thing with retirement. Every building was neatly upkept and had an abundance of flowers everywhere.
I just liked the quiet. Nothing unpredictable happened here. I was fairly certain that May coming home with me was the most exciting thing to happen to our neighborhood in a long time.