I don’t want this to end – and I’m desperately hoping his offer to walk me back is a sign that he feels the same.
Chapter Twelve
Finn
As we walk through the campus towards Candy’s dorm, I keep going back and forth in my mind.
I want to make a move on her. I want her right now, tonight. What’s the sense in waiting? I’ve waited twenty years already, and now that I’ve found her, I want to claim her right now. I want to leave my mark on her and make her mine. She is mine – she just doesn’t know it yet.
And I want to show her, in a way that she can’t ignore or deny. I want to make her scream my name in ecstasy over and over again. I want her dizzy and drained, so replete with satisfaction that she can’t even move. I want to make her come until she knows nothing except that she wants me again.
But it might be too soon for her. After only one date, and two meetings – both of those in a twenty-four-hour span… yes, it might be too soon. Not for me. I’m rock hard just thinking about it as we walk through the campus. Which I have to immediately stifle because that wouldn’t be a good look.
I won’t push it. Tonight, I’ll stay a gentleman. I want to do this right, to treat her with respect and give her the time and space to come to me on her own. There are plenty of ways to make her fall hard for me in the meantime. She’ll come around to my way of seeing things if she hasn’t already. She’ll want me as much as I want her. I can be patient for that.
“It’s been a nice night,” I say. “I hope we can do it again sometime.”
“I’d like that,” Candy agrees immediately – so quickly that I’m completely reassured. She clearly had a good time. “You have my number now, right? So, you can let me know when you’re free next. I guess you probably have a more demanding schedule than I do.”
I laugh. A self-aware student – it’s not often you find one of those. Usually, they can’t stop complaining about course load and how many lectures they have to attend, or how hard it is to study for finals – not realizing that real life requires the same level of dedication on a constant basis in order to succeed. “You’re right about that. I’ll let you know. Maybe sometime in the next few days.”
I could say tomorrow – but, just in time, I remember my own decision. I don’t need to push her too hard. She will be mine, whether it’s tomorrow, next week, or the end of the month. It will be hard to wait, but I can do it.
“I’ll be waiting,” Candy says, a little coyly. I wonder how long it is now to her dorm. I hope it’s a very long distance – but given how far we’ve already walked, I think I might be about to run out of luck.
We pause as we pass a noticeboard, Candy’s slowing steps making mine stop as well. She pulls away from my arm and steps closer to the board, where a number of different flyers have been posted. One of them, a green sheet of paper printed with a black text advertisement for a nearby bar, gets her attention – and mine.
“This is just off campus,” she says, pointing to it. “It’s student-friendly. Maybe we should go there. I’m not tired yet.”
“Maybe we should,” I agree, with a smile. So, she wants the same as me? Maybe tonight is about to get even more interesting, after all. Even if she doesn’t want to go all the way this evening – and I would understand that her being a lady – just getting to spend some more time with her will be enough.
“I think it’s over here,” she says, turning slightly. “Oh!”
I wonder at the sound of that last ‘oh’ she sounds surprised and pleased, as if she’s just seen something unexpected but in a good way. But as it turns out, I don’t have to wonder for much longer than a split second – because a very familiar voice comes into my hearing right afterward.
“Oh, hey!” it says, and I turn with a guilty feeling, thinking now that perhaps coming to this campus wasn’t the smartest idea I’ve ever had.
Not when I knew there was a chance we could run into my daughter.
Chapter Thirteen
Candy
I turn and see her coming towards us – Alex, my roommate, who pushed me to go on this date in the first place. She will probably be pretty happy to see us having a good time, and to know that Finn is being a gentleman and walking me home to my door.