More to Us (12 page)

She catches my eye across the table. "So you're going out with him? Like really going out?"

"No. We're just friends."

"Have you kissed him?"

"I said we're just friends. Friends don't kiss."

"They do if they're attracted to each other. And he's obviously attracted to you or he wouldn't keep asking you out."

"I've made it clear to him that I don't want a boyfriend."

"Doesn't mean you can't kiss." She pops a chip in her mouth. "Or do other things." She smiles.

I lean forward and whisper, "Are you crazy? I am NOT having sex with him. I just met him. And I told you, I'm not dating him."

"You don't have to date him. Just be friends with benefits." She picks up her sandwich. "You're in college now. It's time to try new things. Be bold. Experiment with things you never thought you'd do."

"Like a one-night stand?"

"Exactly." She bites into her sandwich, then wipes her mouth with a napkin. She glances around to make sure no one's listening, then says, "I thought for sure I'd regret it, but it turned out to be one of the best things I've ever done."

"No offense, but that's kind of sad. I know for a fact you've done better things than that."

"You don't understand how great that night was." She sets her sandwich down. "Anyway, this isn't about me. What I was trying to say is that if you want to hook up with Austin, then do it. You don't have to be his girlfriend."

"You just told me to stay away from him, and now you want me to do it with him?"

She shrugs. "You refuse to listen to me when I tell you to stay away from him, so as long as you're going to hang out with him, you might as well get some benefit out of it."

"I'm already getting benefit out of it. I like hanging out with him. As a friend.
Just
a friend."

She laughs a little. "Yeah, we'll see. So what time is he picking you up?"

"At seven. I'll tell him to come upstairs so he can meet you."

"No." She grabs my arm just as I was about to take a bite of my sandwich. "Wait for him downstairs. I can't meet him."

"Why not?"

She lets go of my arm. "Because I can't have him telling Dylan about me."

"Why would he tell Dylan about you?"

She thinks for a moment. "You're right. He probably wouldn't. And even if he did, Dylan wouldn't put it together and know it's me. He probably doesn't even remember me. In my head, I keep thinking he thought that night was as great as I did, but I'm sure it meant nothing to him. He's probably had sex with ten other girls since then." She checks her phone. "It's six. We should hurry so you have time to get ready for your date. What are you wearing?"

"It's not a date. And I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt, like I always do."

"Kira." She takes a sip of her soda, then pushes it aside. "You're going out with Austin Wheeler. Girls are dying to go out with him, and when they see you with him, they'll be talking about you, wondering who you are and commenting on what you're wearing. You have to look your best."

"I don't dress for other people. You know this about me."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm just saying, you might want to wear something nicer, like maybe a skirt."

"We're going to the movies. People don't dress up for the movies. And besides, Austin likes it when I dress casual. He told me that last night."

"All guys say that, but then they see a girl all dressed up and can't think straight."

"You keep forgetting, I'm not dating him. We're just friends."

And yet now she's got me wondering if I should change my mind about that, because I really want to kiss him. Or maybe do more than that.

Austin

When I get to Kira's apartment, she's waiting by the door, wearing a faded denim mini skirt and a white button-up shirt with a tank top underneath. She has white sneakers on, so still has that sporty look I love, but the short skirt has upped her hotness level to the point that I'm feeling that twitch in my shorts again.

As I park, she sees my truck and runs over to it.

"Hey." She smiles as she gets in.

"You need to let me come upstairs to get you," I say as I back out of the parking space. "I feel like a loser picking you up in the parking lot."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind. Besides, my roommate is up there with her boyfriend, and believe me, you don't want to see that."

"They don't go in her room to do that?"

"Sometimes, but not always."

"My brothers are the same way with their girlfriends. I'm always telling them to get a room." I turn onto the street. "Did you pick a movie?"

"I thought you were picking it."

"I don't care what we see. Whatever you want is fine with me."

"I don't even know what's playing. We'll have to see when they get there."

We come to a red light and I stop and look over at her. "You look really nice."

"Thanks." She looks down at her skirt.

"Actually, you look better than nice. You look hot." I reach over and take the hand she had resting in her lap. I know she said this isn't a date but maybe it could turn into one.

She turns toward me a little, keeping hold of my hand. "So what'd you do today?"

She's changing the subject. Maybe it makes her uncomfortable when I tell her how she looks. Or maybe she's reminding me this isn't a date. But date or not, she looks hot and I thought she should know.

"I worked on an old house that the city is turning into a museum. Our company started doing these historic renovations last year and now we keep getting asked to do more. I'm going to be restoring the wood floors back to their original condition."

"Do you like doing that type of work?"

"I do, but I also like music, so I'm kind of torn as to what I want to do with my life."

"So you could really support yourself being in a band?" She bites her lip. "Sorry, that sounded bad. I didn't mean you weren't a good enough musician. I just assumed the music industry is a tough business. It's gotta be hard to make a living."

"It is. That's why I haven't given up construction. Plus, like I said, I like construction, and if I had to do it for the rest of my life, I wouldn't complain. But if I could do music instead, I would. My dad would be pissed, but you can't always please your parents, you know?"

"Yeah." She bites her lip again and looks out the side window.

I give her hand a squeeze. "Hey, what's wrong? Have another fight with your mom?"

"No." She turns back to me. "I talked to her this morning. Everything's fine."

I'm not convinced. She tensed up when I made that comment about pleasing your parents. She either doesn't get along with hers or she's fighting with them about something.

We arrive at the movie theater and stare up at the board to see what's playing.

"I haven't heard of half of these," she says.

"You don't go to the movies much, do you?" I'm standing behind her, my hands on her shoulders.

"Not really. I usually wait until they come out on blu-ray."

"Here." I put my hands over her eyes. "Put your hand out and point."

"What are you doing?"

"Just point to the screen. Whatever you point at we'll go to."

She laughs. "That's crazy."

"Who cares? Now point."

People are going past us, giving us strange looks but I just ignore them.

"What'd I pick?" she asks.

I follow her finger to the screen and see she picked a cartoon. I don't want to see a cartoon so I pick the movie listed under it. I drop my hands from her eyes and put my arm around her waist. "Come on." I walk up to the ticket counter.

"What'd I pick?"

"Two for Shark Bite," I tell the ticket girl as I get out my wallet.

"Shark Bite?" Kira looks up at the movie times. "Are you sure I picked that one?"

The girl gives me the tickets and I take Kira's hand and walk over to the concession stand. "You want anything?"

"No. I just ate." She turns to me. "I don't want to see this. I hate sharks."

"Then it's gonna be a long ninety-five minutes." I smile. "Of course, if you get bored, I'm sure we could find other things to do. We'll sit in the back just in case." I lead her past the concession stand to the guy who takes the tickets.

"To your left," he says. "Fourth one down."

We go in the theater, which is nearly empty because this movie's been out for three weeks. I walk to the back row and take a seat right in the middle.

"We're really sitting in the last row?" she asks, still standing.

"Yeah. Why?"

"We're not..." She glances at the screen, then back at me. "Doing things. I mean, just because we're sitting here doesn't mean we're..."

She can't even say it, I think because she's not sure what I was implying. Did she think I meant sex? I wouldn't have sex in a movie theater, not even an empty one. I'm open to taking risks, but I'm not going to risk getting arrested.

"Hey." I grab her hand and pull on her until she sits down. "I was just kidding. We're just watching the movie."

"Oh." She sounds disappointed. So she
wanted
to make out in the theater? I'm so confused.

Once she's situated, her purse tucked on the side, I turn to her and say, "You need to tell me what you want."

"What are you talking about?"

"I told you to be direct. So if you're okay with me kissing you, then tell me."

She looks at me. "Do you
want
to kiss me?"

"So fucking bad I can't stand it."

Her lips turn up. "Then do it."

Some guy coughs in the front row. A deep phlegmy cough that's disgusting and doesn't stop.

I face forward. "Not here."

"Why not?" She sounds disappointed.

"It's not the right place. I want you to remember it, and I don't want the memory to include some guy hacking up a lung."

He coughs again, even worse than before, and she starts laughing, which makes me laugh.

"Get over here." I shove the armrest up and wait until she moves next to me, then lower my arm over her, pulling her closer. "This'll have to do until the movie ends."

"And then what happens?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

Honestly, I don't have an answer to what comes next. I don't know what she wants, or how far she'll let me take things. I was surprised when she almost let me kiss her last night, so I don't know what to expect tonight. She alternates between hot and cold, although by 'cold' I don't mean she pushes me away. It's more like a hesitation, like she's not sure she should act on what she wants. Like she's holding herself back.

The movie is stupid, to the point of being funny. I think it's supposed to be a serious thriller, but Kira and I are both laughing. The first time the shark ate someone, Kira almost jumped out of her chair but I kept hold of her and she moved closer to me. When she looked up at me, I almost kissed her but stopped myself. The hacking cough guy is still going at it, which really ruins the mood.

"Let's get out of here," I whisper in her ear.

"But the movie isn't over," she whispers back.

"I've seen enough. And if we stay in here much longer, I'm afraid we're gonna catch whatever the hell that guy's got."

He coughs again.

She shudders. "You're right. Let's go."

We make our way out of the theater and I take her hand as we exit to the parking lot.

"So what'd you think?" I ask.

"That was one of the worst movies ever made."

"I know. I can't believe you picked it."

She huffs. "Hey! I didn't pick it."

"That's the one you pointed to."

"Yeah, but I didn't know what I was picking."

We're at my truck and I open the door for her. As she climbs in, I catch a glimpse of her panties under her short skirt. Black lace panties. Shit. Now I'll be thinking about that the rest of the night.

I get in on the other side. "Want to get something to eat?"

"Don't you have to get home? It's almost ten. You have to get up early for work."

"You mentioned this last night too." I smile at her. "You're really concerned about what time I go to bed."
 

"I just don't want to keep you up."

"You're not keeping me up. I usually don't go to bed until midnight, or later if I'm out with the band. So where do you want to go?"

I'm driving down a street that has restaurants and coffee shops along both sides.

"Do you eat ice cream?" she asks.

"Yeah." I look at her funny. "Why wouldn't I? Doesn't everyone eat ice cream?"

"You're really into healthy eating so I wasn't sure."

"I watch my diet, but I still eat what I want. Ice cream, burgers, pizza. I eat all that stuff, just not every day."

"Then can we get ice cream?"

"Yeah, but we're getting the best. There's a place by my house that you have to try. It has the best ice cream in the city."

"Well, you did promise to show me all the best places."

"That's right. I better get started on that. It's a big city. We have a lot of places to go. This could take all year."

She laughs. "A whole year? Really? I doubt it'll take that long."

"It might. We'll just have to see."

My comment implies we'll still be friends in a year, or more than friends. I don't know why I said that. It's too soon. I still need to get to know her. But what I know of her so far, I like. And even if she didn't want to date me, I'd like us to be friends. There's just something about her. Something that drew me to her from the moment I saw her at the bar.

"This is it," I say, pulling in front of the small red building. It's shaped like a barn and has a white cow painted on the side. "We used to come here a lot when I was a kid. And then we'd go over to that park." I point to the small park that has some swings and picnic tables.

"Let's eat our ice cream over there."

We each get a cone, then walk over to the park and sit at one of the tables. Nobody's around, and it's quiet except for the sound of crickets chirping.

"So you live close to here?" she asks.

"About a block that way." I point behind her.

"There's only houses down there. You have a house?"