Chapter 4
Luke decided to come over to my place to hang out.
He suggested we go out to get drinks, and I counter-suggested that he come over to my place.
I was broke, and any excuse to stay in was okay with me.
I’ve been working at the same financial consulting agency since graduating, but I’m stuck in an administrative role and barely making ends meet, even with a roommate.
I have the degree and the knowledge, but no one is willing to hire me as an analyst without experience.
Unfortunately, I can’t gain experience because no one is willing to give me the opportunity to gain it.
It’s a vicious cycle and has me questioning the point of going to college and acquiring a degree.
It’s been almost a year since I graduated, so I’ve started looking for other opportunities that will allow me to grow professionally and be able to pay back my student loans.
We made plans to just hang out at my apartment.
While I waited, I became increasingly more anxious.
Should I set out board games? Assume he is just here to hook up?
I decided to get some drinks and snacks ready and grabbed a pack of playing cards in case there was any awkwardness.
So far, the only awkwardness when we are together has come from yours truly.
I heard a knock on the door and rushed over to answer it.
Before opening the door, I gave myself a quick look to make sure I looked decent.
Since we were just hanging out at home, I settled on jean shorts and a plain tank top.
I did pick my shortest shorts and a low-cut top to add a little pizzazz.
I opened the door and couldn’t help the giant smile that grew across my face.
He is so cute, and I have a major thing for him.
I’m hoping our frequent hangouts mean he is feeling the same way.
“Hey, babe,” he said as he pulled me in for a hug. I melted into him.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked. “Sure, I’d love to,” he joked while I just stood there in his embrace.
“Come in,” I said as I led him into the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure what you would want to do. I set out drinks and snacks. Do you want anything?”
His eyes traveled slowly over me, and a shiver ran through my body.
“I don’t need a drink or snack,” he said as he slowly walked toward me.
“Do you want to play cards?”
He shook his head.
“Okay.”
“My cold shower didn’t work,” he said. “I can’t stop thinking about the other night.
I was hoping we could pick up where we left off at my apartment.
” He stepped closer. ”Forgive me for coming on to you the second I walk in the door, but you look so hot, and you smell so good, and if you tell me to settle down and play a game of cards with you, I will.
I have some self-control, and I respect whatever you want to do. ”
As he was talking to me, he had backed me up to the point that my butt was leaning on the kitchen counter. He was inches away from me, and I was so turned on that my body was making all kinds of involuntary gasps and groans.
“I don’t want to play cards,” I said under my breath.
He bent down toward me, our lips inches apart, and said, “Tell me what you want to do.”
“I want to pick up where we left off,” I said back, not completely comfortable verbalizing what I wanted to do and hoping my body would take over communicating my needs. I am not a super tiny girl, so when he grabbed my thighs and lifted me onto the counter, I was a goner.
His lips came closer to mine, to the point where our breaths were mingling, and he said, “Let me see if I can remember where we were.”
Our mouths crashed together. My fingers were running through his hair and down his arms. His hands were running up my sides and down my thighs.
He pulled back slightly to take his glasses off, setting them on the kitchen counter, and looked deep into my eyes.
I couldn’t help but notice how different he looked without his glasses.
I always thought he was attractive, but he looked gorgeous.
I pushed him back slightly to take a good look at the whole package.
“Wow, you look so different without your glasses,” I murmured, enjoying the view.
“You also look different without my glasses because I can barely see,” he teased.
He pulled me back in for a kiss and then paused and said, “I’m happy to just kiss you and be able to touch you. Don’t think I came over here expecting sex.” He kissed me softly on the lips. “I just had to touch you. That's all I have been thinking about.”
“I don’t have sex on the first date,” I said back to him.
He gave me a goofy grin and said, “This is not our first date.”
“You’re right,” I replied while I pushed him back slightly so I could slide down off the counter. I grabbed his hand and walked him over to the living room. I pushed him down on the couch and sat on his lap, straddling him. His hands came up my thighs and landed on my ass.
“Aren’t you glad?” I said, pulling him back to my mouth.
Luke started kissing down my neck and gently pulled the collar of my shirt aside, moving his attention down the center of my chest. I stopped him and pulled my shirt off over my head, leaving me in my bra and jean shorts.
He paused for a second to look me over, before continuing his journey down my chest. I slid my hands under the bottom of his shirt, exploring the warmth of his skin as I moved my hands up his chest. I pulled his shirt over his head and leaned in, pressing kisses along his neck and chest.
He stopped me. “Cassie, I don’t know where this is going, and I don’t want to assume anything, but I wasn’t planning to come here and have sex with you. I didn’t bring a condom, so I think we’d better stop before this goes too much farther.”
“I have condoms,” I replied, moving back toward him as I continued to kiss down his chest.
He let out a strangled, sexy groan. “I’m really trying to be a respectable guy here.”
“Luke, I want this. Do you want this? If you don’t, we will stop.”
“I want it. You have no idea.”
I stood up and grabbed his hand. I led him to my bedroom. He stopped and turned to close the door while I walked over to my nightstand to grab a condom. I set it on the bed and sat down.
Shirtless and glasses-less, Luke smiled at me and walked over to the bed.
It was dusk outside, so the room was bright enough for us to see each other, but also dim enough that I didn’t feel self-conscious.
Also, because I knew he could barely see without his glasses, which had been abandoned in the kitchen.
He leaned down to kiss me and then climbed on top of me, pushing me down onto the bed.
We kissed, teasing our tongues against each other, while he ran his hands down over my bra.
He reached behind my back to unclasp my bra, and after a minor struggle, he succeeded.
He slowly slid the straps down my arms and then threw it onto the floor.
He stood up, unbuttoned my shorts, and slid them down my legs.
“You’re gorgeous. I can’t believe I get to see you like this,” he breathed as he looked up and down my body.
He pulled his jeans off, and we were both left in just our underwear.
“Let me see you,” I said.
I saw him take a deep breath and push his boxers down to the floor. He walked toward the end of the bed fully naked and said, “Your turn.”
He reached down to the sides of my underwear to pull them off.
I lifted off the bed slightly to help him, while he slowly dragged them down my legs.
I lay there, fully naked and exposed to him.
I didn’t feel anything except the need for him to be on my body.
I reached for his hip and pulled him down on top of me.
We came together and continued to touch and kiss and rub against each other.
I felt him reach over to the nightstand to grab the condom as we continued to kiss.
He paused our kiss long enough to put on the condom.
He reached down between my legs and started to tease me with his fingers.
I reached for him and pulled him closer.
“Now, Luke. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
I felt him nudge up to my entrance and slowly sink into me.
He let out a breathy groan and paused. I started to grind my body against him, encouraging him to start moving, which he slowly did.
Soon, our hips were moving in rhythm. It felt familiar, like our bodies were meant to be doing this together.
When he finished, we both took awkward little bathroom breaks to clean up and met back in bed. He pulled me into his chest and laughingly said, “Now we can go play cards.
Dates four, five, six, seven, and eight were more of the same.
Spending time with each other at one of our places, watching our favorite shows together, cooking, playing board games, and having a lot of sex.
My attraction to him was on fire, and I couldn’t get enough.
Apparently, neither could he because it was usually the first thing on our to-do list once one of us walked in the door.
Around date number ten, Luke asked me to be his girlfriend.
It was an immediate yes from me, and it felt like more of a formality to make sure we were both on the same page.
He invited me to his parents’ house for a summer party.
His parents, Stacy and Randy, had invited everyone they had ever met in their lives, so my night was spent with introductions and mentally categorizing people, trying to remember who they were.
I spent some time in the kitchen with his mom, Stacy, helping prepare more food to restock the party snacks. I had come to know her a little bit, and she was proving herself to be a great mom, though a bit of a wild card. I never really knew what was going to come out of her mouth.
“So,” Stacy started, while bringing me more crackers to stock up the meat and cheese tray, “Seems like Luke is pretty crazy about you. He talks about you a lot, and you can not believe how shocked I was when he asked me to help prepare a dinner for you. I think he is smitten.”
Smitten. I smiled back at her and said, “I’m pretty smitten, myself. We are having a lot of fun together, and thank you for helping him cook. It was delicious. I need you to teach me how to cook. I have tasted his cooking since, and it has not been the same when left to his own devices.”
She laughed. “You know, Randy and I got married right around the same age you guys are right now. Are there any plans of a wedding in the near future?”
I slowly turned around and stared at her with my mouth gaping open. She started to laugh again.
“Maybe I'm rushing it a bit. You know, Randy and I only dated for six months before we got engaged and were married after one year, so I’m never going to get after you guys for moving too quickly. Plus, what was the point of having six kids if I’m never going to be a grandma?”
I paused what I was doing again and looked at her. She was staring at me with what can only be described as a “shit-eating grin.”
“You are wild. And I'm going to pretend we never had this conversation. Imagine on the way home I say, ‘By the way, Luke, your mom and I were making wedding plans and talking about what we are going to name our kids.’ Your son is pretty chill; however, I think he would drop me off on the side of the road. I really like him, but it has only been a couple of months. We’ll see what happens. I don’t think either of us is in a hurry for anything. ”
Stacy started to grab things to bring outside. “I’m just teasing you. I have really enjoyed having you around here, and I hope we get to see a lot more of you. Heaven knows we could use some more estrogen in this house.”
Luke and I settle into a bench swing in his parents’ backyard just as some fireworks are starting.
Nothing makes me feel more American than watching fireworks on a hot, summer night.
God Bless America. There is patriotic music playing, fireworks blasting off everywhere, and kids running around the backyard screaming.
Luke puts his arm around me and kisses me on the forehead.
“I'm really glad you're here with me tonight. My mom is really sold on you. You should have heard what she said to me earlier when I was grilling. On the other hand, my dad just slapped me on the back and said, “Good work, son.”
I looked at him and said, “If it was anything like what she was saying to me when we were in the kitchen, please know that she and I are on different timelines.”
He chuckled and pulled me closer, “I was getting worried she was going to slip my grandma’s engagement ring in my pocket at some point tonight. They really like you.”
I smiled. “Well, I really like them, and I really like you.”
He turned my face toward his and brought my lips to his. He delivered a slow, sweet kiss. “I actually really love you, Cassie.”
My heart stopped, and the fireworks stopped, and the noise stopped.
All there was in that moment was him looking into my eyes, waiting.
This felt like it was too soon to be dropping any “L Bombs”.
I know what loving my family feels like, and I certainly feel the same way about him, except sexier. I think that means I love him, too.
“I really love you, too, Luke.”
We left the party shortly after and drove home with stars in our eyes. This guy is so special. He loves me, and I love him back. What a day to be alive. That night, we made love, and everything was perfect.