Page 120 of False Start

I raked a hand through my hair, watching the door. Seconds later, she walked through the door, all tousled brown hair and pink cheeks.

I bounded up off the couch and pulled her into a hug. “Hey. I’ve been waiting to see you all day.”

She slipped her hands around my waist. “Same. Let me go get dressed so we can take off.”

Standing on her toes, she swiped a kiss over my cheek and flitted away.

“Any idea what she’s cooked up for tonight?” I asked Derek as he hobbled back into the room.

“No clue. You’ll find out soon enough.”

After almost losing Kit, I wanted to do things right: real dates, real emotions, real commitment. No half measures.

I made a plan to wine and dine her across Norwalk. A plan that was immediately jettisoned by her proposal: she wanted to pick the first date.

I couldn’t say no.

She emerged from her room wearing a black pair of leggings that hugged her body and a midriff-baring pink crop top that I immediately visualized on the floor of my bedroom.

“You can run in that, right?” she asked, eyes roving over my outfit.

I nodded.

The athletic gear dress code wasn’t exactly standard first-date attire, but what the hell was I going to say? I pulled on a plain white t-shirt, a pair of peacock blue shorts with the Breakers logo on the leg and running shoes.

“Let me grab the cooler, then.”

I followed Kit into the kitchen, standing back as she threw an ice pack into a cooler she had staged in the fridge. I carried it out of the kitchen, and we said good night to Derek on our way out the door.

“Where are we off to?” I asked as we rode down the elevator.

“Guess,” Kit said with a mischievous smile.

“Midnight hike?”

She shook her head.

“Escape room? Only with more running.” I shifted closer.

“Nope.”

“Paintball?” I asked through a grimace.

She tipped her head back with a raucous laugh. “Yep. You nailed it. I’m going to get revenge for you breaking Derek’s leg.”

“I knew the day would come,” I chuckled. “I just didn’t think it’d be on our first date.”

“Well, you lucked out.” She tilted her face up toward me, and I couldn’t resist leaning down for a kiss. “It’s not paintball…this time.”

“But sometime soon?”

“Depends how nice you are to me.”

I intended to be incredibly nice to Kit.

Even past ten at night, humidity smacked us in the face as we exited her apartment building, the heat of the day still lingering. Kit walked away from the parking lot and down the street towards the hospital. I held her hand, fingers intertwined on our walk, happy to follow along on any adventure she had planned.

“So, how does it feel to be a real certified lab scientist?”

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