Chapter 37 Getting to Know You Better
-Drew-
Walking up to Annie’s door, I start to wonder if I did the right thing not telling her where and what I have planned for tonight.
I’ve been hoping that our little text message conversation an hour ago has at least eased her mind on the dress code.
When she’d referred to clothes as optional, I had groaned into the silence of my bedroom.
Here I was trying to plan this pretty PG first date: playing mini golf and then enjoying Annie’s favorite pizza place, followed by ice cream, if she wanted.
Then she went and started talking about “optional” clothing, and my brain started trying to figure out an “after” ice cream destination where clothing could become optional.
I need to stop thinking of Annie without her clothing…
It is just making me hard. I do not want to show up at her front door with a hard-on.
I take a deep breath and try to think of ways that I can improve my batting average.
I start to mentally run myself through all the tips I’ve been given from coaches over the years.
When I feel myself adjusting back to normal, I continue up the porch steps and ring the doorbell.
Thank God I’ve taken the time to get my shit together, because Mr. Campbell is the one who answers the door.
“Davis, come on in. I think Annie is going to be down any minute.” I follow his directions and enter the house.
Mr. Campbell goes back to watching the baseball game.
Before the inning is over, Annie appears from the direction of the stairs.
No wonder this girl has been making so many appearances in my wet dreams. Dressed in a Griffons low-cut tank and jean skirt, she is fucking with my mind.
Her long blonde hair is down, and I want to tuck it behind her ear to pull it out of her face and then kiss her, but her dad is right behind me on the couch, and it feels weird to make out with her in front of him.
“You ready?” I say to her. “Whenever you are,” she replies.
She tells her dad goodbye. As we leave, he offhandedly reminds her that curfew is midnight. Annie comments back, “Got it, Dad.”
***
As soon as the door shuts behind us, I wrap my arms around her in a hug.
“First the jersey and now this,” I say as I run my hand along the side of her tank.
She smiles and doesn’t answer me with words; she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a kiss.
It’s short and sweet, but it makes me hard again.
She is going to be the death of me. I don’t ever remember any time a girl has driven me this crazy without at least a majority of her clothing removed.
Now here Annie is, fully clothed and making me wish I could cancel the date I’ve planned, haul her over my shoulder, carry her to my bedroom, and have her breathless and naked against me.
“Earth to Drew,” she says as I have been lost in my thoughts.
I step back and offer my hand, “You ready to go on this first date?” “Yes, but are you going to tell me what we are doing?” “It’s more fun if I don’t,” I say as we head towards my car.
***
It’s a short drive to the mini golf. Even though I’ve been Annie’s friend for over a year now, I realized while planning this date that I have some gaps to fill in as far as her interests, likes, and dislikes outside of the sports area.
I’ve asked Craig and Luke for ideas for this date, since they have both grown up with Annie.
We had thrown out the idea of the batting cages, but I’ve ruled that out as a first date because baseball was already so much a part of our friendship.
We’d been talking about bowling or an arcade, something competitive and light for a first date, when the idea of mini golf had come to me.
I want to learn more about her, and I think about a question game I saw online when looking up first-date ideas.
“Let’s play a game of ten questions each while we are on the drive to our date destination,” I suggest to her.
“Oh, interesting—so we can ask any ten questions we want, no topic is off limits?” she asks.
I give her hand in mine a little squeeze.
“Yes, nothing is off limits, unless you want it to be.” “Who gets to start?” is her response, looking excited next to me.
“If you want, you can, but make it an easy one,” I say.
Annie acts like she is thinking. “What’s your favorite color?
” I’m able to easily say blue, I almost say blue-gray like her eyes, but it sounds a little too cheesy even inside my head, so I keep the answer to just blue.
“What is your favorite color?” I return the question to her.
“Crimson." I do a really bad game show announcer impression and tell her that’s one down and only nine more to go. Annie thinks a little bit before asking, “What’s your favorite movie?” “Sandlot—it’s classic.
” Then I double down on the question, and she answers, “The newer Romeo and Juliet.”
“You have to ask the next few first, I need time to think,” Annie says.
“Ok, fair point,” I say, then think about what I don’t know about her.
I ask, “Have you ever dreamed about me?” She fidgets in her seat before answering, “Yes, you’ve had a few appearances.
” “Dare to elaborate?” “Does it count as another of your questions?” she counters.
“Sure, going to answer?” I squeeze her fingers.
“More or less, it’s just us making out.” Her answer makes me want to dive into the “more” part of her statement, but I don’t get the chance.
“What about you, have you ever dreamed of me, with details, Dimples?” she interjects to make sure she doesn’t have to use another one like I just did, smart girl.
“Yes: the first time was you reminding me I missed the English test.” She laughs, and I continue, “But after that bikini picture, I had one where I got to remove it, and it was very detailed in all the best ways.” I glance over at her to read her reaction and can see the blush on her cheeks.
She meets my eyes for a quick moment, and if I’m not reading her wrong, she looks intrigued.
“Happy to share all the details with you at some point, Angel.” But I think it’s my turn again.
“What was your first thought after meeting me?” “Wow,” she says, and then, “What about you?” “I thought you were hot.” I smile when I reply.
I think I’ve lost track of the question number total, as we continue to ask them so quickly.
At this point, it’s less about getting in all ten questions and it’s about getting to learn more about Annie.
She interrupts my thoughts with her next question, “Where has been your favorite place to live?” This is a really good question.
With the hand holding hers, I rub my thumb in a small circle against her skin as I think through the long list. As a teenager, I’ve probably been the happiest here in Oklahoma.
That isn’t just because of the girl next to me, but because I’ve made some good friends, and Coach has been helping me with the possibility of the next steps with baseball.
But it seems like too easy an answer, and I know Annie will call me out on it.
“I liked living in Colorado,” I finally answer.
“How long did you all live there, and why was it your favorite?” Annie asks.
“We lived in a lot of different places around the state for like eight years. Mom had been inspired by all the natural wonders. We got to do a lot of hiking and outdoor adventures—we even worked our way to class four rapids by the end. Daniel and I had thought we were so cool when we came back from that trip, just to have most of our friends act like it was pretty normal to complete.” I finish my thought and take a peek at Annie before refocusing on the road.
I hadn’t meant to bring up Daniel; our years in Colorado had been our closest, and it had just been easy to picture him and me on those adventures together.
Well, fuck, I think, I just killed the good vibes on our first date, but before I can start to get inside my head about it, Annie asks in a serious voice, “Is it weird for you that I was with him first?” We haven’t talked about the fact that Annie had dated Daniel.
I knew at some point it would have to be discussed.
I wish I wasn’t driving the car right now.
I want to watch her reactions and make sure she understands what I was about to say, but I know I can’t, and it would be better to get this conversation over with now, so we don’t have to have it ever again, and we can both move forward.
“I’m going to be honest, so yeah, it bothers me a little.
If we are going to talk about it, there has been something that I’d like to ask about your relationship, but you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.
” She squeezes my hand, then says, “I want your honesty always, Drew. I’ll do my best to answer if you want to ask.
” I clear my throat before asking, “Did you sleep with him?” I am not sure what I hope to gain by knowing: already I can feel jealousy take over my mind, thinking about him and her.
But when she’d asked, it was the nagging question in my head.
It’s better to know now at the beginning, isn’t it?
I think. “No, Drew, we didn’t,” Annie answers me, and I can’t help the relief that washes over me.
I squeeze her hand again and say, “Ok, so with that covered, we can both agree that the subject of you and Daniel isn’t something either of us needs to talk about in further detail.
” “Totally agreed. Daniel is your brother, your very annoying older brother, end of the story,” she states, and I kiss her hand.
“You know, I think you have dominated the last few questions,” I say, changing the subject.
“I think it’s my turn to ask you a few. What do you think is my best feature?
” “Your ability to do that: make something easier, to lighten the mood,” she says.
It’s not the answer I was expecting, but I appreciate it, because it’s about me as a person.
“What about physically, and you can’t say my dimple?
” I respond, because I already know that one.
I can feel her eyes glaze over the parts of my body she can see.
“From what I’ve seen, I’d say your—” (she takes a long pause) “—Fine, ok, your chest and abs are amazing, and I want to touch them.” With her little confession, I see the blush on her cheeks again.
“Angel, I can whip this shirt off, and you can touch them right now if you want,” I say, only half joking, because if she asks me, I’ll do it.
“Drew, focus on the road,” she laughs at me.
“Ok, ok, I’ll focus, but you say the word, Angel, and I’ll get topless for you any time. ” “Deal” is her flushed response.
I know we are only a few minutes from the mini golf and our time for questions is almost over, so I ask one of the questions I remember from my internet search on this topic.
“What’s something you’ve never done in a relationship?
” Maybe my previous question skewed her response, because when she answers, I can’t help it: my dick twitches.
“Sex,” she answers with a little breath.
“You?” she follows up quickly. I’m trying to get the thoughts in my brain to click, thoughts are running around from She’s a virgin, I could be her first, How is that possible?
“Drew, did you hear my question?” Her words break through the brain fog of her reply and the tailspin it sent me into.
I think, I can’t say anything sexual, I’ve done my fair share of hooking up…
The only things I haven’t done aren’t worth mentioning.
So, I say the first non-sexual thing that comes to mind.
“I’ve never said I love you.” Before either of us can respond further, I make the turn into the mini-golf and it’s just the distraction we both need.