I snort. 揙h my god. It was your actual nightmare,?I smile so hard my vision is obscured.
揘ightmare,?he smiles back, searching my eyes. 揜iveting stuff, really. I felt like I was being poisoned. The only thing that could have made it worse would抳e been talking about the weather.?The grin grows.
揋od, you抮e such an asshole,?I give a little punch to his chest 揵ut I know you were polite still.?
揙f course. Took a lot out of me though. I抦 weak and famished.?He grabs my wrist and plants a chaste kiss on my knuckles before scooping me into his side.
We eat outside, the steam from our drinks and breath mingling in the December air. I抦 grateful for the sun warming my face and giving me an excuse to wear sunglasses again, so I can surreptitiously steal glances at him. The chill paints his cheeks with a rosy bloom above his beard, legs akimbo with one palm braced on a sturdy thigh. His own sunglasses fog occasionally when he brings his drink to his lips. This whole image is explicit, somehow. Feels even more so when he snatches the leg of my chair suddenly and pulls it梚ncluding me?over to him, to his side of the little bistro table. I drape an arm around his middle, palm falling to his chest in the abrupt movement?to catch myself, of course, not to feel the mound of a hard pec beneath my palm. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses my temple before dipping down to my ear. 揚hotographers. Eleven o抍lock.?I let my eyes dart that direction, where I spot two leaning over a car.
We sit this way for awhile, eyes closed to the sun and limbs draped over one another like vines.
It isn抰 until later that I realize just how comfortable this has started to become梩he touching. There抯 still a jolt to my system, but it抯 one I relax into now. Like slipping into warm water after being submerged in cold, or vice versa. Just feels like a refreshing surge each time.
At the game, Shauna sits to my right and Meyer to my left, with Kara on the other side of him. He抯 brought me a spare jersey he had, a forty-niners one I抦 informed. The whole thing is surprisingly fun, easy to follow, easy to get into quickly. Before I know it I am screaming alongside everyone else. I find a few key phrases that seem to apply for multiple scenarios. 揅ome on!?being the most universal.
I抎 felt that standard feeling at first?that 搊n?feeling with Kara and Shauna. I抎 be lying if I said I don抰 feel the need to impress them, even if I do already have the gig.
It抯 actually pretty common to meet comedians and find that they抮e not all that funny in mundane life. It抯 like they hoard up that energy, any quips or banter to use onstage. Plenty of them are still masters at their craft, though, so I try not to pass judgment when I come across these individuals. After all, you wouldn抰 judge an author based on their text messages or Instagram posts, or expect an actor to slip into a new identity without a camera or an audience.
But Kara and Shauna are naturally hilarious, easy to get along with and irreverent. What many would consider oversharing is what disarms me with them the most.
Shauna tells us about hooking up with Tyson on their first date, while Kara jokes about thinking she was headed for a life of leisure with her husband梐 graduate of MIT梑ut instead she抯 managed to become the primary breadwinner by talking about bodily fluids ad nauseam. It抯 obvious that they抮e both deeply in love, though梐t least to me梑ased on the number of jokes they make at their own expense alone.
When they pick up on Meyer抯 blushing at certain comments, they dig in ruthlessly. It抯 a bit that they fall into, but they stick to it flawlessly when they see it working on him.
揑 honestly thought I抎 miss getting to be a hoe. But then Tyson had to go and give me multiple that first time we hooked up, and now my standards are awfully skewed. I抦 not willing to play the market after that, you know??Shauna says.
揚raise be. My only complaint is that now that I make all the money, I don抰 think he spanks me as hard as he used to, and he doesn抰 want to try anything with any kind of risk factor.?Kara replies with a mournful sigh, and Meyer chokes on a pretzel as I start howling. I smack his back as his eyes water and he continues to cough violently. 揌e definitely won抰 even attempt to choke me,?she pouts.
The public affection is easy in this setting, surprisingly. There抯 no stream of self-conscious babble in my mind anytime my hands land on him.
I think it抯 because expectations aren抰 overly high. Even if I was trying, it抯 not like I抎 be able to differentiate who might be taking pictures of us versus the game, since so many cameras and phones hover in every direction. I find myself easily patting a muscular thigh, leaning into a hard shoulder as I close my eyes in a laugh. We stand up to cheer for a touchdown and my hip bumps into the front of his after I jump up and down. He抯 continually placing easy kisses to my hairline, or wrapping me against his front with his forearm across my collarbone梛ust like that first date in front of the food truck. My palms hold it there every time. Sometimes his chin rests on top of my head and I imagine I抦 buoyant, that I抎 float away without the weight of him securing me.
But then it抯 over, and I couldn抰 tell you what team won because all I know is that despite feeling like I抦 on the verge of disaster in my work life, I feel like the most victorious woman alive.
I let myself hook a finger through Meyer抯 belt loop on our way out, wrap my other hand around his arm as we walk.
Shauna, Kara, and I make plans to meet up and go out that night, before they go their separate ways. When they抮e gone Meyer frowns down at me and asks, 揂re you sure you don抰 want me to stay? Marissa is there anyway tonight, and Haze will be asleep by the time I get home?and I could still be there in the morning.?He looks unsure even as he says it, but my mind swan dives into the gutter at the question, nonetheless. I抦 thinking he means stay, stay. Like, with me. The night. 揢h厰 I stammer.
揑 mean to help, like, socially,?he clarifies, clearing his throat and folding his arms across his chest. 揋o over the parts in your set you抮e trying to work out and stuff, too, maybe.?
揙h! Okay. Well, no, that抯 okay. No social lubricant required here.?God, poor choice of words, Fee. Thank God you stopped before you said you were wet and ready or something equally terrifying. 揑抣l be totally fine. And, we抳e got time to work on the material. It抣l be good for me to do a girls night,?I shrug. Marissa and Meyer might be my only close friends, but I already feel a kinship with Kara and Shauna, so I don抰 feel anxious about that, exactly.
He smiles lopsidedly and nods before he looks down at his phone. 揂lright. Uber抯 two minutes away.?
揙h okay梱ou don抰 have to go get your bag from the concierge??
揑 do, but I just added a stop. I, uh, figured we抎 just share it back to your hotel and then I抣l take off from there.?
I already regret not taking him up on staying, but don抰 see a smooth way to rewind. 揙h! Okay, well?Do you have time to get some food before you gotta hit the airport? I actually kind of do think that maybe we should start going over some material.?That was lame.
But he looks down at his phone and winces apologetically, so I speak again before he can. 揘o, no, never mind. Of course. Honestly, I抦 so full of nachos at this point anyway, my reflux is going to be a bitch later.?
The car pulls up, and we ride back to the hotel in that weird, strained, smothering silence that we抳e managed to avoid lately.
We get back too soon, and before I know it I抦 looking up at him on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. At the muscles in his jaw as they work, flaring out. His hands slide into his pockets.