“You’re gonna kill me, woman,” Graham said, nearly crashing to the floor in his haste to follow her.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Thought
You’re asleep next to me and we just had the best non-sex sex I’ve ever had. And you know what I’m laying here thinking about?
My bed smells like you when you’re not here.
And I like it.
That should probably concern me.
Graham
PS. Remember when we were at that restaurant and you told off the guy on his phone? I didn’t want you to give him your number.
15
“I have a date tomorrow night.”
Graham’s head snapped up. They’d been on the front porch for an hour, and after spending the first half hour talking, had both allowed the warmth of the sun to lull them into states of half consciousness.
TrueChemistry alerted her of the match two days ago, and after reviewing the guy’s profile, she’d sent him a message. They’d spoken back and forth through the app several times, and this morning she woke up to a request to meet.
Seeing it on her phone while curled up in Graham’s bed, with his large, sleeping body pressed against her, felt a little strange.
Hence it taking her half the day to bring it up.
“You do?”
She searched for any hint of discomfort or jealousy in his voice and found none.
“Yep. We’re meeting for coffee.”
“Coffee, huh?” Graham leaned back and laid his head against the chair, the picture of ease. “Should I come?”
Claire snorted. “No, thanks.”
“What do you know about him?”
“He’s in real estate. Born and raised in Colorado Springs. Likes photography and checking out the Denver restaurant scene. Last show he binge-watched was Stranger Things.”
Graham scratched at his chin, which sported a several-day layer of scruff. “Okay, sounds decent. How old?”
“Thirty.”
He made a noncommittal sound. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah. I mean, I’m a little nervous. I feel like with all the prework to make sure we were compatible first, this could be the real deal. But what if…？” She trailed off, tucking her bottom lip underneath her teeth.
Graham’s gaze was shrewd, as if he knew what she was thinking. But still, he asked gently, “What?”
“I haven’t been very successful on the dating front. What if he doesn’t like me?”
Despite Graham’s voice returning to near normal volume by this point, she barely heard his soft reply. “He will.”
She laughed humorlessly. “History would suggest otherwise.”
“That’s not all on you. Two people played a part in every past scenario, and sometimes things just don’t work out.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I think I’m just too weird. It’s like…I became who I am early in life because my dad was this charismatic man who loved nothing more than giving people the thrill of their lives, and I started down that path, too. But then he broke me, and I just sort of stalled out.”
Graham inched forward as if he might reach out to touch her, but his hands simply shifted forward on his thighs, gripping his knees.
Claire swallowed. “I’m loud and outgoing but I don’t have the lifestyle to back it up and no one knows what to do with me. Not even myself, sometimes.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. “Are we back to the whole ‘I’m not adventurous’ thing? You better not have changed that answer on your profile, by the way.”
She totally had.
“Just because you’re not into extreme sports doesn’t mean you’re not adventurous. There’s more than one way to meet that definition.”
“What do you mean?”
“You do tons of shit I never would have if it weren’t for you. You’re always trying new foods, no matter what it is or where it came from. Remember the durian you picked up from the Asian restaurant? I thought I was gonna have to stay at Noah’s the night you brought that home.”
“Come on, it’s a fruit that smells like rancid garbage but tastes sweet! How fascinating is that?”
“I have not, and will not, put something that smells like that in my mouth.” He pointed at her. “In that, you’re a hell of a lot more adventurous than me. And what about studying abroad for an entire summer? It takes a lot of guts to travel across the world by yourself and live in a city where you don’t know a single person. Very few people would do that, Claire.”