Chapter Fourteen
Irving
After spending the entire laser show freaking out about the fact that Ezra was touching me, I should have been more prepared for what happened in the parking lot. I mean, we got to holding hands halfway through the third song, and by the end of it, our feet were practically humping each other under the seat.
But still, when it happened, I just about fell to the ground.
“So, what now?” Ezra asked, leaning against the car. “Want to head back to my place?”
I revived myself into a human again, blinking as I tried to think of what to say. “If you want me to drop you off at home, I can do that,” I answered, rubbing the back of my head.
“Irving, you know that’s not what I meant.”
My mouth went dry. “Sure, let’s head back to your place. Can you give me directions again, though? I still get lost in Seattle sometimes.”
“Sure, no problem! I love navigating,” Ezra answered, hopping into the passenger seat as though it was totally normal and casual for us to being going back to his place.
And maybe it was totally normal and casual for him. I guess we would talk about that, if we were actually doing what I thought we might be doing, but we hadn’t had that conversation yet. I figured Ezra had lots of experiences and probably lots of expectations, too.
Me? I had Mario, and that was it.
Just a guy I would still sometimes cry about, even though it had been too long.
“Next right,” Ezra said, taping his side of the car.
By the time we got back to his place, I was pretty convinced that driving while incredibly horny should be illegal, considering how dazed I felt. Ezra was nice about my lips sealing shut again, though. Probably he had seen me act that way enough times that he was at least used to it, even if it wasn’t exactly the most charming thing to do with a date. He just kept singing along to the radio and telling me these long stories about his family and the shop until we got there.
“My housemate is probably asleep,” he whispered as we stepped through the door. “His bedroom is the first door on the left by the living room here, and I’m in the back by the kitchen. You okay going back there?”
I nodded, following him through the small house. You could tell Ezra lived here because of how bright it was, almost every surface covered with some combination of colorful decorations, knickknacks, and treasured objects. The walls had a generous number of photos on them, with occasional framed drawings I was pretty sure Ezra had made.
When we got into the bedroom, I was surprised that it was much more sparsely filled. There was a large bed with nice-looking flannel sheets, one giant drawing table with pencils and papers, and some big stacks and shelves of books and comics.
“I can draw better without a bunch of distractions,” Ezra said, plopping on the bed. He kicked back for a minute, then shot back up. “Oh wait, do you want anything? Water, soda, wine, whatever?”
I thought for a second. “Actually, I would love a glass of wine.”
“Great,” he said, jumping to his feet and giving me a nice view of his backside on the way. “Be right back.”
By the time Ezra returned, I had positioned myself on the bed and then decided to stand again about thirty times. He did a little skip, his legs bouncing around beneath him, then handed off the wine to me so he could flip on some music. As the volume kicked on, he turned back, holding his hands up with his palms toward the ceiling.
“Prince?”
“I love Prince.”
Ezra came back over, and when he sat down on the bed, I sat down next to him.
I really wanted to reach out and place my fingers in his mouth. I also really wanted to take his glasses off so I could roll around on the bed with him, although I also wanted him to keep his glasses on because they were really cute. Mostly, though, I just wanted to know how to make my voice work again.
“I’m a virgin, by the way,” Ezra said abruptly.
“What?”
He bounced on the bed, then lightly kicked my foot with his. “Well, not really. I had sex twice before, but the guy was a jerk about it after. Not counting that, though, I’m a virgin.”
I kicked back at his foot, my heart thumping in my chest. “That’s cool. I’ve only been with my ex-boyfriend.”
“The one who—”
