“I know they’ll be fine on their own, but it’s my first time leaving them,” I explained as she stood up.
“No, I totally get where you’re coming from. They’ll be absolutely safe with me.” Her smile gave me peace of mind and I went through the rest of the kitten care and asked if she could come on Friday.
“We’re going to have a great time. Most of my cats are older, so it will be fun to hang out with little ones again.” I thanked her profusely and said I’d see her on Friday.
Good. Problem solved.
* * *
“What should I wear?”I asked the two fluffballs sitting on my bed. They both blinked at me.
“Thank you, that’s very helpful.” Brit meowed and then flopped on her back, begging for belly pets. Tana did the same. They were so cute when they copied each other.
“Belly pets and then outfit,” I said, scratching their bellies until they got vicious and tried to attack my fingers.
“That’s enough of that. I need my hands.”
I rescued them just in time and went to my closet, flipping through hangers and trying to figure out what would be casual, but also take Lea’s breath away. I’d spurned the kind of clothes that my mother used to make me wear, shopping at discount stores and thrift shops out of spite. Most of what I wore was pretty casual, but I wanted to kick it up a notch. I wanted to wow her.
I tossed a few options on the bed where the kittens pounced on them and hid underneath the folds only to jump out and try to scare each other.
I finally went with a subtly sparkly black cropped shirt that had a cutout in the back and a high neck in the front, a pair of baggy jeans, and brown leather jacket. It was simple, but chic and it made my chest look amazing. Lea wouldn’t be able to take her eyes off them, which was exactly what I hoped she’d do. I’d caught her checking me out more than a few times and I wanted to encourage that behavior. She could look at me in whatever way she wanted.
It wasn’t a secret that she liked the way I looked, but I wasn’t delusional enough to think that it was more than that.
Looking and flirting was fun and wouldn’t do any harm. As long as we didn’t take it too far. Being friends with her was more than I thought I’d ever have, and I didn’t want to ruin it. Losing her would be so much worse than never having had her at all.
Maya arrived five minutes early with a smile and several books. There wasn’t enough time for me to do anything but remind her where things were, confirm that she had my number, and say goodbye to the kitties before I had to go meet Lea.
She told me to have a good time and she’d make sure everything would be fine when I came home.
I drove into the city and went ahead and just parked in the garage instead of fighting for a street spot on a Friday night.
The bar wasn’t too far from the garage, so I hustled my way there and saw a beautiful woman standing outside and waiting for me wearing an oversize jean jacket and a sparkly dress.
As if she’d heard me approaching, she turned slowly and the smile that she gave me stole the breath from my lungs and made my legs wobbly. I teetered the last few feet toward her, trying to remind my lungs how to work. Passing out in front of the bar was not on my agenda for tonight.
“Hey,” she said, her eyes running up and down my body. I’d left my hair down and slightly curled, but I’d gone all out with my eye makeup and glitter. Felt like the right place to do it.
“You look incredible.” Her voice hitched just a little and it was nice to know I wasn’t the only one affected.
“So do you, wow.” She did a little twirl on her toes and the dress flared out just a little bit, letting me see her utterly gorgeous legs.
We stared at each other still smiling for a few seconds until she blushed and looked away. “Come on, they’re already inside.”
* * *
The noiseof the bar was intense, but I knew I’d get used to it. I paid my cover and Lea pulled me toward a high-top table where two people were already seated with drinks.
“This is Vail,” Lea said, presenting me. “And this is James and Delaney.”
James had hair dyed half brown, half blonde, and a silver septum ring glinted from her nose. She gave me a smile, but it wasn’t as bright as Delaney’s who was petite and had blonde hair twisted up in a clip.
“It’s so great to meet you finally. Lea has told us so much about you I feel like we’ve already met,” Delaney said. She almost looked like she was going to hug me, but she didn’t. Her energy was palpable, and I saw James put a hand on her back and say something in her ear that I didn’t catch.
Delaney kept smiling, but I noticed that she stepped back just a little bit.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I said, because that was the thing I was supposed to say.
