“Honestly, it’s a joke between my friends and myself. We have this ongoing debate about whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza
.”
“Oh, please, don’t tell me you like it,” I tease him. I don’t care for it but it really doesn’t bother me if he does. As long as he doesn’t try to force it on me.
“Damn, you were almost perfect. You don’t eat pineapple on your pizza might as well say goodbye now. It will never work between us.” His face is dead serious.
“What? Are you for real?”
“I’m afraid that I am.”
“Ooo-kay,” I draw the word out and stick my hand out for him to shake. “It was nice to meet you.”
He takes my hand in his. He has a solid grip. My father always said you could learn a lot about a man by the power of his handshake. What exactly you could gather from it I couldn’t tell you. When he leaves maybe I will look it up.
“I was kidding. Relax, Faye.”
Quickly he jerks me forward and I am up close and personal with his handsome face. Smiling at me, he looks deep into the depths of my eyes. I don’t know what he’s up to, but then he presses his lips to mine, soft and pure. The peck is gentle and nice. It isn’t that earth-shattering kiss I was wishing for but it is satisfying all the same. Then I realize we both still have our eyes open and I pull backward.
“Do you always leave your eyes open when you kiss someone?”
“Do you?” He smirks.
“No, I admit that this was a first for me.”
“Well, the eyes are the window to the soul and you can learn a lot about how someone feels about you by their eyes when you kiss them.”
“Okay, so what do my eyes reveal?”
“You like me but you are skeptical. You haven’t determined how far you are prepared to go. If you want to simply hangout or if you’ll choose to find out if we’re as compatible in person as we are on the phone.”
He’s good at that. Too good.
“And you. What would your eyes convey to me?”
“That I wish to explore this whatever this is. Whether it’s a physical attraction or simply friendship. I’m curious. And I think I'd prefer to kiss you again.”
His mouth is on mine. This time I close my eyes and grant myself permission to genuinely experience it. His tongue prods at the narrow opening between my lips, demanding entrance. I don’t deny his request and when his tongue brushes against mine I deepen the kiss. My fingers grasp his beanie and I wonder what he’d do if I ripped it from his head. Maybe he’s going bald underneath there. It wouldn’t embarrass me if that were the case. He growls into my mouth and nips at my bottom lip before pulling away.
“Now that was a proper kiss.”
“I agree.”
I settle back on the couch next to him with my head on his shoulder and we watch Vikings only speaking about the action on the screen. Things are going great until he twitches his nose and asks, “What is that smell?”
I sniff the air, immediately covering my nose. “Oh no, Beans!”
“Beans?”
“Yeah, the dog. He must have gas. I need to let him out of his crate. I forgot about him.”
I go over and open the latches and he struts out going straight to where I had been sitting on the couch and taking my spot.
“Who’s a good boy?” Pineappleman scratches his head.
Then my phone rings. Shit! It’s a video call from Darin. He probably wants to speak with his furbaby. I’ll just ignore it and call him back after my date leaves. I had a date. I grin to myself and notice he’s staring at me with a goofy grin on his face.
“So, what’s under that beanie?”