Eight
Sean’s favorite restaurant turned out to be a wing restaurant.
“Is this okay?”
“Seriously? I fucking love wings.” I blurted then laughed as I covered my mouth.
“I had a feeling you would. Only heathens don’t like wings and you don’t seem to be a heathen to me.”
Sean pressed his hand to my lower back as we walked into the restaurant.
It was what could only be described as a fancy steakhouse meeting a dive bar and having a baby.
It had obviously been a restaurant for many years, but it looked as if they’d renovated recently.
There were two semi-divided spaces. One was the general restaurant area that everyone walked into first. There were dim lights hanging over each table, giving the room a sense of privacy.
A host stand was set up just inside the doorway.
The host, Sarah—according to her name tag—was dressed in a flattering black button-down and black slacks.
She smiled at us, nodding specifically to Sean as we passed by and through the large archway to the other space, which was where the bar was located.
There were also tables with similar lighting just inside the archway but beyond the bar, it was barely lit.
I saw that there was a small stage for live entertainment and Sean was guiding us in that direction.
“Sup.” He called to the bartender as we walked by.
I watched the bartender nod back at him then smirk when he saw me.
We passed the bar until we found the most private table of all.
“I thought this might be nicer than having a lot of people around us.”
“I agree.” My face was burning, and I was more than happy that the lights were dimmed. I was already more nervous than I had been for my cosmetology final.
It was a rounded booth with high sides and the only view was of the stage. I slid in on the right as Sean made his way in on the left until we met in the middle. Thankfully, I didn’t feel like a sardine stuffed into a can like so many other booths had made me feel.
He turned towards me and slid his right hand onto my bare knee as he brought his lips to mine again.
Just the touch of his hand on my bare skin and the way his lips moved, effortlessly making my heart pound, was electrifying.
And to be quite honest, it had me desiring a whole hell of a lot more that couldn’t—or shouldn’t—be done in a restaurant.
He barely pulled back in time as the bartender stepped up to our table. “Hey guys, how’s it going.”
I nodded sheepishly as Sean cleared his throat to say. “Good, how about you?”
I knew this exchange of pleasantries was only because of the interruption and us all needing to ignore that moment.
“I’m afraid I don’t know you.” The bartender turned to me. I noticed that he had a smirk, like he knew something I didn’t.
“Lizette.” I offered and felt Sean squeeze my knee lightly out of encouragement. “But you can call me Zette.”
“Hi, Zette. It’s nice to see Sean bring someone with him.
” He was teasing Sean, and I was admittedly enjoying it.
Partly for the tease, but also because I now knew that he wasn’t always bringing girls on dates to his favorite restaurant.
It made me feel special—something I hadn’t felt in far too long.
“Alright, alright. That’s enough of that, Brian.” Sean countered but I saw a small smile growing at the corner of his mouth.
We ordered our drinks and looked over the menu, deciding to share a few different flavors—all bone-in—by the time Brian came back.
I realized I hadn’t even finished my cider from home, but I didn’t need it. I took a sip of my sangria—suggested by Brian and Sean both—just to taste it. It definitely lived up to the hype.
“I’d say we’ve got a good fifteen minutes before the wings come.”
“Well, if you want to kiss me again, you should do it before they come. Because I’m not pretty when I eat wings.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I get sauce everywhere, I swear. It’s not pretty.”
Sean let out a single laugh. “You’re only making me more enticed by you.” Sean’s voice was low now.
Not able to hold back, I pressed into him and resumed our interrupted kiss, this time not holding back. My heart was racing, driving my need for more. More of Sean. More of this moment. Just…more.
The passion that flowed between us was almost unbelievable. But it felt like we’d both been holding back for so long, afraid to let ourselves step out of our terrified comfort zone that now, it was all rushing out.
And I couldn’t get enough of it—of him.
I tried to resist sliding my hands under his button-down shirt but when his hand crept just a little further up my leg, my mind essentially said fuck it.
The moment my fingertips met his warm skin, Sean let out a faint moan and I felt my need for him intensify.
I ran both of my hands along his bare skin, already memorizing different parts.
Like the soft hair that pebbled along his muscles that would twitch every time he shifted before softening just enough to make me want to lay my head against his stomach.
Sean barely pulled away to whisper, “Our food is almost here.”
I was disappointed to pull away but the moment I smelled the wings, I felt my stomach growl. I hadn’t been able to eat all day with my nerves being the way they were.
“They look incredible.” I gazed at the wide array of wings Brian was covering our small table with. They were separated on different plates for each flavor. Brian finished by setting an empty plate in front of each of us.
“Oh, I need to run to the bathroom.” Sean pulled his hand from my leg and scooted to the edge of the booth. “Don’t wait for me. Dig in.”
He disappeared around the corner towards the barely illuminated “restrooms” sign.
I continued staring at all of the wings in front of me.
Sure, on a normal night with my dad or friends, this was no feat.
Wings truly were one of my favorite foods.
But my stomach wasn’t just hungry. It was on the tumble cycle.
Actually, it felt more like an early evening in the summer in the mid-west—one wrong move and a tornado will touch down.
I was still staring at them when I felt the booth shift. My vision had narrowed to the point where I didn’t even see Sean as he came back.
“Hey, you could have started. Seriously.” He slipped his hand across my shoulder blades, casually rubbing his hand back and forth.
When he suddenly stopped, I whipped my head towards him, waiting for my eyes to adjust focus.
“What’s wrong? Something wrong with the wings?”
I shook my head adamantly.
“Something wrong with…” He trailed off but I knew what he meant.
“No!” I responded almost too quickly. “No, nothing is wrong.”
He slowly nodded like he didn’t believe me, but it didn’t feel accusatory. If anything, I got the sense that he understood.
“You want to know something?”
“Sure.” I was happy for the distraction.
“I was so nervous before meeting you at the coffee shop that I wasn’t even sure if I could pull myself together.”
“Nervous?” He hadn’t appeared nervous to me. If anything, I was shocked at how casual he was.
“Oh yeah.” He huffed a short laugh and looked towards the stage.
I watched him work his jaw back and forth as he contemplated his next words.
“I—” he paused with his mouth still open.
With a deep breath, he continued, and I ran my hand along his knee to encourage him.
It was like I needed him to say the words out loud.
“I have wanted to ask you out for months.”
“M—Months?” I stammered, unable to hide my reaction.
“Yeah, I mean, Natalie was telling the truth. I looked forward to the moment you’d come in to my coffee shop every day. I’d thought so many times about adding a drink-of-the-day to the board and naming it “Lizzo”, but I didn’t want to share it with anyone else.”
“You’re making me blush, you know.”
“I know. But I’m also just telling you the truth.
” Sean brushed my cheek with the pad of his thumb.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long too.
Even to just touch you. Not in a creepy way.
” He let out a nervous laugh. “But I just wanted to be close to you. I was so enamored with you and the more you shared with me—the more you opened up to me—the more I wanted.”
“I didn’t scare you away?”
“Never.”
“Not even on my really bad days?” I didn’t want to elaborate but we both knew what I was talking about. The days that my anxiety clouded over everything to the point that I couldn’t even try to hide it.
“Nope. Never.” Sean smiled again and I let my shoulders drop. The tension flowed out of me, letting me finally feel relaxed.
Normally, this would have been the point where my self-doubt and anxiety would have made me want to run. To protect myself before someone else could use my vulnerability against me.
But Sean wasn’t like that. I just knew he wasn’t.
He was talking about how well he got to know me and how he wanted to keep learning more and spending more time with me when here I was, feeling the same exact way about him.
And the fact that not only was he saying it all out loud but that I could hear his own vulnerability gave me a sense of security. Of trust.
“Thank you.”
Sean tilted his head a touch. “For what?”
“For saying all of that. For telling me that you were going through all the same stuff as me. I was too nervous early to even say that I was nervous.”
“I know.” Sean gave my leg a soft pat. “Which is why I felt like I could say all that. It wasn’t just to hopefully quell your nerves, but it told me that I could open up too.”
“Of course you can.” I leaned in to him and gave him a soft kiss. We both lingered for a moment before pulling back. “Now, can we please devour these wings? I haven’t eaten all day and the smell is torturing me.”
“God, yes.”
Sean helped me load up my plate first before he did the same. I waited for him to take the first bite and as he did, he decided to do it dramatically, purposely getting sauce all over his face.