Chapter 9
∞∞∞
Meryl
A knock at the door told me he was a little early. That bastard.
“Hey,” I greeted him cheerily as I opened the door and smiled up at him. My heart fluttered nervously in my chest all of a sudden.
“Morning,” he returned with a grin. His whole face lit up with it and the sweetness of it made me want to put him in my pocket and take him everywhere I went.
He was wearing dark colored workout clothes and looked especially fit in the stretchy fabric. Show off. I was into it.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. I smiled up at him and he touched my upper arm gently. Then fur brushed past my leg as PT came over to sniff at him.
“This is Poptart,” I introduced with pride.
“She’s so sweet,” he said as he bent down to pet her. She wagged her little tail and wiggled her butt.
“There’s a good coffee place nearby. Want to walk? I thought we’d bring her and sit outside,” I explained and grabbed her leash from beside the front door.
“That sounds great, let’s do it,” he agreed enthusiastically. He”d mentioned before that he was a dog person too.
I was so unsure of how I was supposed to act around him now as we waited in the elevator. We’d shared an incredibly passionate make-out session and a lovely dinner, but did I kiss him now? Should I hold his hand? I had Poptart’s leash to hold onto, so at least that wasn’t too awkward. I settled for walking next to him and occasionally leaning my arm into his as we walked.
I tried to point out a couple of good spots along the way, but I kept getting distracted by his blue eyes catching mine. Those damned eyes sent my coherent thoughts fleeing. I liked the way they’d darkened slightly after he’d first kissed me last night. I wanted to see that again.
“How’s the new place working out?” I asked him when we were almost there, to try to keep my thoughts in safer territory.
“Good, I like it. The gym is nice. I’m still unpacking, but I’m almost there,” Finn said with a charming smile.
“When do I get to see it?” I asked him excitedly. I shot him an amused glance from the side of my eye.
“You want to take a look?” he said. He sounded surprised. I’d helped him choose the place after all. Of course I wanted to see it.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“We can head back there after this,” he offered and my stomach swirled with nervous excitement.
“Really?” I grinned up at him. I wanted to check out his place and his gym too. If we were actually going to be gym buddies, I’d need to decide if I preferred his apartment’s gym or my own.
“If you want to,” Finn studied my face, but I was already decided.
“I do,” I assured and he nodded. It would also be nice to kiss him again somewhere we wouldn’t be interrupted. I was still a bit weirded out by the way it had all happened yesterday. We deserved a make-up kiss at the very least.
“And if you give me two minutes inside alone before you come in,” Finn insisted seriously and I laughed.
“To hide the bodies?” I teased him.
“To hide the bodies, yes,” he confirmed without hesitation and I laughed again.
“I’ll allow it,” I promised. I’d want the same thing if I were him. He probably wanted to clean up or check that the bathroom was clean. That’s what I would do anyway.
“We’ll get the coffee to-go then,” he said. It was a good plan. Poptart wagged her tail happily as we got our drinks and headed toward his apartment building.It wasn”t far and PT was happy to take a longer walk. She loved being outside and I liked the extra steps I took everyday from walking her around. It was really helping me stick to my goals. This was the most active and the most social I’d been in awhile. It felt nice.
Walking with Finn was also nice. It was sunny and the air was crisp. I had a cute dog companion, and a cute guy companion too. A hot coffee in my hand and a hot guy at my side.
Just getting out of my apartment and walking was a win, but this was an excellent bonus that I could get used to very quickly.