“No. I’ll eat anything.”
“How about pizza?”
I nodded. “I could go for some pizza.”
We went to a small pizzeria and ordered. I got a single slice because I couldn’t eat anything more than that. Just having someone buy me lunch made me feel guilty. Calloway never let me pay for anything when we went out together, and while it was sweet, sometimes I didn’t know how to handle his generosity. I’d never forget the night I slept on the sidewalk, and some nice man gave me a hundred bucks for food. I burst into tears when I realized there were so many good people despite the evil ones. Calloway was one of those people, giving and selfless. That was probably why I was so smitten with him, nearly head over heels.
Calloway ate across from me, eating two slices and a salad. He didn’t comment on my lunch or even look at my plate.
“Thank you for lunch.”
His expression softened for an instant, but he tried to cover it up. “No problem, sweetheart.”
“I hope you let me pay sometime.”
He released a sarcastic laugh. “Don’t count on it.”
“Well, one of these days, it’s gonna happen. Be prepared.”
“Call me old-fashioned, but my lady doesn’t pay for things.”
“Call me progressive, but women are equal members of society.”
He eyed me, the corner of his mouth still lifted in a grin. “I hope this isn’t going to turn into a debate about feminism.”
“Me neither.”
“Because I do believe in feminism. But you bet your ass I’m gonna open every door for you and pay for all your things.”
It was a direct contradiction to everything I believed in, but his words somehow made me feel warm. I didn’t let anyone take care of me because I’d never been taken care of before. All I knew was how to survive and rely on myself to get what I needed. But that didn’t mean the fantasy wasn’t still alive deep in my heart. Calloway was man enough to be what I’d been missing my entire life. I knew it deep in my gut, and that was why I was still seeing him. Most guys didn’t get a date in the first place. “I’ll make a deal with you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’ll let you do all of those things if you let me do something.”
“Such as?” He raised an eyebrow, unsure what to expect.
“If you let me take you out to dinner one time.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to be taken out anywhere.”
“Come on, Calloway. I think that’s fair.”
“No.”
“I didn’t realize you were so stubborn.” I knew I was getting a rise out of him by pushing him. But he would only bend so far before he finally broke.
“I’m not stubborn.”
“Then let me take you out one time.”
He mumbled under his breath. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation…”
“Think about it. If you do this for me, we never have to do the check dance ever again. It sounds like a good deal to me.”
His eyes narrowed with interest.
I knew he was taking the bait.
“Alright, I’ll do it. If you never try to pay for anything ever again.”
“Deal.” I extended my hand to shake his.
He snatched my wrist quicker than a viper, and then turned it outward, exposing my wrist to the ceiling. He pressed a wet kiss to the soft skin, his tongue moving along the sensitive nerves of the area. His eyes were glued to mine the entire time.
My mouth went dry.
He returned my hand to the table because I’d lost all feeling. I couldn’t even move. “Deal.”
We sat across from each other at his dinner table and finished the pasta he made. He was a pretty good cook, better than most guys I knew. Christopher considered a bag of Doritos a good dinner, and he hardly had food at his apartment. He claimed it stopped the women from sticking around, but I knew he was just lazy.
“Where did you learn to cook?”
He finished his plate entirely, only leaving a few streaks of sauce behind. “My mom taught me a few things. But mostly YouTube.” He gave me that charming smile across the table, his eyes intense and playful at the same time.
He didn’t talk about his personal life much, and I really didn’t know much about him. “When did she pass away?”
“About seven years ago.” His voice suddenly grew melancholy, like the subject was bringing him down.
I decided to change it. “Last week, when we were fooling around…”
His eyes picked up in interest when he stared at me. The blue color of his eyes was more vibrant than the deepest sea. He hung on to my every word without giving his thoughts away, his mind still wrapped in mystery.
“I’m kinda embarrassed to talk about it.” I broke eye contact because I spotted the heat on his face. He knew exactly what I was referring to. It was obvious by the look in his eyes. “But I pretty much begged you to sleep with me, and you didn’t. You have a lot more strength than I do.” As soon as things got hot and heavy, I didn’t care about my principles anymore. I just wanted this gorgeous man to fuck me into his mattress and give me the most profound high.