Chapter 9
NINE
Zara
Tonight has been the most unexpected experience of my life. Dinner with Kyle is fun, and that confuses me.
Maybe my lack of experience when it comes to the opposite sex is showing. But I was never interested in developing my social skills in this area. I am happy alone and being responsible only for myself.
The way Kyle smiles at me is throwing all that out the window.
I shared with him tonight more than I ever have with anyone else, including my mother and my brother.
I have no idea what came over me when I spilled all that out.
I could tell from his face that he was surprised by it as well.
He didn’t know how to respond, and that’s when I feared that I crossed a line.
I thought he’d stand up and walk out of here, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
Instead, he is still sitting across from me as we discuss the logistics for the two events. He is so laid back though, I get antsy. I want to make sure he doesn’t forget any of the details, but he doesn’t inspire much confidence to be honest.
“I need to go,” I tell him when a quick glance at my phone reveals that we’ve been talking for an hour and a half. I don’t even remember eating.
Without waiting for him to respond, I signal for the waitress to bring us the bill.
“Hey, why the rush?” Kyle teases. “You got somewhere to be?”
“Yes, in bed,” I reply without thinking.
The grin on Kyle’s face implies that I’d be doing a lot more in bed than just plain sleeping. I blush to the roots of my hair, unaccustomed for anyone to flirt with me in such an obvious manner.
“It’s late,” I snap at him. “And I have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Ah,” he rolls his eyes playfully. “Work again. I bet you do a lot of that.”
My eyebrows raise in surprise because I don’t understand how anyone can be so flippant about their work of employment.
“Do you not have a job?”
I sound a bit high and mighty when I ask, but I need to understand the dynamics here. Then again, it’s not like I’ll be seeing this man past the two dates out of necessity that we have planned.
“I have a job,” Kyle grins at me. “Not as glamorous as yours…”
“What exactly is this job?” I interrupt him.
He shrugs, smile still firmly on his face. “Video games.”
The disgust must be obvious on my face no matter how hard I force myself not to judge. After all, it is none of my business what he wants to do with his life. But what kind of grown man plays video games for a living?
“Is this together or separate?” The waitress suddenly pops out of nowhere, making me jump.
“Separate,” I say.
“Together,” Kyle says at the same time. “I got this.”
Knowing now what I know about him, I can’t let him pay for my meal, not with a clear conscience.
“No, it’s on me!”
I snatch the bill from the waitress before she has time to react. My heart beats out of my chest when I press it to my chest, like she is about to wrestle me for it.
“Wow,” Kyle gives me a happy smile. “That’s new.”
“What is?” I snap at him while digging into my bag for my wallet. I take my credit card out and hand it over to the waitress. I follow her when she leaves, hating the way she smirked at Kyle when he reacted at me paying.
“I’m not used to my date paying for dinner for us both,” he explains to me. “It’s usually me who’s paying. This feels… strange.”
I place my arms on the table and interlock my fingers as I stare him down.
“Maybe you need to be more frugal and save your money.”
He busts out laughing, which is the last thing I thought he’d do.
“You think I’m broke?” he asks in between fits of laughter.
That’s pretty much what I’d implied, but now that he said it out loud, I feel embarrassed for assuming.
“I can’t imagine that video games bring in that high of an income.”
To be honest, I know nothing about video games.
My brother and his friends play a lot while at the station, and I know that Owen has something setup at his place as well.
But that is as far as my knowledge on the subject goes.
It sounds like such a childish behavior to me, for grown men to play computer games.
Kyle, as if sensing my silent judgement, just nods in agreement but doesn’t explain himself. That throws me off a bit.
The waitress walks back with my card and hands me the receipt for me to sign. When I go over the charges, my eyes about pop out of my head.
“Oh my God, a steak here is forty dollars?”
“That’s with the three ice teas he had,” the waitress explains defensively. “And the steak was big.”
“And juicy,” Kyle chimes in.
“Well, I never,” I huff. “How much is an ice tea for God’s sake?”
“Four dollars,” the waitress replies.
“Four dollars for one ?” My voice comes out high and squeaky. I point at Kyle. “This is why you drink water. I could make you tea to drink for a whole month with four dollars.”
I am absolutely offended as I calculate a tip, but before I have a chance to write it in, Kyle throws a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
“I’ll cover the tip,” he says.
Instead of arguing with him over it, I just sign the receipt and hand it back to the waitress.
She picks up the cash from Kyle and gives him the biggest smile.
I swear she even pulls at her top to show more cleavage, making sure that he notices.
His eyes drop to her chest but only for the briefest moment.
Then, he locks eyes with me, and she leaves.
“A twenty-dollar tip is extreme,” I tell him as soon as she is out of earshot. “Ten would’ve sufficed.”
Kyle shrugs like he has no worries in the world. “I’m generous with my tips. And in general,” he adds after a brief pause.
I don’t know why, but I get hot flashes every time this man looks at me in a certain way. Not to mention that I read too much in everything he says, like he is constantly flirting with me. Is he? I doubt it, I decide. There is no way I am his type, and he already insinuated that.
“Okay, well, good for you. I hope you’re just as generous with your savings account.”
He chuckles and nods in agreement but doesn’t otherwise say a word. He stares at me for the longest time, looking like he is debating if he should say anything, but then he changes his mind about it.
“Are you ready to go?” he asks after a while.
I don’t waste any time, instead jumping up from the bench of the booth, knocking my knee against the table in the process.
“Ouch, that hurt,” I laugh when the table jumps, almost knocking over my glass of water that’s half full.
Kyle stands up and rushes to my side. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I wave him off. “Just a bit awkward I guess.”
In order not to make the moment even more awkward, I accept his assistance with getting up. Butterflies flutter in my chest when he doesn’t let go of my hand once we’re both standing next to the booth. He turns around and pulls me with him as he walks us outside.
“This was very enjoyable,” I tell him when we are outside. “I didn’t expect it to be.”
The words just spill from my lips, my usual filter glitching. Kyle just laughs in his easy going way.
“I’d be offended had I not felt the same prior to getting here.”
The butterflies in my stomach are now dead. It is hypocritical of me to judge him for saying that, when I literally just said that exact same thing.
“You didn’t think you’d enjoy yourself tonight?” I ask for good measure.
Kyle sticks his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looks away bashfully.
“You didn’t exactly give off vibes of a good time in your picture.”
Holding on to my purse, I nod in understanding. But I feel a bit uncomfortable, and I am glad tonight is coming to an end.
“I loved spending time with you tonight,” Kyle continues. “You’re going to be perfect as my plus one to my friends’ wedding.”
I don’t know if he is sincere or just trying to be nice after he basically told me my picture sucked, but I decide to take it as a compliment.
“Thank you.” I clear my voice. “You will do for my Fourth of July party.”
He finds that amusing. “I will do?”
“Yeah,” I shrug in much of the same way he did before.
I look down at the ground, unwilling to meet his eyes. Every time I do, my self-confidence is almost nonexistent. I get too nervus and a blubbering mess.
“How about I walk you to your car?” Kyle suggests.
I nod and start walking toward the parking lot when I am being pulled back. Kyle once again grabs my hand and doesn’t let go. It’s a strange feeling, like our hands fit perfectly together, and I am grateful for him doing this.
“Which one are you?” he asks, looking around.
I am confused and don’t know what to say. “One what?”
“Car,” he explains patiently, like I am a little slow. “Which one is yours?”
“Oh!” I want to slap myself upside the head. “The white sedan in the second row.”
He walks me over with confidence. I can’t help but admire his swager.
That is something I’ve never had nor something I will ever be capable of.
It makes me realize even more what an uneven match we are.
That brings me to another point. How am I going to walk into the party with this man who is obviously out of my league?
“Well, here we are.”
I jump, startled by his deep tone when he leans over and speaks straight into my ear.
“Yes, uh…” I clear my throat nervously. “That’s my car.”
Kyle grins at me. “White sedan in the second row.”
I pull my shoulders back in an effort of gaining some confidence back. “That is correct.”
My voice doesn’t sound convincing at all, no matter how much effort I put into it. I am completely disgusted with myself.
“You’ll have to move,” I snap at him.”
Instead of him getting out of my way, like any normal person would do, he encroaches on my space.
“The other way.” I am barely able to speak with how tight my jaw feels.
He pretends like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “What do you mean?”
Rolling my eyes, I push my bag higher onto my shoulder before pushing him out of the way.
Actually, it’s more like attempting to push him out of the way.
The man acts like he doesn’t feel my hand on him.
Instead, he drops his eyes to my chest, staring at it.
Without thinking, my fingers clench into his shirt, conveying the opposite of what my words imply, which was that I wanted him to get out of my way.
“Zara…”
I about drop to my knees at the way he says my name. It’s this mix of a whisper and… growl. And I hate how much I love it. Why do I love it?
The attraction I feel toward him is uncomprehensible. I don’t react like this around anyone, especially a man I don’t even know. My brain can’t process this level of madness, which is why I need to get away from him.
“Excuse me.”
Pushing harder against his chest, I finally feel him moving. It was probably the element of surprise that caused him to take a couple of steps back and not necessarily by newly found strength.
I press on the key fob to unlock the door before yanking it open and throwing my bag onto the passenger seat.
“Now that we have a plan in place,” I tell him without turning to make eye contact, “we won’t have to meet again. Just send me the information on the wedding and what the dress code is. I’ll be there.”
The butterflies in my stomach, the same ones that made it churn as we were walking out of the restaurant, are back in full force. Why in the world am I this attracted to this… this… stranger? He is a stranger, I repeat to myself. I am just confused, that’s all.
“Zara,” he repeats my name. This time, he gently grabs me by the hand, pulling on it so I turn to look at him. Since I don’t want to be rude, I do just that.
“Whoa!”
I didn’t expect for us to be this close. If he bends his head just a little more, he could kiss me. In fact, he looks like he wants to do just that.
My eyes widen in surprise but also expectation, waiting for his lips to touch mine. Instead, a smile forms in the corner of his mouth as he continues staring at me. I think I misread the situation. I don’t know why, but I thought he’d kiss me. I was sure he’d do just that…
“You are so incredibly cute when you think this hard,” he whispers, causing for my ears to strain in an effort to hear what he’s saying.
There’s a good possibility that all this is caused by all the blood rushing to my head. There’s just this whooshing sound that refuses to fade no matter how many times I swallow.
It is an out of body experience as I watch his face getting closer and closer.
It all happens in slow motion, like we’re in a movie.
A romance movie at that, one that makes your heart beat faster and takes your breath away.
The kind of movie that makes you want to fall in love for the very first time.
“Kyle…”
I’m not sure it’s me who just spoke, but who else could it be? My mouth is dry, and I want to feel his lips crushing mine in the worst way. I want him to kiss me like he can’t live without me.
This is the stupidest thing you’ve ever come up with, Zara , the voice in my head chastises me.
That is the last thing I hear, or think, when he finally does it. He kisses me.
Even though I was praying in a way for him to do just that, I am still completely taken by surprise when his lips touch mine. My eyes widen in an effort not to miss anything. I want to see his face when he does it. I need to know if he’s feeling it the same way they I do.
“Open for me, baby,” he whispers, and that completely takes me out of commission.
My mouth opens of its own volition at the same time that my eyes close. Both of my hands grab at his shoulders, and I am scared to let go of him when I feel the tip of his tongue barely making contact with my lips.
“Wider,” he grumbles, making the word zing through my entire body.
I need more.