Page 30 of Laugh

Haddie leaves a few items out next to the stove, so I assume it’s what she’s preparing for dinner.

Twisting her hands in front of her, she looks to her living room and winces. “I’d offer for you to sit down, but my place is a mess. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Do you want something to drink?”

Forcing a smile, I take a small step toward her. “I don’t mind the mess. Let’s sit and talk for a minute.”

With a quick inhale, she nods again and leads me to her couch. Quickly snatching up her clothes that were on one of the cushions and drops it behind so it’s out of sight, she tries to hide the blush of embarrassment. I’ve had enough of making her feel so awkward around me when she mumbles, “Sorry,” that I accidentally let out a loud sigh.

Her eyes shoot up to mine as she whips around and falls ungracefully on the cushion with a small bounce. “Did I do something wrong? Is that why you’re here?”

“Christ, no! I’m here to apologize!” I blurt out.How in the hell did her head go all the way to thinking I was mad at her?

Haddie’s shoulders relax, and now she’s looking at me in confusion. “Apologize for what? If it’s because you think I’m upset about the whole kissing debacle, you don’t need to. I kissed you, so I should be the one to apologize. Well, Ididapologize, but I can again. Although, itwasa nice kiss, and I’d feel even more terrible for scaring you away if you totally hated it. Wait, did you–”

I cut her off by placing my hand over her mouth gently. “Hush,” I chuckle. Her nervous ramblings around me get cuter every time she does it, but I’m hating her train of thought and her apology riddled with insecurity. “First off, you may have meant to kiss me on my cheek, but I’m positive thatthekiss was me kissing you. And no, I’m not apologizing for that. I’ll never apologize for it. Kissing you was incredible.”

I can feel her mouth drop open in surprise under my hand, but I don’t move it away quite yet. “I’m going to take my hand away, but will you let me keep talking before you say anything?”

She nods her head up and down quickly, eyes wide and focused on mine. Smiling at her, I pull it away slowly then let out a small quick laugh when her mouth stays hanging open. The sound makes her snap her mouth shut with a click and she sucks in her lower lip to stay silent.

Turning to face her, I rest my arm along the back of the couch and lean forward slightly. “What I wanted to apologize for was leaving the way I did. I panicked.”

I give her a look when she opens her mouth, and she swallows down her comment. My hand is close to her head, so I pinch a lock of her hair and let the curl twist around my finger.

“I should have stayed. I should have walked you to the door and asked you out on a date. I should have fucking kissed you again.” Haddie’s cheeks turn pink when I add that, and her small smile hits me right in the chest. “So, Haddie Byer–”

“Happy,” she whispers. A laugh bursts out of me, and I study my lap to get myself under control. I know the moment we start this thing, she’s going to keep me feeling like I’m about to dive off a cliff. She’s thrilling, exciting, and I love how she continues to chip away at me just by being herself.

“Happy Byer, would you go out on a date with me tomorrow night?”

The massive smile that spreads across her face tells me she’s on board, but her silence is a bit concerning. Now that I’m finally ready for her to talk, she doesn’t say a word.

“Happy?”

“Hmm?” She licks her lips and flashes another huge smile while continuing to stare at me.

Scooting a little closer to her, our knees bump against each other and we both look down at the contact. I can hear her breathing pick up, matching the way my heart is racing, waiting for her to accept my invitation.

“Happy,” I murmur, forcing her eyes back up at me. “You haven’t answered me.”

Her eyes widen almost comically, and I’m startled when she shouts, “Yes!Wait, do you mean like an actualdatedate?”

My brows furrow as I run back through how I asked her. I’m certain that I was clear that this would be a real date. “Yyyeeesss…” I draw out. “An honest to God, real life date. I’ll pick you up, hold your hand, and we’ll get to know each other more. Maybe another kiss or a little more at the end, depending on how our evening goes. Adatedate.”

“I’m a virgin,” she blurts out, then bites her lip. “Damn it, brain. You know, Marcus told me I should take a deep breath to make sure I let all my normal thoughts through before I say shit that’s, well, shit likethat. You said ‘maybe a little more’, and you should probably know that I’m totally all for that. But I, umm, yeah… I have never done ‘a little more at the end’ before because I don’t think I’ve actually ever been on a real date.”

“Happy–” I try to interrupt her, but she just keeps going.

“Unless you consider Donald Knepper from my freshman year, who took me to this reading that our professor told us about. We had to go and write a paper on what it was supposedly about, then maybe I’ve been on one. All we did was go listen to someone talk about gunshots ringing out into the darkness. Which started out super intriguing, but then the whole thing was about volunteerism. It was really boring. But Donald needed someone to drive him, so I borrowed Marcus’s car to take us there. Then I took him home. So, I don’t think that was really adatedate.”

“Happy–” I try again, my smile growing as she talks right over me.

She tugs on her bottom lip, fingers shaking slightly. “Addie said that she heard him talking to one of his friends that he thought I was cute. That’s probably why I thought maybe it’d be a real date, but he never actually asked me–”

Leaning forward, I press my lips to hers to shut her up. Immediately, I want to slide my tongue along hers, and take us back to that moment in my car, but I pull back before it gets too far. It was just enough to have her looking back up at me with eyes wide again.

“I’m a virgin,” she whispers again, only this time, she doesn’t ramble.

Cupping the side of her face, I smile at her gently. “I don’t care that you’re a virgin. There’s no rush for anything. We’ll just go with what feels right. Sound good?”

---