Page 41 of Last First Date
She stomps on my foot in response. "Oops." She leans back and looks at me, and I can't tell if she's serious about her apology or if she stepped on my foot on purpose.
Damn it. I want to figure her out so badly, solve the puzzle of what she’s thinking and feeling. But I can’t seem to say anything right when it comes to her. Plus, she's not exactly mine to figure out. I completely screwed up my only chance with her.
"You don't have to get violent, Darcy. I’m already hurting, and I don't think I can take much more from you."
At that, her lips push into a pout that I want to kiss so badly. But I don't. I've already been a complete asshole to her once. I can't be that guy who makes a big move on her while she's on a date with someone else, even if that was my original plan.
Well, that was before I knew she was happy doing exactly what her mother wanted. Back when I thought she would be happier with me. If I kiss her now, it would be because I want her to choose me over her family, which she’s told me means everything to her. And all of that would just mean I'd doubled down on my assholery with her, and that's not why I'm here.
"I wasn't ready to talk to you. That's all." Her eyes lift to mine. "You really hurt me too, you know."
Her honesty gets me right in the feels, and I wince. "I know. And I'm so sorry, Darcy. You caught me at a bad moment with the news about you and Kotner, and I responded in a completely unacceptable manner."
She stomps on my other foot this time. From the dangerous look in her eye, I’m absolutely convinced this one was on purpose. "You can say that again."
I flash her a smile, despite the distinct pain shooting across the tops of both of my feet now. "You caught me at a bad moment with the news about you and Kotner, and I responded in a completely unacceptable manner."
She finally laughs at my crappy joke. Then she tilts her head at me. "You can maybe keep saying that all night long. Then maybe I'll consider accepting your apology and unblocking your phone number."
She pauses and stomps on my first foot again, extra hard. She doesn’t look like she’s trying to hurt me, but she’s the type of girl who always keeps me guessing. "Now, how have you been? You want to tell me about it?"
I sigh and tuck her a little bit closer to me. Because I'm a selfish, bad man who is definitely going to jerk off to salacious thoughts of the woman in my arms later on tonight. Even if I have to bear the bitterness of knowing that she's more likely than not spending the night with someone else.
I clear my throat and murmur to her this time. "You caught me at a bad moment with the news about you and Kotner, and I responded in a completely unacceptable manner."
She laughs again, and a little tiny tendril of hope unfurls in my chest. Maybe she doesn't actually hate me. Maybe we can come out of this mess as friends. And maybe once we're friends, she'll remember that I'm a better fit for her than Hesse Kotner, even if I can be a bit of an asshole sometimes.
Hey, at least it's only sometimes. I think that guys like Hesse Kotner are assholes all the time. They can't actually keep themselves from acting like jerks. It's probably something in their hairstyling products.
But for at least a few moments, I'm willing to let all of that go. Because Darcy's in my arms and she fits so perfectly there that it's making me yearn to kiss her.
Fortunately, she keeps stepping on my feet often enough that it's keeping my boner at bay. I mean, thanks? I knew she'd teased me before about wanting dancing lessons, but maybe she wasn't actually kidding about being a bad dancer.
It's either that, or this is her way of passive-aggressively letting me know that she's still furious at me. Well, fine. I deserve it.
The song ends and she pulls away from me, and I hate having to let her go. But she doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. Instead she juts out one hip and asks me, "Want to get a drink or something?"
I look around for Kotner, but there's no sign of him anywhere. Maybe he's too busy kissing someone's ass to take care of his date. "I’m definitely going to need a drink to stay in this place much longer. You want a beer, don't you?" I reach for the small of her back and let my hand lightly rest there. It feels so good, too damn good, almost as if she's with me tonight instead of someone else.
We head toward the minibar together and I get her a beer because I know she’s that type of girl. I have a case of the particular kind of beer that K.T. assured me is her very favorite sitting in my fridge at the loft, just in case I can ever convince her to come back to my place again.
Not that I was pumping K.T. for information about Darcy during my very tragic day-drinking pity party for one. Because that would make me the very lowest of all lowlife schmucks at this stupid fundraiser, and I already feel like something that should be swept up off the floor.
She clinks the long neck of her bottle against mine. "Cheers, asshole."
"Cheers," I answer her. "Look, I know I'm horrible at apologies, but I really am sorry for the way I behaved, Darcy. I guess I'm glad that things worked out with you and Kotner after all."
She tilts her head to one side, and I want to brush my fingers through the gorgeous lengths of her dark hair. I want to put my mouth against hers and taste her again. "You are, huh?" Her voice is soft, but she sounds angry again.
I sigh and shove my hand in my pocket, so I can better resist the urge to touch her. "Well, yeah. You finally got what you were after, and I'm sorry that I tried to stand in your way about it. I know how important your mother’s opinion is to you, Darcy."
She puts her beer down on the table where we're standing. Then she jabs me right in the chest with her fingertip. "How fucking dare you."
I give her a look. "Come on, Darcy. I've told you that I'm sorry and that I'm happy for you. That's all I've got." I spread out my hands in surrender.
Her eyes narrow at me, and I swear she's about five seconds away from slapping me. "That's all you've got, is it? Well good thing I wasn't waiting around for you to give me what I need. Because apparently you really are incapable of that."
I put my hands up between us, palms out toward her. "Listen, you win. I'm not here to fight with you. All I wanted was to apologize to you for the way that I acted."
