22

"They look exactly the same."

"Okay, good it's not just me," Dena said, rubbing her temples. She was in charge of giving final approval on redecorating the main indoor event space. Wyatt and his team had turned in their top two choices for paint color and honestly, I felt like I was being punked. "I mean if I hold this one up like this, I think it might be a touch darker."

"No, it's not. That's the shadow from your thumb." I turned the paint chips over to read the names. "Oh for Pete's sake. They look the same because they are the same." Both paint chips were labeled "Ivory Pearl."

"Clearly I need more coffee. I didn't even think to turn them over. I could've ended this an hour ago," Dena groaned.

"Feel free to give a lecture on paying attention to details," I teased. She shooed me out of her office and I decided it was a good time to do a walk around. During the week, there were fewer guests so I was able to interact with the staff more. My phone buzzed in the pocket of my navy blue maxi dress while I finished speaking to the concierge. I checked it as I walked away.

'Sure you don't want me to pick you up tonight?'

'Yeah, I'll meet you at Darby's.'

':('

Brady's last text make me smile. We'd texted quite a bit yesterday and today and I was anxious to see him.

'See you soon,' I texted back before putting my phone away. I talked to the front desk staff and then popped my head into housekeeping to talk to the evening supervisor. Then I walked the floors the rooms were on before returning to my office. By the time I got back, Riley was finishing up for the day.

"Heading out soon?" he inquired, shouldering his canvas messenger bag.

"After I do a couple more emails."

"Any fun plans for the evening?"

"I'm going to do Trivia Night at Darby's with my sister and some friends. What about you?"

"My boyfriend really wants to see the new Sandra Bullock movie, so I bought us tickets."

"That's so sweet. I hope you two have a good time." Riley headed out with a wave. After I finished my emails, I gathered my stuff and went out to my car. Giving myself a once over in my rear view mirror, I sighed.

"This is as good as it's going to get," I muttered.

When I pulled into Darby's, the parking lot was pretty full. I managed to squeeze between to monster truck sized pickups. I had to think very skinny thoughts to get out of my car without opening my door too wide.

"Sis!" Hannah called out when I walked in. The normally bare dance floor held several cafe height tables with chairs. She, Dean, and another girl were sitting at one in the middle. Hannah gave me a big hug and handed me a Dr. Pepper. Best sister ever.

"This is Summer. Summer, this is my sister, Sara," Hannah introduced to the girl at the table. She had light brown hair in a long bob, dark brown eyes behind big round wire frames glasses, and wore high-waisted leggings and a cropped sweatshirt. With her cute button nose and petite frame, she was one of those girls that guys wanted to bring home to mom.

"Nice to meet you Summer," I said, holding out my hand. She gave it a shake with an uninterested look on her face.

"Please forgive Summer's lack of manners. She's here because she's Dean's cousin and has a thing for Brady. She's being a gigantic baby and throwing a temper tantrum because Brady is interested in someone else sitting at this table." Okay then. Summer let out a grunt of disgust, pushing away from the table and going over to the bar.

"This is going to be delightful," I joked.

"Yeah it is," Brady said as he came up to the table. Hannah and I exchanged a look. "Glad you made it."

"Me too." He was standing next to me, his arm touching mine. A pleasant warmth spread up to my shoulder. I caught a whiff of his freshly washed hair, still wet, and my heart thudded at the thought of him in the shower. He wore a short sleeved Detroit Tigers t-shirt and jeans with a pair of black Converse. Apparently his style had not changed much since high school.

"Are you hungry? They bring in different food trucks and this time it's barbecue."

"That's sounds awesome. It's my turn to pay." Brady placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me out to the side of the building. On one side, a converted airstream was set up. The sign read "Hog Heaven." When it was our turn, Brady ordered a brisket sandwich with fries and I went with a pulled pork sandwich and coleslaw.

"Their coleslaw is almost as good my mom's," Brady said when we sat back down. Summer had returned to the table and Brady was sitting between the two of us, somewhat oblivious to the puppy dog eyes she was giving him and the dirty looks she was giving me. I wondered if this is what I looked like when I was unaware of Brady's crush on me.

"Yeah well I haven't had your mom's coleslaw, so I wouldn't know," I teased. He leaned closer to me.

"I think I can fix that. I'm sure she'd love to meet you."

"I'm sure she would. I'm great." I winked and Brady grinned.

"Isn't that for other people to decide?" Summer asked condescendingly.

"Like you?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. She started to say something but Brady cut her off.

"Try to keep your hostility to a dull roar please, Summer." Well, maybe he wasn't so oblivious after all. She sat back in her chair, a hurt look on her face.

"Hello all! Who's ready for some trivia?" one of the employees said from the DJ booth. "My name is Kelly and I'll be your emcee for tonight."

The next two hours were spent answering questions about obscure topics, mostly alcohol related. Finally it was down to our team, The Stranger Things, versus a team of four college boys that called themselves, Team Alpha Males. They were pretty insufferable, so when the last question came up and it happened to be about the female orgasm, Hannah and I burst out laughing. These four hadn't moved out of their parents' basements, let alone had sex with a girl. Their answer was incorrect, so it went to us. Hannah gave the answer and it gave us the win.

"That was so much fun," I told Brady as he walked me out. The giant trucks were gone, so I had a lot more room to navigate getting to my car.

"Your sister wasn't kidding, you love random facts," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I have a pretty good memory for things that will never come in handy."

"Came in pretty handy tonight."

"Only took twenty-six years." We stood next to my car, not sure what to do next. An awkward silence settled between us.

"So," Brady started, raising up on the balls of his feet, "would you be opposed to doing something just the two of us?"

"Not at all," I said, shaking my head. "What did you have in mind?"

"My buddy's band is playing this Saturday in Hollis. We could get dinner before and then watch them play." Hollis was about an hour away and the location of Warner University and Carson College. Lots of bars with live music and other events to appeal to the college crowd.

"Yeah I'm down for that. What time do you want to get together?" Brady looked relieved.

"How about I pick you up at four?" he suggested. "That gives us time to have dinner and maybe walk around downtown some before the show."

"Works for me." Man, I was quite the conversationalist.

"It's a date." More awkward silence. "Man, all of a sudden I am so freaking nervous," he blurted out.

"Me too! I'm not sure what to do next. Like are we just supposed to say goodnight?" We both laughed.

"Alright, I'm just going to ask: can I kiss you?" Brady looked at me shyly through his eyelashes. I nodded, biting my bottom lip. He took a step toward me, putting a hand on my hip. I tilted my head up and he gently pressed his lips to mine. It was nice; the pressure was firm but not painful and his lips tasted like the Sprite he had at the end of the night. He gave my hip a squeeze and a flash of heat settled between my thighs. When we pulled apart, he opened his eyes and locked on mine.

"That was way better than any of my fantasies," he admitted. I rested my forehead on his chest, laughing. "What? You laugh, but it's true." His hand slid up to tickle my side and I flinched. "Ticklish?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Absolutely n-hey, yes yea I'm ticklish." Brady tickled me again until I finally admitted my weakness. "Just call me Elmo."

"I'm not calling you that. That's weird."

"Fine. Then how about another kiss?" I ran my hands up his arms to his shoulders, finally resting them in his chest. His eyes darkened.

"Yes ma'am." This time there was more intensity. He pulled my hips up against his body and my thighs clenched. I sucked on his bottom lip and he groaned, which made me more wet. When his tongue asked for entrance, I stroked it with mine. I could feel him harden and I rubbed up against him, teasing. One of his hands wandered from my waist to my ass, squeezing and holding me tightly against him. An ache developed along with the wetness.

"Whoa, can you not grope my sister in a parking lot? I mean, have some respect," Hannah called out from the open passenger's side window of Dean's truck as the pulled up behind my car. Summer sat in the back, her face completely blank while Dean was grinning like an idiot. Brady and I pulled apart, looking like two kids who just got caught kissing under the bleachers. "She has that perfectly good apartment that needs broken in. Pop that apartment's cherry." She winked before Dean gunned the engine and drove away.

"On that note, I probably should get going," I said completely mortified. Brady nodded and stepped back, dropping his hands. He opened my door when I unlocked it. I slid in and looked up at him. "Thanks for inviting me tonight."

"Thanks for coming, er I mean, thanks for being here." I giggled. "Text me when you get home." I nodded and shut the car door. I gave him a wave as I drove away.

When I got home, I changed my clothes and then sent a text to Brady, letting him know I was safe. I also texted the girls, who promptly video called me.

"How did it go? Did you kiss? Did you fuck? Did you kiss and fuck?" Lola asked. Her blonde hair was thrown up in a messy bun that looked like the top of a pineapple. Courtney sat next to her with a green clay face mask on.

"Why are you so inappropriate?" Courtney asked her. "She is not going to have sex with him in a bar."

"Why not? Their bathrooms are super clean and he looks like he has the upper body strength to keep her from touching anything gross."

"There was no sex but we did kiss. Twice." Both girls squealed.

"How was it?" Courtney asked, checking the dryness of her mask with her finger.

"Nice. Hot. The second kiss was definitely hot." I flopped back on my bed, remembering the intensity of the kiss, which made me wet again.

"Do you plan on kissing him again?" Lola wanted to know. I nodded.

"I think so. We have a date to go watch his friend's band in Hollis on Saturday."

"Are you guys going to stay the night there? Could be late getting back."

"It's like an hour away, so I think we'll be okay."

"Just don't end up like one of those sad teenager ballads from the 50s," Courtney cautioned.

"And you say I'm the inappropriate one," Lola snorted.

"You are," Courtney and I said at the same time. Before we hung up, we decided to get together for dinner and drinks on Friday and on Saturday to help me get ready. My phone buzzed while I was talking with the girls, so I checked my messages.

'Glad you're home safe and sound. Wish it was my home ;)'

'Maybe next time.'

'Promise?' I chewed the inside of my bottom lip. I was not good at flirting. My comfort zone consisted of mostly sarcasm with a smidge of sweetness.

'Well, what's wrong with it being my place next time?'

'Nothing except I've been there. You haven't been here.'

'I think that's more of a reason for you to come here.'

'I'll come wherever you want.' My brain filled with lust and went blank. I stared at my phone, trying to think of something cute.

'Good to know.' LAME. I must have bored him because five minutes, then ten, then fifteen went by and I didn't hear anything else. Good job, Sara.

Right as I was about to put my phone down, it buzzed again.

'I'd come right now but I'm pretty sure you need the sleep. ;)'

'I do but I'm gonna need a cold shower,' I texted back. At least a change of underwear.

'Same. By myself. Together would defeat the purpose.' I'm not sure why, but that made me laugh out loud.

'Wouldn't defeat my purpose.'

'Damn. Now I really do want to come over.'

'If I didn't have to work in the morning, I'd say come on but I need to get to bed.'

'Alright if you must. Talk to you later.'

'Night.' I lay back on my bed and pulled a pillow over my face. Now I was alone and horny. Great. It was going to be a long few days until Saturday.