“Wow,” I said, taking her in from head to toe. She wore a curve-hugging sweater dress and knee-high boots and had her hair and makeup done to perfection.
As I was searching for an appropriate compliment to describe how good she looked, Lexi smoothed her hands over her dress. “Is it too much? Should I change?”
“Change? Never. You look incredible.”
“I never wear dresses, but I also never date… sooooo.” She did a little flourish with her hands, gesturing to her outfit. “Ta-da!”
“It’s perfect. Really, you look great. Here, these are for you,” I said as I pushed the flowers into her hands.
The look of horror on her face made me second-guess the gesture for the hundredth time today. “Too much?” I parroted her sentiments about her attire.
She schooled her features before raising her eyes to mine. “No, sorry. They’re beautiful. This is nice. It’s just—” She paused to chew her lip. Her very plump, very kissable lip.Fucking stop it. Behave. “I don’t think anyone’s ever given me flowers before except for my mom when I graduated nursing school.”
“Are you okay?” I couldn’t make out what was going on in that beautiful head of hers.
“This is weird.”Oh, fuck me. The flowers were too much. I knew I should have dialed it back.
“Shit, I’m sorry. If it’s too much, I can—” I reached for them, but Lexi hugged them to her chest.
“Don’t you dare. Just because this is weird as shit, doesn’t mean I don’t want them.” She turned and walked into the kitchen. I followed her, closing the door behind me.
A laugh escaped me, and I shook my head as I reached where she was rummaging through a cabinet. “What’s weird exactly?”
“All of it. We’re going on a freaking date, Brando. My first date. Like ever.”
“What? You didn’t go on any dates when you were in school?”
“Nope. Not a one.” Lexi pulled a pint glass out of a cabinet and eyed it skeptically. “Think this will work?” She put the glass next to the flowers to measure and then put it back and continued her hunt for something to put the flowers in.
“Let’s circle back to the fact that you’ve never been on a date.” Stopping her search, she turned to look at me.
“Look, it’s not a big deal. Let’s not make it a whole thing, okay?” Lexi turned back to her task. “Oh, shit, this should work.” Triumphantly, she spun around with a large pitcher in her hand. “I usually use this for margs, but it’ll have to do.” She filled the pitcher with water and arranged the flowers in it. “So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Ugh, you’re so annoying, but fiiiiiiine. Let’s go beforeI change my mind. You’d better be feeding me, though, because I’m fucking starving.”
“So you’re tellingme you won’t eatanyyellow candy?” I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. We’d been laughing practically non-stop since we arrived at the restaurant. Things were definitely going better than I had expected, and my nerves were gone.
“I don’t know why anyonewould. They’re disgusting. It’s like eating freaking kitchen cleaner.”
“But you like lemons?”
“They’re not mutually exclusive, Brando. Lemon candy has a fake lemon flavor and tastes like shit. Real lemons are delicious.”
“Do you want another margarita before we go to the next location?” I asked her, eyeing her empty glass.
“What next location? I thought this was the date.”
“It’s only the first stop. Wait, you thought a Mexican restaurant was the surprise?”
“Well, it was a surprise since I didn’t know where we were going. But now that you’ve told me there’s more, let’s get out of here. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for me.”
I paid the bill, and we left the restaurant, heading towards the subway instead of my car.
“If you tell me the surprise is taking the subway, Brandon,I’m going to have to pass. Been there, done that, and I am not a fan. You know, a guy once jerked off onto an oncoming train from the platform right in front of me? It was terrifying and impressive at the same time.”
I was laughing so hard my face hurt. “Holy shit. For real?”
