One of the Guys (5 page)

           
“I
kinda
do,” Max said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

           
Kate opened her car door and tossed
her purse onto the passenger seat. She rested her arms across the top of the
door. “Really?” she asked.

           
The word was barely out of her mouth
before Max placed both hands on the sides of her face and pulled her close for
a kiss. Their lips met for a few brief seconds, and Kate almost found herself
giving in.
Almost.

           
She backed away. “Down, boy,” she
said. “Not tonight, okay?”

           
Max sighed. “Sorry.”

           
“No you’re not,” Kate giggled,
getting in the car.

           
“You’re right. I’m not.”

           
“Good night, Max,” she said, closing
the door and sticking her key in the ignition. He waved and headed towards his
car.
 

           
As soon as she got home, Kate burst
through the door, tossed her purse on the couch, and ran to Lucy’s bedroom. She
knocked on the door. “Come on in!” Lucy called.

           
Kate opened the door and flopped
down on her stomach across Lucy’s bed. Lucy sat up in bed, closed the book that
she was reading, and placed it on her nightstand. “Chris asked me out!” Kate
squealed.

           
“I got your text,” Lucy said. “So
how did that happen?”

           
Kate recounted the conversation to
Lucy, who sat there shaking her head. “I’m impressed,” she said.

           
“I can’t believe it!” Kate sat up,
grinning. “It was so easy. It was perfect. So who knows?
 
Maybe this is it.”
 
She threw her arms around Lucy in a hug.

           
“Uh… Maybe,” Lucy chuckled.

           
Kate hopped up and went into her
room to get ready for bed. For the first time in awhile, she had a date!
 
One that she was really
excited about.
One that could actually mean something.

           
Maybe.

*

           
Kate only had a few minutes to
freshen up before dinner with Chris. She was standing at her bathroom sink,
touching up her mascara, and hoping the butterflies in her stomach would go away.
This is ridiculous!
 
You hang out with him all the time. Why are
you nervous?
 
She took a deep breath
and tried to steady her hand so she wouldn’t poke herself in the eye with the
mascara wand.

           
Kate heard a car pull up in the
driveway. She tossed the tube of mascara back in the drawer, shut it, and
looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look too bad. She hoped she didn’t
look as nervous as she felt. She grabbed her sweater off the end of her bed and
pulled it on as she made her way to the door. She opened it and stood, staring
up at Chris.

           
She couldn’t believe she was going
out with him.

           
“Hi,” she said.

           
“Hi,” Chris replied. He smiled and
cracked his knuckles.
“Ready to go?”

           
“Just let me grab my purse,” she
said. She hurried into the kitchen and grabbed her bag off the counter. “Let’s
go!”

           
She was surprised when Chris went
around to the passenger side first and opened the door for her. She couldn’t
help giggling as she slid into the seat and he shut the door behind her. When
he got in the car, he looked at her curiously. “What?”

           
“I just didn’t expect you to be all
chivalrous,” she smiled.

           
“I’m not a total caveman.
Sheesh
.”
 
He started the car and backed out of the
driveway.

           
“I know!” Kate cried. “I just didn’t
expect that, that’s all.”

           
“If you keep it up, I’m not going to
open any more doors for you,” he warned.

           
“Okay!” she laughed. “So where are
we going?”

           
“Have you been to Lombardi’s?” he
asked. She shook her head. “It’s nice. I thought we could go somewhere nice,”
he said.

           
“That’s nice,” Kate said. She held
her breath. They’d just used the word ‘nice’ three times in one conversational
exchange. They were both… nervous. She chuckled.

           
Chris grinned at her. “Are you
okay?” he asked.

           
She nodded.
“You?”

           
“Truthfully, I’m kind of…
Nervous.
I don’t know why.”

           
Kate let out a deep breath of relief.
“Me, too.”

           
“Really?”

           
“Yeah.”

           
Chris let a deep breath slip out,
too. “It’s kind of weird, right?”

           
“What?”

           
“The two of us out
on a date.”

           
Kate paused.
Uh-oh.
“Umm… I don’t know. It doesn’t have to be.”

           
“You’re right. It doesn’t. Let’s
have fun,” he said. He held out his fist.

           
They fist-bumped.

*

           
They had agreed to have fun, but
Kate wasn’t sure how much fun she was having. It turned out that Chris
apparently knew not only the hostess at the restaurant, but their waitress, as
well.

           
“This is awkward,” Chris said. “I forgot
Liz worked here.
And Melanie.”

           
Kate took a bite of her eggplant
parmesan. The hostess, Liz, had looked like she was going to have a joy-induced
heart attack when she first saw Chris. Then she turned her gaze to Kate, and all
of a sudden, she turned into a royal bitch. Kate wondered what Chris must have
done to her to piss her off.

           
Then they were seated and the
waitress, Melanie, came to the table. It was the same thing all over again. At
first, Melanie seemed all excited to see Chris, and then when she laid eyes on
Kate, her whole demeanor changed. Kate had never had such an uncomfortable time
on a date. Aside from asking what they wanted to order, Melanie never spoke to
them. She just slammed their plates down and walked away.

           
Kate imagined that Chris must have
been dating Liz and then cheated on her with Melanie, or vice-versa. Something
like
that. When Chris said, “I can explain…” she held up her
hand and replied with, “I don’t even want to know.”

           
So, their first date was punctuated
by evil glares from Liz, uncomfortable silence from Melanie, and somewhat
uncomfortable breaks in the conversation. In short, so far, their first date
kind of sucked.

           
When Chris paid the bill, Kate got
quickly to her feet. She hurried out of the restaurant, not wanting to catch
Liz or Melanie’s attention as they made their exit. They drove in awkward
silence to the Sand Bar. When they got there, they were lucky to grab one of
the last small tables outside. Kate tossed her purse and sweater on her chair. “I’ll
be right back!” she said, hurrying to the bathroom. She took care of business,
washed her hands, and twisted the hair up off her neck into a floppy knot. Glancing
at her reflection in the mirror, she said a silent prayer that the date would
get better.

When
she joined Chris at the table, he was pouring her a glass of beer from a
pitcher that he had ordered. “You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah,”
she said, taking a long sip of beer. She licked the foam off of her lip. “I
just had to use the restroom. I didn’t want to go at the restaurant because I
was afraid that Liz or Melanie would corner me in the hallway and beat my ass
if I got up to go by myself.”
 
She was
only partially kidding.

Chris
burst out laughing. “I’m sorry about that. I had no idea.”

“The
eggplant parmesan was really good, but, man, the service was terrible.”

“Yeah,
the service sucked,” Chris agreed.

“No
former girlfriends work here, right?” Kate pretended to look around nervously.

“I
don’t think so.
At least, not that I know of.”
 
Chris winked at her.

“Good.
Then I can relax.”
 
She leaned back in
her chair and listened as the band started to play. It was a beautiful night
with a nice breeze. This was more like it.

They
chatted more easily after they had a few beers and Kate finally felt more
relaxed. The pressure of being “on a date” with Chris had worn off and she was
just enjoying his company. It still felt like a date, but at the same time, it
didn’t. Chris was her buddy, her friend…

Kate
was so at ease that it took her a second to realize that Chris was standing
over her, holding out his hand. “Want to dance?” he asked.

Kate
got to her feet and joined him on the crowded dance floor. She was pretty sure
she hadn’t slow-danced with anybody since… her cousin’s wedding two years ago?
And then she’d probably only danced with her uncle or her dad. That didn’t
count. The last time she had slow danced with anybody not related to her had
been… her senior prom?
In high school?
 
Nooooo
.
Really?
 
Yep.

She
shook her head at the thought of it and rested her cheek on Chris’s shoulder. She
couldn’t even remember who her date for the senior prom had been. She’d have to
ask Lucy; Lucy always remembered that kind of stuff. Whoever it was, there was
no way he was as cute as Chris. She smiled. The best-looking guy at the Sand
Bar was holding her in his arms. They’d survived their first date, and
hopefully more would follow.

On
the way back to her house, Kate and Chris sang along to the radio, laughing at
each other as they messed up the words and made up their own lyrics. When Chris
turned down her street, Kate felt the butterflies return. He pulled into the
driveway and turned the car off. “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said.

“
Aww
, like a real date,” she said, as Chris got out of the
car and walked around to open her door. They walked up to the doorstep and Kate
got out her keys.

“If
this is a real date, I guess I should kiss you goodnight,” Chris said.

“You
guess?”

“Do
you want me to?”

“Just
shut up and kiss me!” she said, sounding much braver than she felt.

Smiling,
he slid his hands around her waist and pulled her close. She had to stand on
her toes to reach him. When their lips brushed, she thought her knees would
buckle. The last time she’d had a first kiss like this was…
Stop it, stop it!
 
Just enjoy it!
 

She
thought it was just going to be a quick good-night kiss, but it kept going… and
going.
Wow!
And
ow
…
Eventually, her calves started to burn and
she lowered herself back down onto flat feet. Their lips finally parted and
Chris looked down at her with wide eyes. “See you tomorrow?”

Kate
blinked. “I can’t tomorrow,” she said. “I have a wedding.”

“Duh.
I know that. I’m photographing the wedding.”

Kate
laughed and bopped herself on the forehead. “Oh. Yeah. So, yes, I’ll see you
tomorrow. And I’ll kick your ass at poker afterwards.”

“Good
night,” Chris said, giving her a hug. “I hope you had fun.”

“I
did,” she smiled. “Thank you.”
 
They
fist-bumped and Kate let herself in the front door.

*

           
Kate sat frowning on Kevin’s couch. She’d
been the first one eliminated from the game. She hadn’t been concentrating. She
kept wondering what Chris was thinking. They hadn’t had a chance to talk at the
wedding, and they started playing cards as soon as they’d arrived. She kept
glancing at him to her left, and feeling his leg bump against hers underneath
the table. Every time he reached his arm out in front of her to scoop up his
chips, she’d jump as the hairs on his arm brushed against her bare skin.

For
some reason, Chris, Jackson, Max, and Kevin were taking tonight’s game very
seriously. It was hard to tell who was winning because it seemed like every
time someone won a big hand, they’d lose their chips to someone else in the
next hand. There wasn’t a lot of talking or joking around. Kate was glad she’d
gotten beat early because she didn’t have much fun when the guys played like that.
But she was getting bored.