Page 62 of The Rules of Dating

I smiled. Holding his hand actually did feel right. And I tried not to let that thought freak me out by changing the subject. “So, what random trivia do you have for me about this architectural splendor, Mr. Bridge Aficionado?”

He held up a finger. “Ah. I thought you’d never ask.”

For the next hour, as we walked from one borough to the next and back, Colby told me story after story about the Brooklyn Bridge—how PT Barnum once walked twenty-one elephants across to show the people of New York that it was safe, and every name the bridge had been called since it was built. If someone had asked if I found bridge facts interesting a month ago, I would have thought they were nuts. Yet I hung on Colby’s every word. However, I think that had less to do with the bridges and more to do with the man.

It was almost midnight by the time we got back to my apartment. We’d been together nearly six hours, yet I still wasn’t ready for the night to end. As we walked to the elevator, I debated whether I’d be sending the wrong signal by inviting him up. In the end, I decided I was being silly. I’d spent enough time in his apartment—it wouldn’t seem out of bounds. “Do you…want to come up for a little while?”

He thought a moment. “I probably shouldn’t. I don’t want to push my luck and break one of the rules of undating. Plus, the sitter has work in the morning, so I shouldn’t keep her too much longer.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh…yeah, of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t even thinking.”

He took my hand again. “I had a really good time tonight.”

I smiled. “I did, too.”

“You know how when we do certain things it just feels wrong or unnatural? Like turning around after you throw a bowling ball down the alley and not watching to see what happens?”

I chuckled. “Yeah?”

Colby looked down at his feet. “That’s what leaving without kissing you feels like.”

My insides felt all warm and mushy.

“I think I’m going to skip the traditional end-of-undate ritual. No sniffing for me. I don’t trust myself to get that close right now.”

I smiled sadly. “Alright.”

Colby pushed the button for the elevator. It must’ve been waiting because the doors slid open immediately. I had to force myself to step inside the car and leave him. Colby was one-hundred-percent right. It felt wrong to walk away like this. Once I was in the elevator, I put my hand on the doorframe to stop them from closing.

“Thank you for sticking up for me with my mother tonight. It means a lot to me.”

He smiled. “You mean a lot to me.”

I let go of the door and stepped back. “Goodnight, Colby.”

“Goodnight, beautiful.”

The second the doors began to slide closed, panic washed over me. My heart raced, my palms began to sweat, and it felt like I was having a panic attack. It was so bad that I stuck my hand out between the doors at the very last second, and the old elevator crushed it before begrudgingly bouncing open again.

“Shit!” I screamed.

Colby ran back. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Nothing…” I shook out my wrist. “I stuck my hand between the doors to stop it from closing, but it’s fine. It scared me more than it hurt.”

He took my hand and examined it. It wasn’t even red. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m positive.”

“Open your fingers and close them.”

I did as he said without any pain. “They’re fine.”

“Why did you stick your hand in the doors anyway?”

“I, uh, I just felt like I needed to get off.”

Colby’s eyes looked back and forth between mine, and then a cocky smile spread across his face. “It feels weird for you to walk away without kissing me, too, doesn’t it?”