He doesn't respond to my confession but rather looks up and down over me like he did earlier.
"Why'd you call me Wes back there?" I decide to ask him so that I can eliminate any chance for awkwardness or for my nerves to come shaking back.
"When?"
"When you dropped the towel for me?" I hook my thumb toward the bathroom.
"Oh, I- I guess I didn't even realize I did." he says as he reaches over for his wallet and keys off the entry table.
"It's no biggie," I say as I swing my jacket behind my shoulders and fit my arms through. "I've just never been given a nickname before."
I see the way Kyran's jaw ticks at my words, almost like he's grinding down to prevent himself from saying something he thinks he shouldn't. It causes me to wonder what he's thinking but I don't do much to push him on it.
Instead, I let him guide me as he places his hand at the small of my back; a gesture that is entirely too inappropriate given the way my body reacts to him. But I bite the inside of my cheek in hopes that I don't make a peep, not wanting to give myself away.
"Ready?" he asks, and I simply nod my head and follow him out the door.
We find our seats in the theater, and to our surprise, there aren't very many people here. We only missed about half of the opening previews so by the time we get popcorn and some drinks, we're finding our seats just in time with the start of the movie.
"An empty theater must mean the movie isn't that great," I whisper as the lights dim all the way dark.
"Almost empty," he states, noting the few others scattered about and I can tell he's trying to maintain optimism since this was a movie of my choosing.
Our seats happen to be the furthest back, so no one is sitting behind us. I don't question his choice in seating because full or not, I would have likely chosen the same section. The further back, the better. I love scary movies, but I also get scared easily. So this was the best choice.
Kyran pops out one of the other tables from the seat next to him and places the popcorn there. We place our drinks in the holders on either side of us and for some awkward reason, we just sit and stare ahead.
We get into these little bouts of awkwardness, and I think it's to be expected. But I do try to figure out how to avoid falling too deeply into them because in all honesty, all I want to do is talk to Kyran. I want to know more about him and listen to him speak. I think I retreat sometimes because I don't want to seem too clingy or needy and eventhough we've talked to each other nearly every day for the past almost month, I worry he'll get sick of me.
"I just want to give you a heads up," I start, swallowing down my fear of annoying him. I can hardly make out his features as he turns to look at me. "I do scare fairly easily." I cover my mouth with my hand as if to shield everyone else from hearing me.
I hear him chuckle under his breath before he holds his hand out in the air next to me. "This is here for you when you need it," he says and then places his hand palm down over his jean-clad thigh.
Suddenly, I feel that rush of nerves again, but this time it's a burst of warmth in my core as I realize what he means.
Hold his hand when I get scared.
The thought does silly, ridiculous things to me and I feel juvenile for the way my cheeks blush, imagining his hand in mine. But I don't have time to let that image settle too much before the first jump scare has me damn near jumping out of my seat.
My hand flies to my heart and the other covers my mouth to prevent myself from screaming.
"Are you okay?" Kyran asks as he turns to me and I just nod my head, trying not to feel embarrassed.
"It was just the movie production intro, Wes. The movie hasn't even started yet," I realize that as the title starts to roll in afterward and I mentally curse myself before I let out a laugh.
"I told you . . . I scare easily."
I don't expect him to do anything other than laugh or turn to focus on the movie, but when he moves his hand to lift up the arm rest between us and scoots a little closer to me, my heart starts to pick up pace and my body startsto flood with goosebumps. How can one person be so hot and so cold at the same time? Because while my body is reactive to the chill that swims across my skin, there's heat pooling between my legs and I have to squeeze my thighs tighter to keep myself from feeling it too much.
He's just so close. His scent. The way his arm brushes mine.Too close.
But I do my best to keep my mind trained on the movie and out of the gutter, though I conclude the task to be harder done than said as I find myself leaning into him with each lead up to the next jump scare. It's not purposeful, but it happens and an hour and half into the movie I don't even realize I have reached for his hand now squeezing it as something scary pops up on the screen.
"Ahh!" I scream, leaning further into him and damn near crushing his hand in mine.
He chuckles at me but doesn't pull away. He lets me use him as a shield and when the screen goes black, I sit up.
"Wait, that's it?" I ask, feeling confused by the sudden ending.
