37. Plenty Of Dates. Plenty Of Sex
Plenty Of Dates. Plenty Of Sex
Zoe
Leo pulls into the parking lot of a hotel, and I turn to look at him, surprised.
‘What?’ He laughs at my expression as he turns into a space and puts the car in park.
‘What the hell is this?’
We said we would date. I wasn’t expecting fancy Atlanta hotels right off the bat.
Turning to me, he grins. ‘Zoe, this is our first night in a hotel together. I wanted it to be special.’
I bite my lip, but I can’t fight my smile. ‘You’re cute.’
‘Oh, trust me, what I’m doing to you the second we get into our room is the furthest thing from cute.’ He winks and then opens his door as my mind goes crazy with the possibilities.
‘Hello, welcome to the A. Do you have a reservation?’
The lady behind the desk smiles as we approach, and Leo steps up. He checks us in while I take in the lobby. It’s beautiful; glass and mirrors and lights make it seem like everything is floating. I pull out my cell phone from my back pocket and snap a few photos. Then I feel Leo’s hand on my lower back.
‘Come on, munch.’
He leads me over to the elevators, and then we travel up eleven floors. The corridor leading to the room is less dramatic than the lobby, but it’s neat and spacious and doesn’t have that funky foot smell that some hotels get.
‘This is us.’
Leo opens the door, and we step into the room. It’s nice. The bed is huge in the middle of the room, and I’m tempted to dive straight onto it, but the windows are calling me over. It’s early afternoon, and the view across the city from here is beautiful.
Leo’s arms wrap around my waist, and his lips press against the top of my shoulder.
‘Let’s go out,’ he says softly, his breath against my skin making me shiver.
I turn in his arms. ‘Out?’ My eyes widen. ‘I didn’t think you’d want to leave the room.’
His smile matches mine, but he looks… what is that, nervous?
‘You okay?’ I ask, raising my hands up to wrap around his neck.
‘Yeah, I just want to explore a little bit.’
‘Okay,’ I nod. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Oh my god, he’s so cute.’
I press my hand against the glass, and honestly, I could cry. I’ve always had a thing for beluga whales, and having one right in front of me is making me a little emotional.
‘Smile, munch. Let me take a photo.’ Leo holds up his cell phone, and I smile. When he suggested the aquarium, I was a little unsure. I’m not used to seeing animals in captivity, but we decided to give it a shot, and I’m having a great time.
‘Okay, I’m kind of hungry. Is there somewhere to eat here?’
Leo laughs and pulls me to him. ‘You go from zero to one hundred when you’re ready for food.’
‘I’m a growing girl.’ He wraps his arm around my shoulder and starts to guide me toward the food.
‘Munch, you were done growing a long time ago, but it’s all good. I like the little package that you are.’
He pulls me in to kiss my head, and I can’t keep the smile from my face. This feels so good.
We get some burgers and fries and find somewhere to sit.
‘You havin’ fun?’
I nod, already chewing on a French fry. ‘I am. I love this.’
‘Good, I’m glad.’ He picks up his burger and takes a bite. ‘Listen, I wanted to talk about something,’ he says, still chewing, and I screw up my face, making him laugh.
‘Swallow your food before you talk to me, Leo Bennett.’
He laughs loudly. ‘You literally just talked with a fry in your mouth.’
‘A French fry is not the same as half a cow.’ He laughs again, and I can’t help but giggle. ‘What do you want to talk about?’ I pick up my milkshake and take a sip.
‘So, I um,’ he reaches for my hand, ‘I wanted us to set some ground rules.’
I freeze, my straw between my teeth, and my eyes widen.
‘Ground rules?’ Why does that make me feel so unsettled?
‘Yeah, Zo.’ He reaches for my hand and takes a deep breath. ‘You wanted us to take this slow, but my feelings for you are not slow. They are big and fast, and I don’t want to fuck this up.’
Wow. I swallow hard and wait.
‘So, I’ve never had a serious relationship. I’ve never had someone to answer to or even really consider before, and you have been on your own for a long time. This is going to be a steep learning curve for us both. I’ve been thinking about that and how we can still go slow even though this is serious.’ He takes another breath. ‘There are going to be times when we both need a little space, and we will piss each other off sometimes. I want us to be able to respect that and take what we need. If you need a break from me, you need to tell me, okay?’
I nod and sip from my straw again. I already have too many breaks from him. I don’t want more.
‘I know you must have given this some thought, munch, so tell me. What’s been circling around in that pretty little head of yours?’
I smile. He’s right, but I’m not telling him everything that’s been on my mind because I don’t want to sound like a crazy person talking about kids and marriage two months in.
‘I’m worried about pissing you off to the point that you don’t want me around anymore, but you’ll feel bad telling me because of your promise to take care of me.’
‘Zoe,’ he lifts my hand to press his lips to my palm, ‘that’s not going to happen.’
‘But, I’ll be in Forest Falls, and you’ll be in the city, and when we’re together, we’ll be tired from working and traveling, and I don’t want to push you away. I want you to tell me any time you need a break. Every time I’m getting on your nerves or you just need some alone time. Everything, just let’s be honest with each other.’
‘Done.’
‘And I don’t think we should put a label on this yet.’ His brows knit together, just slightly, but enough that I see it. ‘If we had just met and started dating, we wouldn’t label this yet. The moment we do, there’s this extra weight we have to carry around. I just want us to have fun.’
‘See, I knew you’d have thought about this.’ He smirks. ‘So, no labels and plenty of honesty — we can do that.’
‘And dates.’ I smile, and he raises one eyebrow. ‘I don’t want us to just fall into the comfortable part of a relationship. I want to date you.’
‘We will go on dates.’
‘Lots of them,’
‘Yeah,’ he smiles wide, ‘lots of them.’ He holds eye contact for a minute, then takes a breath and leans in a little closer. ‘Do you want to — I mean, do you want us to stop having sex?’ His voice is a whisper as we become hyper-aware of all the families around us.
‘No, I do not want us to stop having sex.’
‘It’s just that you want to go slow.’
‘Yeah, slow, not stupid. Sex with you is the highlight of my life right now.’ I’m serious, but he laughs.
‘So, plenty of dates, plenty of sex. This is sounding pretty damn good.’
I laugh now. ‘Maybe we should head back to the hotel and get a head start.’
My mood becomes more serious when I see the fire in his eyes.
‘Best idea you ever had.’
As we make it back to the hotel and find our way from the parking lot, I’m distracted by a sensual laugh coming from the bar area and stop to see a woman sitting at the bar talking to a man. I stand still, fixed to the spot, as I watch for a moment until Leo realizes I’m not following him toward the elevators and comes to a stop next to me.
‘How do you do that?’ I ask absentmindedly, and he looks in the direction of my fixed gaze.
‘What?’
‘Hit on someone in a bar. End up flirting, making out, and sleeping together. I’ve never been hit on that way. Drunk guys in clubs, yeah, but someone who makes me laugh and play with my hair like that, smile like that, cross my legs like that, never.’
‘Should I be offended?’
I tap a hand to his chest and turn my attention to him. ‘Honey, you turn me all the way on, but I feel like I’ve missed so many experiences. I just, I don’t know. It’s silly. Come on.’
I start to walk, but Leo pulls me back to him by my hand.
‘Go to the bar, order a drink, and wait there,’ he says, his voice low against my ear, and goosebumps rise on my skin.
‘What?’ I whisper, my voice being swallowed by my desire for this man.
‘You heard me. Go.’
He taps my behind, and I tentatively walk toward the bar.