8. Olivia #2
You go, go, go gurl. You got this! 10/10 Remember you are a phenom goddess gorgie slay diva~~~~
She wrote in such a curious combination of formal language and slang that it always threw me for a loop, but it was a loop I didn’t mind being thrown. She was fun, and she was the first adult friend I’d ever had outside of my family.
It was kind of sad when I thought about it, so I decided not to. Although I was ready to be chock-full of emotions, I didn’t want sadness to be one of them.
“Let’s start this off on the best foot we can,” I told myself before getting out of the car and marching into the restaurant.
Keith was waiting by the door, and I flushed when I saw a bouquet of flowers tucked into his large arm, a spray of color against the dark dress shirt and slacks that covered his impressive build.
“You look stunning,” he said softly as I approached, first opening the door for me, then handing me the flowers once I was inside.
I wasn’t going to lie, my parents had given me many lovely bouquets through major milestones in my life, but it was the first time I’d received flowers from a man who wasn’t related to me.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed in the best way.
It was just a first date, and yet Keith was dressed up to see me, had called me pretty, and had sunk at least sixty dollars into the impressive arrangement of miniature sunflowers, daisies, pink roses, carnations, tulips, and baby’s breath.
“Think nothing of it. I already had the hostess grab our table. Do you want to sit down?”
Boy, did I. My enhanced reflexes from being a shifter didn’t include endurance for standing in heels. My feet were already beginning to complain, and it had only taken a couple of minutes to walk across the parking lot.
“I would love that.”
He offered me his arm, a wave of his scent washing over me again, and I swore my inner wolf jerked her head so hard that I nearly growled with interest. Thankfully, I wasn’t a pubescent wolf without control of my wilder side, so I shut down that reaction before it could leave my mouth.
It was close, though.
We made it to the table without me inadvertently exposing my people’s existence, then made small talk while we looked over the menus.
I’d made sure to eat ahead of time because I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat my fill at the restaurant, not without raising a few eyebrows and making my human date shell out way more than he was expecting to.
I was also feeling a little self-conscious about my belly and the roundness of my arms even though I knew I looked great, so I wanted to order something small to seem more ladylike.
Because while I knew I was a shifter who needed more calories than pretty much any human alive to survive, Keith didn’t.
And he never would.
“I think I’m going to have the cedar-smoked salmon,” I said.
“Yeah, that does look good,” he agreed. “I’m looking at the cod myself.”
Hah, it looked like I was right for going for that size of a meal, because if Keith, who was considerably larger than me, could get filled up by a single fish, then certainly I, his very human student, should too.
“So, are you a big seafood guy?” I asked, setting my menu to the side once I was sure of my decision.
“Oh yeah. Crustaceans, mollusks, fish… You name it, I probably like it.”
“Me too! People sometimes call them water bugs or cockroaches to gross me out, but trust me, if land bugs tasted that good, I’d be going to all-you-can-eat festivals for them too!”
“Ha! Yeah, it does seem like one of those internet trends. People love to bandwagon.”
“Like Nickelback!” I agreed happily, glad that he understood exactly what I meant. I wasn’t chronically online, but I was right in the gap of my siblings where my elder ones often didn’t understand my references and my younger ones thought they were all outdated.
“Yes, exactly! I mean, they’re not writing musical masterpieces, but there’s a reason a lot of people like their stuff. It’s catchy.”
“Even if they keep releasing the same four or five songs in slightly different fonts.”
Another laugh from him, and this one even bigger, which had me smiling like a goof. I really liked how he shared his mirth. It never once felt like it was directed at me, only that he was genuinely amused by the words that came out of my mouth.
“Yeah, sometimes I get confused which song is playing when the opener comes on shuffle.”
“And then there’s Crocs.”
“I think it’s because a lot of nurses liked them for comfort, and a lot of things that are designed to make women’s lives easier are considered a waste of time or taking away from her beauty.”
Huh.
I gaped at him, surprised by the flippant way he stated a talking point I’d definitely heard before, but only from other women. Usually, I would assume a man was pandering to me, but it had seemed like a genuine thought.
Double huh.
He gave me a sheepish look that told me he was indeed being honest.
“Sorry, growing up with a single mother showed me a lot of things I suppose some guys never think of, so I can sound a little bit like a podcast talking point when I don’t mean to.”
“No, you don’t have to apologize at all. And wow, a single mom. I imagine she must be pretty cool to have raised you.”
“I think she is, but I’m biased.” He grinned fondly, and I could almost see a lifetime of love and memories flit behind his hazel gaze. “She was a bit older when she had me, and I wasn’t planned, but she decided to go it on her own. She’s the best mother I could have asked for.”
Given the size of my family, it was hard for me to imagine what it was like being raised by a single individual.
“Did you have any other family to help out?”
“No, not really. Her parents passed away when I was very young. She had an uncle, but he’s gone now.
It was always us against the world.” His expression turned thoughtful, and I was entirely caught up in the shift of his features as he spoke.
I loved how so many emotions and ideas played out along the ridge of his brow or the corner of his lips.
“Now she worries that she parentified me too much, but I don’t agree.
Sure, I went through some things the average kid didn’t, but she always made certain my childhood was a childhood. ”
His eyebrows shot up to his thick hairline of auburn-ginger hair, and the flush creeping up his neck fascinated me.
“I, uh, don’t know why I said that. Not exactly appropriate conversation for a first date.”
I shook my head vehemently to that notion. “No, I completely understand where you’re coming from, and I’m glad you don’t feel parentified.” Well, since he’d shared some family trauma, why couldn’t I?
“I kind of have an opposite situation.”
“Oh?”
I nodded, licking my lips uncertainly before deciding to jump in with both feet. Wasn’t that the mantra of this new chapter of my life, after all? Taking leaps of faith even when I didn’t know where I was going to land?
“Yes. Even though I’m the middle child, I kind of ended up parentified quite a bit. I didn’t even realize it until recently. I’ve been trying to put up some boundaries with my family, and I decided to challenge myself with new things.”
“I’m guessing one of those new things is my workshop?”
“You got it in one.”
“Well, I for one am quite grateful that you decided to branch out to new horizons. It’s for entirely selfish reasons.”
“Selfish, huh?”
“Of course. I’m happy for you that you’ve realized there was something in your life you wanted to change and that you’re changing it, but I’m also damn thrilled that you agreed to come to dinner with me. This isn’t exactly something I do often.”
“What, go on dates? Or ask out your students?”
“Both.”
Some women would be turned off by a man being bashful and blushing, but I wasn’t.
In fact, it was safe to say that I actively liked it.
It made me feel safe with Keith. Like I could be vulnerable and maybe even a little embarrassing around him.
It wasn’t something I was really used to feeling with... well, anybody.
“Been a while?” I asked simply.
He was saved from having to answer by our waitress stopping by to take our drink order. I got a glass of white wine that would complement my fish, and Keith ordered a lavender mint mocktail that sounded quite tasty. Maybe I would have to steal a sip or two, if we got to that level.
Inwardly, I grinned at myself. In high school, we’d make a big deal of taking a sip from someone else’s drink and call it an indirect kiss. Now, however, I wouldn’t mind directly kissing the large man in front of me.
Slow down, girl! The food hasn’t even arrived!
Also, considering that we’d both have fish breath after dinner, maybe making out was the last thing I should be worrying about.
“It has been a while, yeah,” Keith said when the waitress left, and I had to remind myself what I’d asked him. Focus, girl! “I had a stint in my twenties where I went on several dates. Some of that evolved into a few months of dating, but nothing really beyond that.”
I appreciated his honesty, and it was a good opportunity to hunt for any red flags. How men talked about women that it didn’t work out with was more telling than they knew. “What happened?”
“Uh, a mixture of things, I guess.”
I gestured for him to continue, pleased when he did. I’d worried that the ease with which we talked in the workshop wouldn’t translate to a more formal environment, but no, the conversation was flowing naturally.
“I think the biggest thing was that I was in my twenties. If I could tell that guy what I knew now, maybe things would have gone differently.” He shrugged, and boy, did I understand the sentiment.
“Part of it was also that I and the women I went out with were all starting out in our careers, so usually our schedules ended up not working out.”
“I can see that. If I didn’t have a job lined up with my family right out of college, I probably would have been putting all my energy into finding one. The job market was crazy then, and it’s utterly insane now.”