Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
May
My nerves danced as I tried to remember that this wasn’t an unusual occurrence for me. I did this often. I had fun with my friends. I went out, I stayed home and watched movies. I worked hard to enrich the lives of the children I worked with. I researched, I read.
And I went on a lot of first dates.
But I didn’t get to go on seconds.
That meant I could not put too much pressure on myself for tonight. If I did, it would ruin everything. This night could ruin everything. And I didn’t want that to happen.
Not with Leo.
Not with the gentle man who was kind and fun and everything that made me smile.
I felt like I already knew him, yet this was still just a first date. One that wouldn’t feel like a first date.
I wiped my sweaty palms on my towel and then went to my closet, trying to figure out what to wear.
I had spent the morning with Luke and Brooke, going over the next month’s schedule and activities.
And then Luke and I fingerpainted until I ended up with blue in my hair.
It had taken three washes, but I was finally mostly clean.
Now, it was styled, my makeup was on, and I had to figure out exactly what to put on.
Clearly, I was not good at this.
But I needed to figure it out.
This was Leo. We were going for a casual dinner so I didn’t need to wear a fancy dress with pearls and do my hair in cascading curls. I only had to look like I was enjoying myself.
I slipped into black leggings with little lace cutouts on them and pulled on a flowy shirt that emphasized my boobs but didn’t show them off.
It was comfortable and cute at the same time.
I slid my feet into sparkly flats and figured this would have to be it.
I hoped it was enough and I didn’t look like I’d tried too hard or not enough.
I truly needed to get out of my head. It was just a date. I could do this. I put on earrings, redid my lipstick, and grabbed my bag.
It wasn’t as if my entire dating life relied on this evening.
No, I wasn’t going to think about that.
But, Leo? He made me smile. And he had been there for me when I needed him.
I wasn’t going to mess this up.
Enough of that. I drove toward the small restaurant we were meeting at, grateful I had time to compose myself, though I wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
I grabbed my bag, got out of the car, and made my way inside.
It was a place I had frequented enough that the waitstaff knew me. Leo had chosen it without knowing that, but it was fine. Maybe he came here with his numerous dates.
I winced. Okay, so he was a player and happened to be very good at first dates, at least according to everyone I talked to, but that didn’t mean that I could judge him. After all, I probably went on more dates than he did. Though he was likely really good at it while I sucked.
The hostess’s eyes widened. “Oh, good. You’re here.”
I cleared my throat. “Party of two.” I looked around but didn’t see Leo, and he hadn’t texted me, so I figured I would get our table.
“I can go put you at the corner table. It’s really romantic.”
“Any table’s fine. I’m just hungry.”
And having an existential crisis.
The hostess winked at me as she sat me at her favorite booth. It also happened to have the same waiter from the night the man had treated me like crap, and I’d wanted to throw my drink at him. I still regretted not having water in that glass.
“We’ll let him know that you’re here.”
“I can text. It’s not a big deal. This isn’t a big deal,” I said again.
I should have tried for a different place for our date. Not one where evidence of every single bad date I’d ever had seemed to be etched into the walls.
“I’m so happy,” the hostess said as she clapped and returned to her station.
Everybody would probably be placing bets soon to see how tonight went.
Would my date show up? Would he treat me like crap?
Would I be so bored that I yawned and fell asleep?
That had only been one time, and I had been up the night before cramming for an exam because I had been working on my master’s.
I quickly texted Leo that I was at the restaurant, but he didn’t answer.
He was probably driving, so I didn’t need to worry about that. It wasn’t like he could pull over and text the letter K or something.
He would show up. Because if he didn’t, all our friends would promptly rip his head off, and then I’d feel terrible.
Not only because I had been stood up again but because my friend was dead.
My friend. Leo was my friend.
And we were going on a date. And he’d kissed me. Oh, how he’d kissed me.
I rubbed my hands on my leggings, grateful that I had worn the soft material so it covered my sweat.
Why was I sweating?
I gulped my water and then used the cloth napkin to wipe my face.
I was stressing out. I hated this.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I looked up, and there he was.
He prowled toward me, his dark hair falling slightly over his forehead. He wore dark jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
He looked edible. Sexy. And so damn gorgeous.
He smiled at me, and I almost stood, but then my seat got stuck, and I sort of jerked a little.
Leo’s eyes filled with warmth, and I knew he wasn’t laughing at me, only because I was the one doing the laughing.
“You’re here,” I blurted and wanted to curse myself.
Leo raised a brow. “Of course, I am.” He took the seat in front of me and tilted his head as he studied my face. “And fuck. I just remembered that one jerk didn’t show up. I’m not them. I’m none of those first dates. Like you’re none of mine.”
“You’re not as bad at dating as I am.”
Leo threw his head back and laughed, and I noticed a few women and men look over at him in appreciation. I didn’t blame them. There was a lot to appreciate. But he was mine for the night, and I resisted the urge to narrow my gaze at them.
“You think you’ve got it bad? No, I’ve been on a date where she ordered a single side salad with no toppings or dressing, then proceeded to eat each lettuce leaf one by one. But then had the nerve to reach over and steal my fries.”
The image filled my brain, and I shook my head. “Wait. I can get over the whole lettuce thing because maybe that’s what she wanted to do. But stealing your fries? No. There are rules. Either you go in with the intention of sharing, or you order what you want. You don’t steal food.”
“I believe this is going to be the start of a lovely relationship.” Leo smiled as he said it, and my stomach tightened, even as I blushed.
I hoped that was the case. But I had hoped before, and that hadn’t worked out so well.
“It’s so good to see you again,” my familiar waiter said, and I wanted to hide under the table.
“I’m Leo. It’s nice to meet you. And if May’s been here before, the food must be good.”
“Oh, it is. Now, what can I get you to drink?”
I winced, already feeling awkward. “I’m just fine with water right now. I haven’t even looked at the menu.”
“Same,” Leo put in, his gaze on me.
In fact, he was only looking at me.
That might have felt creepy with one of my other dates, but not with Leo. Because he wanted to see my reactions to gauge what I was thinking. I was trying to figure him out, as well.
“I’ll be back soon, then. Take your time. Seriously.”
The waiter walked away, and I groaned. “I’m sorry.”
“This place is near our neighborhood. Of course, you’ve come here on dates. I have, too.” He pointed to a table by the far window. “I was on a date over there where the woman proceeded to try to crawl under the table, and…well, maybe I shouldn’t tell that story.” Leo winced and gulped his water.
My eyes widened. “Here? It’s a well-lit establishment. I don’t know how you could even get away with that.”
“You can’t. But she was drunk on half a glass of wine and wanted to say hi. Apparently, she heard that I was an exhibitionist and wanted to see if that was true.”
I froze, images of me on my knees in front of him flooding my brain. They weren’t horrible images, but I wasn’t about to do something like that in public. “Are you an exhibitionist? Because I’m not getting down on my knees in this restaurant.”
I blushed just thinking about it, but he grinned.
“Good to know. And I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to want a blow job in a restaurant.
The fact that I’m even talking about it is a little out of my wheelhouse.
” He cleared his throat. “May. You know me. You’ve been on dates, and I’ve been on dates, but this is our first date.
I already know the way you taste. And now I want to get to know you some more. What do you say?”
The way he said that made me think of the fact that he only knew how my lips tasted and nothing else. And from the hunger in his gaze, he was thinking the same thing.
I looked down at my glass and realized I was out of water, suddenly feeling parched.
“Come on, let’s do this. I’m here to show you that not all men are creeps and jerks.”
I smiled back up at him. “And I’m here to show you that not all women only want you for one thing. Although, well, I’m not going to say no to that,” I said quickly and then put my hands over my face, groaning.
Leo laughed again, shaking his head. “See? We’re both awkward as hell. We’ll figure it out.”
Thankfully, the waiter came back, and we ordered our meals after he refilled our water glasses. I settled in, watching Leo speak.
“Now, are you going to let me have a piece of your kebab, or am I going to have to order a side of that?”
I shook my head. “Of course, I am. And you’re going to let me have a bite of your salmon. We’re sharing here. We even asked for separate little plates.”
“I didn’t order french fries, though. I feel like we should have ordered french fries.”
“Next time,” I teased and then froze.
I didn’t get next times. I shouldn’t have said that.
But then Leo reached forward and gripped my hand, rubbing his thumb across my skin. “Next time. That sounds good to me.”