Page 62 of Four Weddings to Fall in Love
“Any dessert?’our server asks after she clears our dishes.
“We’ll take a look at the menu,” Kim says.
She convinces me to order a brioche con gelato.I admit I’m a little skeptical.It sounds like an ice cream sandwich, something I haven’t eaten since I was a teenager—an actual teenager, rather than someone in their thirties who plays a teenager on TV.However, she’s quite keen on the idea, so I relent.There are a small number of gelato flavors to choose from; she goes with chocolate, and I choose pistachio.
When our toasted brioche buns and cool gelato arrive, we take different approaches to consuming them.There’s a little spoon—I decide this is the best way to eat it.Kim, on the other hand, picks hers up like a regular sandwich and bites into it.Melted gelato trickles down her chin, which doesn’t seem to bother her.
It bothers me, however.I’m desperate to lick it off, but instead, I settle for eating my own gelato.
“Is something wrong?”she asks, placing her hand on my leg.
“No.Nothing’s wrong.”
“Are you sure?”
She rubs circles on the inside of my knee.She’s not touching bare skin—I’m wearing pants—but it feels like she is.
“Kimberly,” I say sternly, then realize my error.
She likes when I talk to her that way.It turns her on.
I imagine sliding my hand between her legs and finding her slick.It still seems like a miracle that she’s here with me.Not because I’m down on myself and think I’m unattractive, but because it’sher.
And I know she’s here because she wantsme, and I appreciate that.I’m definitely not just a list of acceptable traits in her mind.
I firmly remove her hand from my leg and return to scooping up gelato with my tiny spoon.She doesn’t touch me again, but she makes a show of slowly licking her lips.I have no doubt that she knows exactly what she’s doing.
When the bill arrives, Kim says, “Let’s split it.”
I’m about to argue, about to say that I should pay because I’m the one who invited her out.But something about the set of her mouth tells me this is important to her and it would be of no benefit to argue—and besides, I don’t want to stop her from doing something she feels the need to do.
“Okay,” I say.
After paying the bill, we leave our little world under the red umbrella and head back to the street.It isn’t raining anymore.Kim loops her arm through mine, and my skin still feels warm and prickly.
“Would you like to come home with me?”I ask.“Or if you prefer, we could have a drink, or—”
“Your place.”
Unfortunately, I don’t live close to Little Italy.It now seems like a terrible oversight on my part to rent an apartment that isn’t five minutes from here.We decide to take the streetcar to College Station, and when I see that it won’t arrive for three minutes, I’m more than a little frustrated.
Kim laughs softly at me, and that breathy laugh is hot, too.
Dammit.
The transit trip is excruciating.Don’t streetcars usually move faster than this?When we slow down for a yellow light, I nearly swear, my hands clenching in my lap.Kim looks amused, and I want to kiss that look off her face, but I’m wearing a mask, plus there are two small children nearby.
From the streetcar, we switch to the subway.When the train comes to a stop in the tunnel, I feel like jumping out of my skin.We’re in between stations, and I can’t tell from the garbled announcement what’s happening.
I just want to see that purple shirt on my floor.Is that too much to ask?
I can’t remember the last time I was this crazed with lust, but there’s just something about Kim and her easy sexuality.I can’t help wanting her again and again.She squeezes my hand, but that’s not enough contact to satisfy me—not nearly enough.
Luckily, we start moving a minute later, but we still have several stations to go, and then there’s a ten-minute walk.
As soon as we get to my place and remove our shoes, I pin her against the wall and kiss her.I wouldn’t have been this rough with her the first night, but now I have a better idea of what she likes.We kiss frantically, each trying to get more, more, more.My hands scramble with her clothes, and I’m a little clumsy as I remove her shirt and bra, but then I have my mouth on her breast, and I groan.
God, she tastes good.
