Say You Love Me(29)

Chapter 11





Cody



“So then they asked me if I wanted to be lead and of course I said yes.” Louisa batted her long fake eyelashes at me and I smiled and nodded as she continued to talk about her dance roles.

“Interesting,” I said as I sipped my beer, my mind wandering to Sally. I looked down at my watch. It was 8pm and I’d only been on this date for thirty minutes, but I was already bored out of my mind and wondering what Sally was up to. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since the other night. The taste of her skin against my lips had been sweet, mesmerizing and intoxicating. I could still remember the way her back had arched as I’d teased and tantalized her breasts. My entire body had felt like it was on fire as we’d kissed and touched each other. It had been an amazing moment and I’d ruined it. Not because I hadn’t wanted to take her. Every inch of me had wanted to be inside her. Every inch of me had wanted to please her, to take her to heights that would have her screaming out my name. I wanted to feel her nails digging into my back until they punctured the skin. I wanted to feel her whipping her hair across my skin and face as she gyrated on top of me. I’d wanted to consume her so that her whole body would never want another man. The thought had scared me and that was when I’d stopped. Drunken hookups were fine. I had no problem with casual sex, but something about my thoughts when I’d been playing with Sally had made me hesitant.

“I’m also very flexible.” Louisa’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked up at her as she smiled at me in a sexy way with her bright red, vixen lips.

“Oh, really?” I nodded at her and tried to show enthusiasm at her obvious flirting. Louisa was beautiful and fit, probably better looking than her online photos, but I just couldn’t seem to drum up excitement about our date.

“Flexible is good,” I said eventually. “I’m not so flexible.”

“Only one of us needs to be.” She giggled. “I’m flexible enough for both of us.”

“Good to know.” I smiled at her and watched as her bright red fingernails tapped across the tabletop. “Would you like to get another glass of wine?” I asked her, though I really didn’t care if she said yes or no. I wanted to text Sally and see if she wanted to watch a movie or something, but I knew that would be a mistake. I didn’t want to lead her on or take advantage of her. And it irritated me that I was thinking of her while on this date with Louisa.

“Sure,” she said and leaned towards me. “We can have another glass here and then maybe head back to my place.”

“Sure,” I said with a grin. I still had it! “Waiter,” I said, calling him over. “A glass of Zinfandel and a Blue Moon, please.”

“Yes, sir.” He nodded and walked away.

“So tell me more about you, Louisa. Any surprising stories?”

“Hmm, naughty or nice?” she said with a wink and I knew in that instant that she was mine for the taking if I wanted her. Which I wasn’t quite sure that I did. And frankly this annoyed me. She was a beautiful girl and I never said no to a beautiful woman. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and immediately my mind went to Sally. Was she texting me? I looked up and saw that Louisa was still talking to me, but all I could think about was the text. I knew that the probability of the text being from Sally was slim, but I wondered if she was thinking of me at the same time that I was thinking of her.

“Excuse me a second,” I apologized to Louisa and I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. “I’m expecting an important message and I just need to check my phone. I hope you don’t think I’m being horribly rude.”

“Go ahead.” Louisa nodded and batted her eyelashes again.

“Thanks.” I grabbed my phone quickly from my pocket and checked the screen. I felt disappointed when I saw that the text was from my friend John. I didn’t even bother opening the full message before turning my phone off and putting it back in my pocket. “Sorry about that.”

“Was it the message you were waiting on?” Louisa asked me curiously, and I shook my head.

“It can wait,” I said and leaned forward. “I don’t want to be rude.” I grabbed her hand and smiled at her, giving her my lopsided grin that seemed to make women swoon.

“Oh, no worries.” She shrugged. “At least neither one of us had to pull the ‘my friend just had a heart attack and I have to leave’ stunt.”

“What stunt is that?” I asked her, not sure what she was talking about.

“How many people have you met online?” she asked with a laugh. “So many guys and girls have fake or old photos or completely lie about themselves. I’ve had so many deaths and heart attacks occur on dates that I’m scared that someone I know really will die.”

“So a lot of bad dates, then?”

“You’re the best one yet,” she said, and her fingers squeezed mine. “When I saw you walk in, I thought I’d won the lottery.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you’re the hottest guy I’ve ever met online.” She laughed. “Though I don’t know that I should be telling you that.”

“Aww, you can tell me anything you want,” I said with a smile, though I was already regretting having held her hand. Her fingers felt clammy against mine and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Sally and how soft and warm and silky her hands had felt against mine. I was driving myself crazy or at least I had been since that night. Everything felt awkward since that night. I’d woken up the next morning and Sally had been gone. I’d felt empty inside when I realized she’d just left without saying goodbye, but I had thought everything would still be okay. But then she hadn’t called or texted. At all. And that wasn’t like Sally. She usually texted me several times a day with random questions and comments. It wasn’t even something I’d paid attention to, until the texts had stopped. And now…well, now I wanted to know why she’d stopped. And I knew I hadn’t made it better when I’d called her for advice for my date. I’d heard the shock in her voice when she’d responded to my question, the pause when she said, “You’re going on a date and you want my help?” I knew it had been a dumb move, but I’d just wanted to talk to her and show her that everything was still cool. We were still friends. I still valued her opinion. Just because we’d almost had sex didn’t mean anything had to change. I didn’t want anything to change, but I felt like it already had.