I looked back at myself in the mirror, dark hair, sweaty and matted to my head. Top-knot messy and crooked at my crown, my face a little too full, the double-chin noticeable if I moved my chin anywhere but my best angle. All that extra fat looked pretty good in my breasts though, they were perky for being double D’s, and I had a dip in my waist, so my body had some shape. But then there were my hips, generous to a fault, that led to thighs badly in need of some definition.
“I see me alright.”
“Let me tell you what I see,” he started, hands at my shoulders, “I see a girl who smiles and everything that went wrong with my day washes away into nothing. I see a girl who has eyes so warm and loving that I forget there are assholes walking around out there. I see a woman who has curves for days that make most men salivate, and it makes me so intensely jealous that I want to cover them up, but then I realize how much I love looking at those curves too.
“I see Katie Wilder…the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life. You’re so fucking sexy and beautiful and cute that the idea that you spend a day not knowing that makes me insane. I don’t know what happened in your life to make you see anything different. I want to go out there and beat the shit out of anyone that ever said an unkind word to you or made you feel small and undesirable. I know one thing–all those assholes were just green with envy.” He turned me around so I could gaze directly into his eyes instead of watching him in the mirror.
Cupping my face in his hands, he brought his forehead to mine, making the intensity of his green eyes even more piercing than ever before. “You have any idea what it feels like to know the most perfect girl you’ll ever meet was the one you met as a child? Too scared to say or do anything because she burned bright like the sun and you were just an average guy that happened to be good at football. You are perfect, the best, and nothing and nobody is ever allowed to make you feel less, even yourself.”
And then he kissed me. His kiss was like molten lava, hot and needy, taking control of my body and making me melt into him. This kiss was so passionate and heady that for a first kiss–it was one for the story books. I felt like every single leading lady in a romantic comedy. I also felt stunned.
“Ok, wait. What?” I said into his lips, he ignored me and just kept kissing me. His tongue gently probing into my lips. The sweet taste of peppermint consuming me from the gum he always chewed.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for seven years.”
“Seven years?” I asked, breaking the kiss and looking at him.
“Seven years. I’ve been into you since high school. So much so that I haven’t been able to date anyone else or even look at another girl.”
“Excuse me? Look at you. You’re…you.” I accused, stepping back and waving my arms at him like a lunatic. He flipped me around so I was facing the mirror again but this time he curled his arms around my waist and put his head on my shoulders.
“Now tell that to the only girl I’ve ever loved.” He uttered at my ear.
Sawyer
“Holy Guacamole, that’s gonna take a lot of sit-ups to work off.” Katie’s eyes grew bigger than the Mexican-themed dessert plates sitting between us. The waiter set a giant bowl of fried ice cream in the center of the table, two spoons flanking the bowl.
“Ladies first.” I laughed when she attempted a scoop and a stack of fried cinnamon sticks toppled off the cream. I used my own spoon to help her scoop hers to her plate, before pausing to watch her take her first bites.
First, she picked a tiny fried bit of cinnamon stick goodness from the top and dipped it in the melting ooze before plunging it past her lips and sucking. Her eyes slammed closed instantly, a groan on her lips.
And then I groaned, because watching this woman eat was about the most seductive thing I’d ever seen. Some men needed a lot of bells and whistles to get themselves to breaking point, but not me, I just need Katie, sucking on a stick and moaning.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Her eyes were suddenly on me.
“Too distracted by you,” I said.
“You know I’ll never be able to eat a thing around you if you’re just going to stare at me the entire time.”
“And that would be a shame.” I stabbed at the melting pile, scooping some into my mouth. It wasn’t half as good as I imagined she tasted. I’d spent a lot of this date already wondering how she’d taste, I’d hardly been able to register the spicy chicken tacos on my lips just thinking of kissing her tonight.