Page 34 of In a Pinch

We reach the front porch, and I turn to face him. He’s going to kiss me, right? Should I kiss him? Is kissing on the first date still a no-no? Stupid rule, that one is. Part of me wants him to kiss me, so I can prove to myself that we have chemistry and that this was a good thing. He’s nice and all, but I won’t settle for anything less than Fourth of July fireworks.

“I had a really good time and would like to do this again sometime,” Shaun says.

“I did, too. Thank you for not being a terrible blind date.” At that, we both chuckle.

The laughs die off, and he leans in. First kisses are the scariest for me. Like, what if I bump his nose? I already fell into his crotch. I can’t be an idiot twice tonight. His eyes close and I meet him halfway. His lips are soft, and he doesn’t try to stick his tongue down my throat. Overall, this is nice. But there’s just one problem.

There are no fireworks. No crazy connection. Butterflies don’t fill my body. When I almost kissed Sam, my body came alive, my pulse raced, and I wanted it. This isn’t that, and I can’t help but to wonder if it’s because Shaun isn’t Sam?

Why am I like this?

Maybe I am just putting too much pressure on the moment. I tend to write off the nice guys, and this is probably me resetting to my factory settings.

When he pulls away, I put a big smile on my face. “Thanks again. Text me when you get home.”

He leans back in to kiss my cheek. “You can count on it.”

When I walk in, I close the door and press my back against the door. My eyes close and I try to sort through my thoughts.

“That bad, huh?” Cal asks.

My body jumps at his sudden arrival. He must have been in the living room and I didn’t notice.

Plastering on a fake smile, I say, “Not at all, actually. He was great. Not a single red flag was waving.”

Isla comes racing down the stairs. “I thought I heard you. How’d it go? He’s great, right?” She lands at the base of the stairs with athunk, skipping the last two and choosing to jump instead.

“It went good. As far as blind dates go, that went exceedingly well.”

With a sly grin, she wiggles her eyebrows. “Did he kiss you?”

“On that note, I’m out.” Cal points to the stairs.

“What, you don’t enjoy our girl talk?” Sarcasm fills my voice.

“I just have this really important thing.” He starts slowly walking backward, as if we will pounce him.

Isla tilts her head. “Huh, I don’t remember you saying you had anything to do tonight.”

“Just remembered,” Cal says, practically sprinting up the stairs, as far away from girl talk as he can get.

“Uh, huh. Sure,” I say.

Isla and I make our way to the kitchen and plop down on the barstools. The cold from the chair sends a chill up my spine.

“So, it went good? If you’re not going to tell me about the kiss, I can just ask him Monday.” She is relentless, but her excitement makes me want to be more excited. Maybe I can just try harder and get out of my own head.

“It went well. He was really nice, and he wasn’t weird at all. Color me pleasantly surprised.”

She drops her jaw and scrunches her brow. “I don’t know whether to be excited or hurt that you thought I would set you up with a creeper.” Her hands land on her hips, sass on full display.

“Creepers have a way of closeting the weirdness until left alone.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waves off my wariness. “Are you guys going to go out again?”

“I think so.” Usually, I am more honest with her. And to myself.

The date was fine, but the chemistry just isn’t there. I can’t stand the thought of letting her down, or letting her know I might have a smidge of a super stupid crush on her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Knowing her feelings about him, I keep it to myself. Maybe sparks will come with Shaun if I give it more time. I’ve written men off too easy in the past. So, maybe this time I should just try.

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