Page 51 of One Night

"Letter? Who writes letters?"

"She does. She thinks they're romantic. It's a long story. Anyway, the letter said she wants to try going out, except we're not actually going out. We're writing letters."

"Writing letters? What the fuck you talking about?"

I can't explain this to him. He won't understand. He's not into romance. He'll take a girl to dinner or the movies or to hear a concert, but those are just dates, not romance, at least not what I would consider romance.

"Just forget it," I tell him. "You wouldn't understand." I go in the kitchen and open the fridge to see if we have any food. That apple danish I had at the coffee shop did nothing to kill my appetite. I'm starving.

Van bursts through the kitchen door and sits at the table, his long legs stretched out in front of him. "So let me get this straight. You've wanted this girl since you met her. You wrote a song about her. You searched for her for months. You finally find her and find out she's interested, but you're not dating her. You're just writing letters."

"Pretty much." I shut the fridge and turn to him. "You want to go get something to eat?"

"I just ate, but if you order a pizza I'll have a slice."

"Pizza. That sounds good." I get my phone out and order an extra large.

"Sit your ass down," Van says, "and tell me what's going on with this girl."

"There's nothing to tell." I take the seat across from him. "We're taking it slow. She thinks letters are romantic so we're writing letters."

"That's completely stupid."

"It's not stupid. It's different. Just because nobody does it anymore doesn't make it stupid."

"Why are you agreeing to this? This girl left you hanging for months. She treated you like shit. She should just be happy you're talking to her, not making you write some dumbass letters."

"She didn't treat me like shit. She just wasn't ready to continue what we started. And we were both dating other people. Now we're not."

"Still doesn't give her the right to make you do whatever she says."

"I don't mind the letters. In fact, I kind of like writing them."

"So what do you write?"

"Like I'm really going to tell you?" I shake my head.

"What'd she write in her letter?"

"Again, I'm not telling you."

"Have you seen her since the night she left the letter?"

"Yeah. I was just at her apartment. She got mad at me for just showing up but she got over it pretty quick." I laugh a little as I think of her reaction when I kissed her. She couldn't even stand up. I had to hold her. And the way she looked at me when I walked in on her when she wasn't dressed? She couldn't hide how much she wanted it. I felt the same way. If I'd actually gone into her room, we would've done it. No question. But she said she wanted to take things slow so I left.

"Meaning what?" Van asks. "You guys had sex?"

"No, but we could have. She wanted to. She just wouldn't let herself do it."

"Why?"

"Because she doesn't want our relationship to just be about sex. She wants us to get to know each other. I mean, shit, I didn't even know her last name until a few weeks ago, when Austin told me."

"But you can't go out with her? Then how are you supposed to get to know her?"

"I'm going to find ways to go out with her. I don't know how yet but I'll figure it out."

"I know you like this girl, but this is stupid. She's making you work way too hard. You should get back with Allison. Sex whenever you want it. No strings. And she's freaking hot."

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