Page 89 of Deadhead
“Yep.”
We smile at each other. And we look. I start at her dark hair. It’s down today and shiny, as usual. Her face looks fresh and makeup free, but I know she has some on; she’s definitely got something pink on her pretty lips. I scan down to her simple V-neck tee above a pair of jeans with holes in the knees. Her feet are covered in a pair of Birkenstocks. They look like they’ve seen better days, but she must love them because she wears them every day. I like them too because they give me a chance to see what color her toenails are today. They’re red.
“Cute toes,” I say softly as they step closer to me.
“Everything aboutyouis cute.” Her voice has gotten soft and a little husky.
I recognize it. It’s her sexy voice. I also know when I look into her eyes, they’ll be dilated. We haven’t done it yet. Sex. We’ve done a lot of other things, but not the actual deed, and that’s on me. I hope to remedy that tonight after everyone leaves. I think we’ve done this right, because I wanted to take this thing with Kat and me slow. It’s probably not fair to her, but after the speed with which I ended up in bed with Daisy and the rash decisions I made, I had to take things slow this time around.
The thing between Kat and me started while I was in Missouri. The captain insisted I take a couple weeks off after Daisy’s confession, so I took the opportunity to head home to spend time with my family. While I was there, Kat and I talked almost every night. She started it off by getting my number from Quinn and calling me after hearing about Daisy. Her thoughtfulness touched me. She was concerned about me and my broken heart while I was only concerned about Daisy.
After I returned to Ames, Kat and I kept right on talking. For over a month we spoke almost every day. The days we didn’t, I missed her. Then, sometime in the second month, we went for a run. She’s stuck to her plan of doing a 5K this year, and I plan to do it with her. Watching her strive for her goals is one of my favorite things to do. Kat is intense when she’s working toward a goal. She’s like me in that way.
After that run, we met often for coffee, lunch, and dinner. We saw a couple of movies together. Then I made dinner for her one night at my house. That was the night I kissed her. I was nervous as hell because I wasn’t sure she felt the same way about me. But the minute our lips touched, I heard her whisper, “Finally,” and I knew.
I knew that this,Kat, was worth the wait.
* * *
