Page 114 of The Recovery Coach
“I know, I know.I promise I’ll behave.Most of the time.”
She met his eyes in the mirror.“Thank you.”
When he finished doing Livy’s hair, he dressed himself.Then he knocked on her bedroom door.
She answered and greeted him with a smile.
He stuck his hand out for her to shake.“Hi, I’m so excited to meet you.My friend Connor has told me so much about you.I’m Hazy.”
Livy giggled and shook his hand.“I’m Olivia.I’m excited to meet you too.Livy hasn’t stopped gushing about you foryears.”
Hazy drove them to the fancy restaurant he secretly hated and opened Livy’s car door for her.She remained seated, chewing her lip.
“What’s wrong?”he asked.
“I know I asked to be Olivia and Hazy, virtual strangers tonight, but can I for one second please be Livy?”
“Am I Hazy in this situation?”
She shook her head.“I need Connor.”
He grinned at her.“You got him.”
“The car can be an extension of home.In the car we’re Connor and Livy.”
He laughed at her antics but shut her door and rounded the car, getting into the driver’s seat.“Okay.We’re Connor and Livy again.What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and fidgeted with the hem of her dress.“Nothing is wrong.It’s just… I love that you had a plan.But this isn’t us.Valentine brought me here on our first date.I know it’s where you take your hookups.Don’t treat me like someone you plan on sleeping with and then never talking to again.You hate fancy places like this.”
She was right.She wasn’t some hookup he needed to impress.He’d be happy if he never had to go to that swanky restaurant again.Hazy backed out of his parking spot and drove to a less pretentious, more delicious restaurant.When he opened Livy’s door, she stepped out without question.
“Oh my gosh!My friend Livy has been raving about this place.”
She was so fucking cute and committed to the bit.
“I’ve been here a few times.You should let me order for you.I promise you’ll like what I recommend.”
“Sure,” she said.“Why not?Sounds fun.”
He opened the restaurant door for her and ushered her through it with a hand low on her back.
Inside, the hostess sat them, and Hazy ordered them each a rum and coke and their go-to carry-out order.They sat in their booth for two hours, talking about the weather, sports teams they liked (that conversation got animated), and their families.Hazy tried to tell stories Livy didn’t already know, and she did the same for him.They were being goofy, but he’d learned more about her than he’d expected.
In the car they listened to their favorite playlist, both of them quiet, digesting their food and the fact they’d gotten through their first date.When he opened her car door, they morphed into Hazy and Olivia again, and he walked her to the door.
On the porch he asked, “Does Olivia kiss on the first date?”
She licked her lips and nodded, looping an arm around his neck.He placed the lightest, sweetest kiss possible on her lips, lingering as long as possible without being weird.
Then he pulled away and whispered, “Goodnight, Olivia.”
Once inside, they both kicked off their shoes in the doorway.Livy disappeared into her room, and Hazy did too, desperate to get out of the confines of his jeans.He changed into sweats, forgoing a shirt altogether, and padded to the kitchen.He poured two bowls of Cocoa Puffs and sat in his spot on the couch.
Livy joined him, makeup removed, hair brushed out, and clad in booty shorts and his sweatshirt.She sat next to him and pulled her feet up underneath herself before accepting her late-night snack.
Hazy flipped on an episode ofPhineas and Ferb.
“How was your date?”he asked.
