14. Comfortable and At Ease
COMFORTABLE AND AT EASE
A spen
The rest of the week passed quickly. Between work, spending time with Ivy, trying not to think about my upcoming date, and apparently drinking too much wine and losing a whole pair of shorts in the process, I’d done a wonderful job distracting myself.
But of course, that only worked for so long before life crept up on you.
When I wasn’t having incredibly vivid dreams of the man in question, I was mentally panicking over our upcoming date.
Said date was about two hours from now, and Ivy was on her way over to help me prepare for whatever it was that man had planned. He just told me to dress nice, comfortable, and be excited. No idea what that meant in terms of a date.
I was sitting on my couch in my black fuzzy robe when Ivy walked in the front door. Thankfully, she had a key so she could just let herself in. I watched as she walked in carrying a large tote, wearing a smile on her face that I knew spelled out trouble of the girlie variety for me.
“What in the world did you bring? It’s just a casual date…it’s not the MET Gala or something.” Was I being slightly whiny? Yes.
“I know you’re only saying that because you’re nervous, not because you’re judging me for being excited for you.
So, I’m choosing to let it slide this time.
” She dropped the massive tote bag next to me on the couch and started emptying the contents beside me.
“Okay, so I brought everything we could possibly need. I already know what you’re doing, so maybe just trust me on this setup, okay?
Try not to dig too deep into the meaning and question me too much.
” She paused unloading and stared at me. “Assuming you can manage that.”
I stared at her for a moment, anxiety bubbling inside of me. I was choosing to ignore the comment about me being unable to question shit. She knew me too well to even bother lying. “What do you mean you know? He told you?”
She smiled. “Well, I had to ask and find out how to help you get ready, right?”
“Ugh, Ivy! What are we doing?” I whined.
I was excited, deep down past the anxious feelings that were setting up residence in my chest. I’d never been on a real date before.
Sam and I had just started talking, and then he proclaimed us boyfriend and girlfriend.
After my dad died, we moved in together, and that was that.
All of this, Ivy knew, which would explain why she was so adamant about helping me get ready and trying to settle any nerves she knew I’d have.
“You didn’t…you didn’t tell him, did you?
About this being my first actual date,” I whispered as I toyed with the cord on the curling wand she’d pulled out.
She stood back up and looked down at me, her brows pulled together.
“Aspen, I would never. If you want to tell him, you can. But that isn’t my place.
I just want to help, I promise.” A small, encouraging smile graced her pale pink lips, and I returned the gesture.
“Now, something comfy but cute, of course. Warm, definitely. So don’t skimp on the layers but also don’t overdo it.
But, onto more important things. Curly or straight?
” she asked and held up her curling wand and straightener in opposite hands.
I chuckled and pointed to the wand. “Make me pretty, darling.”
Thankfully, Ivy knew exactly what she was doing. An hour and some change later, I looked…well, I looked fantastic.
She had French-braided the top section of my hair back out of my face, so it went from one side of my head around the other, where it was curled down with the rest of my long, dark brown hair.
My makeup was a touch darker than I normally wore it, but it worked.
The smoky eyeshadow she used made my blue eyes pop even more than normal, and the deep sangria red lipstick color she’d put on was smudge-proof.
Apparently, that should be something I was concerned with this evening.
Clothes we tag-teamed. Going for black leggings, my chunky Doc Marten boots, and an off-the-shoulder deep red sweater that matched my lip color almost perfectly.
A chunky gold chain choker and a few rings finished off the look.
I slid on my boots and walked toward the couch so she could get the full effect.
She stared at me, a smile growing moment by moment across her face. “You look fucking stunning. He’s going to eat you alive, and I can’t wait to live vicariously through you with all the dirty details.”
I scrunched my nose up and chuckled. “You’re crazy.”
“Yup, but you wouldn’t have me any other way, so hush.” She plopped back down on the couch, munching on a chocolate croissant from Ember’s bakery.
A knock on the door brought a knowing smirk to Ivy’s face and a frown to mine. “He’s early.”
“I told him to be so you wouldn’t have time to get anxious and find a reason to back out. Now, go get the door, pookie! We can’t leave our lover boy waiting.”
It still caught me off guard sometimes how well my best friend knew me, because she was right.
That was exactly what I’d do. I walked over and opened the door to reveal the man of the hour.
Rowan was wearing his black cowboy boots, dark blue Wrangler jeans, and a black button-up that was rolled half up his forearms with the top two buttons undone, revealing a small glimpse of his chest tattoo.
The tips of the raven's feathers peeking through had dirty thoughts sliding throughout my mind. His facial hair was a light stubble again tonight, like it had been the first time I’d met him.
However, the best part of his whole ensemble tonight?
The wide-eyed look he was giving me as he looked me over head to toe, and the blush that lightly covered his cheeks when he noticed me noticing him notice me.
He cleared his throat and quickly tried to cover it up with his cocky smile he only seemed to use when he was nervous or wanted to put on some sort of public persona.
“Nervous there, cowboy?” I asked, with an accidental smile plastered across my face.
“Nope, I’m totally fine. Excited even,” Rowan stuttered through quickly. He leaned past me, peeking his head around the door towards Ivy. “Thank you for helping me tonight. I’ll have her home by eleven.”
“Or you could just kidnap her and hold her hostage in your evil sex dungeon! It’s fine either way! Just shoot me a text so I don’t wait up,” Ivy yelled from the couch, a laugh slipping through that she was failing to contain behind her hand.
“My evil sex dungeon? What did you tell—” he started, his eyes wide, but I quickly started closing the apartment door before he could finish.
“Absolutely nothing, please feel free to ignore her.” I closed and locked the door behind me and started for the stairs, eager to change the subject.
He already looked delicious enough to eat in those jeans, so the last thing I needed to think about was Rowan and a sex dungeon.
“So, where to, cowboy? What’s the big plan for the evening? ”
He just smiled and took my hand in his, guiding me outside to his truck. I’d noticed the more time I spent with Rowan, the more comfortable and at ease I felt. The only other person I’d felt like this with was Ivy, and the more time went on, the less anxious I was feeling about the thought.
Which, when I thought too hard about not feeling anxious, made me anxious again. I released a quick breath once we reached the truck and reminded myself of what Ivy said.
I deserved to be happy and feel loved—that wasn’t always a bad thing.