In two long strides, he was standing in front of me, grinning down. I couldn't help but return his smile while also trying to ignore the fact that his green shirt reminded me of Tristan's eyes. "Hi Kieran," I said back.
"I bought the tickets already, ready to go in?" he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the doors. I nodded, smiled, and followed after him. He was sweet and walked slower so I could keep up before opening the door for me and grazing my shoulder blade with his hand after passing the tickets to the theater employee. He treated me to popcorn that we decided to share and individual drinks, because I wasn't about to share a drink with someone I barely knew. I wasn't ruling out swapping saliva via mouth on mouth, but I'd worry about that after the movie.
"Thanks for inviting me," I told him right after we sat down in our seats. We still had about ten minutes before the movie started, I estimated.
Kieran blushed. "I'm glad you came. I wasn't sure if you were interested," he practically whispered.
He was too cute. I almost wanted to wrap him up and put him in my pocket. "I'm sorry I didn't e-mail you or anything, I just had a busy weekend."
"You don't have to explain anything," he replied. "I'd rather you tell me about yourself before the movie starts."
I told him the little things, the unimportant things like what college I went to, what town I grew up in, my lack of siblings, and my affinity for popcorn in five minutes. He managed to squeeze in and tell me that he had three younger sisters, what colleges he went to, and that he too loved popcorn. The previews started mid sentence, and we both just turned to face forward and watch.
Kieran didn't make a move throughout the entire movie besides patting my leg when I came back from the restroom. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed that he didn't make an effort to at least try to put his arm around my shoulder or something. Even my middle school boyfriend did the whole yawn, raise an arm and flop it across my shoulders in the least slick way possible. I smirked obnoxiously every five minutes because I thought the movie was pretty hilarious, and a lot of things reminded me of Tristan. I noticed that Kieran just kind of chuckled quietly when I had tears in my eyes.
"That was the funniest movie I've seen this year," I snorted on our walk out.
He smiled sweetly and nodded. "I thought it was pretty funny, too."
It didn't escape me that he didn't agree with me completely and not that he should have to, I mean, life is all about difference in opinion so I just grinned back at him.
"I'll walk you to your car," he said.
"I'm parked over here," I said pointing in the direction of my car when we made it to the parking lot. "Do you have to work tomorrow?" I asked him, trying to make conversation.
"I do. When do you go back to school?"
I was parked pretty close to the front of the lot and by the time I opened up my mouth to respond, we were already within ten feet of my car. "I have to go back in two weeks, and then school starts again two weeks after that."
We were standing by the driver seat while I shifted from foot to foot as he tugged on the belt loops of his jeans some more. "I guess this is goodnight then," he said with a shy smile.
He took a step forward at the same time I did, each putting up our arms in opposite directions for a hug. Then I switched my arm positions at the same time he did, so we mirrored each other again. I giggled a little at the awkwardness before we finally met in the middle for a tight hug. He was warm and hard against me just the way I liked. "Thanks again," I said against his shirt.
"I had a good time." Kieran pulled back a fraction of an inch before leaning down to plant a kiss on the side of my cheek. "I'll call you," he said.
"Okay. Goodnight," I responded before unlocking my door and slipping into the seat. By the time I had my seat belt and the car on, he was already walking in another direction.
To say I was a little confused about our date would be an understatement. I figured Kieran was a little shy and that might be the reason why he wasn't more forward, not that it was a bad thing at all but it wasn't what I was expecting. With the exception of Ryan, every other guy I'd been out with had been pretty passive. I wasn't exactly sure how Kieran felt about our date, but I sure as hell wasn't about to stress about it. I pulled over at Taco Bell on the way home for dinner to go before I pulled into the same spot I always parked in at my apartment complex. Jogging up the stairs, I caught sight of a long figure wearing a black hoodie sitting up against my door.
I froze, clenching the plastic bag in one hand and my purse in the other. I was debating whether or not to grab my pepper spray from my purse when the figure moved and turned to look in my direction. I recognized Tristan's face beneath the black hood as he hopped up onto his feet a lot more gracefully than a man of his size should be capable of.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, taking the remaining steps toward my door.
He didn't say anything as I approached, keeping his steady green gaze on me. I stopped in front of him and looked up to try and read his facial expressions, which I'd like to think I had gotten pretty good at. He exhaled a long breath, continuing his intense glare. My heart thumped wildly against my chest in an off-tempo beat that was impossible to follow. The muscles in his face looked flexed and his jaw more defined.
"What?"
Tristan's hands reached for the bags in my hands to set on the floor. Unwinding himself back to up to his full height, he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt down before sighing deeply. I'd like to think that if I would have been warned beforehand of what his following words were going to be, I'd make sure not to have a bag of chalupas between us. His words floated through the air like a delicate memory that severed any thought from my brain, "You're all I can think about anymore."
Chapter 43
I died a hundred times right then.
There would be an obituary in the paper that would say: Katherine Alba Berger, dead at the tender age of twenty-five from the result of a massive heart attack.
Obviously, I didn't die, but my heart did stop beating for all of three seconds. I didn't move. My body, my mouth, and my blood cells ceased to function. I didn't even think any wind blew in those long moments that changed my life forever. At least it seemed like it was one of those moments that I'd remember the rest of my life. I had a few of those: the day I found out my mom died, when I realized I was never going to be an astronaut, and the day I graduated from college. My mind made an etch into the fiber of my tissues of the longing and pained expression on Tristan's beautiful face after he spoke those words.
His eyes darkened at the same time his brows furrowed. "I don't know what to do." Those emerald orbs searched the surface of my face for something as I stood there mute. He brought up his left hand to press the back of it against my face. "I miss you all the fucking time," he admitted softly.
