Chapter 38
“After looking over all of your assessment information, I do believe you have ADHD. You’ve masked it well, and I’m sure that has taken a lot out of you. Let’s look at some of our options moving forward.”
I wasn’t expecting to feel… relieved.
I’ve been stressing over planning the perfect date for Bex. The perfect first date, depending on who you asked. I insisted this was our first real date and we needed to do it up big. Bex, on the other hand, was convinced New York was our first date. I feel like this is something we will continue to argue about for years to come. That thought makes me smile and dig my heels in even harder.
New York was amazing, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t us. I have effectively disinherited myself, so that lifestyle is not my everyday anymore. I want this date to reflect more of what our normal life will look like. Really, I just want to be able to walk down a sidewalk and hold her hand, stop and kiss her if I feel like it—the delightfully mundane parts of being with someone.
Pulling into her apartment’s parking lot, I have a spinning feeling in my stomach. I think this is what people describe as butterflies, but I’ve never felt them with anyone else before. Honestly, they’re a bit unsettling and pop up frequently around Bex.
I hop out of the Jeep and climb the stairs up to the girls’ apartment, flowers in hand. I took entirely too long at the local florist picking out which bouquet I was going to bring. The kind older woman who runs it suggested a mix of pink camellias, hyacinth, and white freesia with some greenery sprinkled in. It’s a very impressive bouquet, but now I’m wondering if it’s the right move.
I’m debating dumping the flowers in the planter outside of Bex’s neighbor’s apartment when the door swings open. Luci pops her head out, gives me a wink, and asks, “How much longer are you going to make her wait?”
I inhale deeply through my nose and then lean in conspiratorially. “I’m hoping this is the last first date I ever go on, so give me a minute here.”
She gives me a wide grin and a salute before turning around and closing the door behind her.
“Nope! Not here yet!” I hear her call on the other side of the door.
Taking one more minute to collect myself, I take a few more centering breaths and raise my hand to knock. For the second time, the door swings open before my fist has a chance to connect.
“Can’t a man knock on the door to pick up his date?” False annoyance bleeds into my voice.
“I’m stressed because my boyfriend won’t tell me what we are doing, and I don’t know what to wear!” Bex responds, the annoyance in her voice is all too real. A beat later she processes what I have in my hands and lets out a quiet, “Oh!”
I lean in and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You look beautiful, Rebecca,” I whisper in her ear.
And she does. She’s dressed in a loose hot pink cable knit sweater, which falls just above a black leather mini skirt. Her delectable legs are wrapped in tights that have a light stripe pattern, ending in a pair of black studded leather boots. Her curls are pulled back half-way with a few pieces falling from the tie to frame her face, and her lips are turned down in a pout, coated in a sheer gloss of some sort.
Pulling back, I hand her the bouquet. “Do you have a vase we can put these in?”
She dips her face into the flowers and then peeks up at me through her eyelashes. “You got me flowers,” she sing-songs.
“Are you going to make fun of me for that all night?” I ask, rolling my eyes and booping her on the nose as I walk in. “Of course, I got you flowers. Beautiful flowers for my beautiful girl because apparently, I’m being extra cheesy today. Gotta go all out for our first date. Now, let’s put those in some water and then head out.”
“This is not our first date!”
I walk in the kitchen and Luci hands me a vase from under the sink. “Agree to disagree,” I call over my shoulder.
She huffs, her brow furrowing like a cute angry toddler, but she hands me the flowers without saying a word. “Ms. Harriet down at the flower shop was very pleased to hear that Rebecca Bardot was finally going out with a man. I believe her exact words were, ‘I was worried all of those Bardot siblings were going to be single forever!’”
“I’m only twenty-two!” She stomps her foot, waving her now empty hands in the air. “Ms. Harriet has always been too nosy for her own good. She needs a hobby.”
“I think she and Louie have been scheming ever since Louie first ‘introduced’ us. At least, that was the feeling I got when I was in there earlier.”
Bex gasps, hand clutching her chest. “Louie would never!”
“Oh, I think he would.” I finish arranging the flowers in the vase and turn toward her. “Our date today is only going to fuel the fire.” I rub my hands together. “Let’s go!”
Ten minutes later we park outside the local market and butcher shop, aptly called “Market Butcher Shoppe.” This town has a serious lack of creativity when it comes to naming things. “You brought me to the grocery store?” Her confusion is adorable.
“We need to grab a few things for dinner. Stay there,” I command as I exit the car and come around to open her door.
“Chivalry is not dying with you, huh, killer?”
Ignoring that cheeky comment, I help her out of the car. “This butcher shop makes the world’s best sandwiches, I swear. I came here probably once a week during undergrad just to get their pastrami on rye.”
She follows me inside and we make a beeline to the back corner of the store. There’s the butcher counter but also a separate section of cheeses, dips, fruit, and crackers. The perfect picnic food. It’s still a little cold for an outdoor picnic at dinnertime, but I have the perfect alternative.
We order sandwiches to-go at the counter and then each pick out a side to go with it. Bex grabs a box of water crackers and an herb cheese spread while I go for a premade caprese salad. We’re about to checkout when I spot some chocolate covered strawberries and add them to our pile.
“I have a bottle of champagne and a sparkling grape juice in the car, but is there something else you’d like to drink?” I nod toward the drink fridge next to the cash register.
She shakes her head but asks again, “Where are we taking this?”
“If I told you that, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”
Her teeth sink into her plush lower lip, that line forming between her eyebrows. I’ve always ached to smooth it out, and now I can do just that. I lift my hand and rub my thumb over it before bending and kissing the same spot. “Don’t worry, just enjoy what I have planned for us, okay?”
Her lip pops out from her teeth and she sighs heavily. “Okay, but I need you to know that I must really like you because I do not like surprises. Last time someone said they had a surprise for me, it ended with Ben locking me in the basement while he threw a party upstairs because Mom and Dad were out of town.”
I let out a horrified laugh. “There are days I really wish I grew up with siblings and then I hear stories like that, and I’m glad no one was ever there to lock me in a basement.”
“Having three older brothers was like living in the middle of a professional wrestling ring. Someone always had a broken bone or a black eye, and Mom could barely keep enough food in the house. But they were also ridiculously sweet when they wanted to be. I can remember playing Barbies with Gabe and Ben… they had the best character voices. And Jules even learned how to braid so he could do my hair on the mornings when Mom worked.” She stares off as if stuck in those memories. “Saying it was chaotic would be putting it mildly, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
“Playing Barbies sounds like something Gabe would do,” I laugh. “He can be attentive when he wants to be.”
Her smile turns into a scowl. “That’s incredibly accurate. I am glad you guys found each other. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”
I pay for our food, grabbing the bag and sliding my hand around Bex’s waist to pull her into me. “He’ll see sense when he’s ready to see sense. But tonight, I want to focus on us.”
We get back in the car and drive a few more minutes. I try to watch Bex’s face out of the corner of my eye as we pull up to—“Louie’s?!” she asks, incredulity lacing every syllable.
As if she realizes how indignant she sounds, she quickly backtracks. “I mean… you know I love Louie, but they have food here, and we also come here all the time. But I do love it here so it’s totally fine if this is what you have planned tonight, I can be a good spor—”
I silence her rambling by leaning across the console and sealing my mouth over hers. She instantly relaxes into me, her tongue reaching out to graze mine. I grab her chin and tilt her head, opening her mouth even further for me. I’m momentarily distracted by the moans she lets out before I remember that we need to get inside before I get into her pants. I break away from her, chuckling at her protests.
“Plenty of time for that later, Baby Bardot.”
We walk into Louie’s and I give him a nod as I pull Bex behind me through the bar. He winks our way, but then turns back to the customers in front of him. I slide around the end of the bar and open the door to the stockroom. What Bex doesn’t know is that there’s also two small offices, but one of them has sat empty ever since Louie’s business partner moved out of state.
I recruited Louie and Gabe to help me make it as romantic as possible. Gabe had several choice words about romancing his baby sister but complied in the end. I had to leave them to finish so I could go home to get ready and… damn.
Pushing the door open, we’re greeted by twinkling lights hung from multiple hooks in the ceiling. Louie strictly forbade any real candles, stating that he once had a bad run-in with a woman who turned out to be a fire juggler. After a shiver ran down his spine, I didn’t ask anymore questions.
Further in the room, an assortment of blankets—most stolen from the Bardot home—and a few floor cushions are strategically placed, piled for maximum cuddle opportunities. A few trays are off to the side with plates, silverware, and glasses. The pièce de résistance is the scattering of vases around the room, each filled with a single stem matching the bouquet I brought to Bex’s apartment.
“Holy shit,” Bex whispers, eyes wide as she steps in next to me.
“Happy first date,” I whisper back, bringing my arm around her and pulling her back to my front so we can take in the sight before us. “It’ll be our last first date.”