Page 65 of One Night

"We almost did."

"And if we had, and if we did going forward, what's the big deal? It's part of dating. It's normal."

"It complicates things. I want to get to know you without that interfering."

She's so frustrating. And stubborn. And yet I'll do most anything to see her again.

"Okay, how about this?" I say. "We make a rule that when we're alone together, there's no physical contact. We're just friends getting to know each other."

"And when we're not alone?"

I place my hand under her chin and lift her face up to mine and kiss her. Softly. Slowly. Then I back away.

"Was that supposed to be your answer?" she asks, sounding breathless.

I chuckle. "Yes." I pick my fork up and continue eating. "We'll stick with your original rule. And given that rule, I'm guessing a lot of our dates will be in public."

When I glance at her, I see her trying to fight a smile. "I haven't agreed to date you."

"You don't have to. We're already dating. You're my sweetheart, remember?" I lean over and kiss her cheek. "And I have to take my sweetheart on dates. I can't leave her sitting at home all alone."

"I'm not alone. I have Kira. And I'm almost never home. But..." She sighs. "I suppose we could go out now and then."

"Don't sound so excited about it." I nudge her side before taking a big bite of spaghetti.

"Dylan." She holds my arm before I scoop up more spaghetti. "It's not that I don't want to see you. I'm just worried our relationship won't have a chance if all we do is...you know...what we did that night."

"Which is why we'll keep things platonic when we're alone together. At least until you're ready to take things farther. Sound good?"

She nods. "Yeah."

I see her eyeing my plate. "You want to share the rest of this?"

"Could we?" she asks hesitantly.

I slide my plate between us. "Dig in. And next time we come here, I'm banning the marinara. You have to get this one or something else."

"It's a deal."

She scoots closer, our bodies touching as we share the plate of spaghetti. She could've just put some on her plate but instead she's eating off of mine. It's one of those things you'd do after dating someone a long time, and yet this is technically only our second date. But something feels right about it. Like it'd be odd if we didn't share a plate.

After dinner, I walk her out to her car. "I'll follow you home."

"That's okay. I'll be fine. But thanks for offering."

"So I'll see you on Wednesday?"

"Yeah." She opens her car door. "So um, thanks for dinner."

"You're welcome." I step up to her, catching her eye and holding her gaze.

"I should go," she says, her eyes still on mine.

"I don't want you to."

"But...I have things to do."

"So do I. But I don't want to say goodbye. Not yet."

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