Falling for You

“I’m sorry.” I know apologizing for someone’s death never helps, but I don’t know what to say. I feel bad, having opened a wound that doesn’t seem old.

“It’s life,” Josh says with a sigh. “You live and then you die.” He pushes himself off the bed. I stand as he steps towards the door, not sure if I should give him space or follow. “I hope you brought something nice to wear.”

“I did.” Mamma taught me to always be prepared. While Josh and his friends seem like the jeans-and-T-shirt kind of people, I grabbed a dress and some heels. Just in case.

“Good, we are going to dinner. Then, if you’d like, I thought we’d hit up Cowboy’s.”

“What’s that?”

“A bar on the outskirts of town. There’s usually a band on Friday night. I thought it could be fun.” Josh reaches out and takes my hand. He pulls me against his chest, his other arm wrapping around my waist.

I look up into his eyes, feeling my pulse everywhere. This is what I’ve been worried about, what would happen if we’re alone together. In a house. That has a bedroom. I don’t think I’d sleep with him, but the way my head’s swimming, I can’t say for certain, especially if I have a few drinks tonight.

“That sounds like fun.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Josh threads his fingers through my hair, careful not to pull my roots. He dips his head, lips pressing against mine until I’m breathless with a flurry of butterflies in my chest. He grips my hip, fingers digging into my skin. It hurts, but it’s a good kind of hurt, the kind that makes me moan.

Josh backs us against the wall. His hands fall to my thighs and he lifts me. He nips at the nape of my neck, biting hard enough to make me gasp. He trails kisses up my neck and sucks my earlobe into his mouth.

“Josh,” I whisper, never having felt anything like this before. The few times Ashley's lips were on me, they never strayed from my mouth. Even if they had, I doubt he could send my body into tiny tremors like this.

Josh’s tongue brushes across my bottom lip before sweeping into my mouth again. I grip him tighter with my legs, feeling myself coming undone. My

hips rock on instinct and Josh grunts. He pulls his lips away and leans his forehead against mine. “Fuck.”

I untangle my legs from around his body and Josh takes a step back. “I… um… I should probably get ready.”

Waiting on the couch while Layla gets dressed is a strange type of torture. Knowing she’s naked in my room, and I can’t touch her, drives me crazy. Trying to distract myself with the nonsense on TV is pointless because Layla’s naked body is all I can think about.

When she steps into the living room, my breath stops short. A black dress hugs her chest down to her waist, spilling out over her hips, stopping near her knees. She does a little spin and the hem of her skirt crawls dangerously high on her sun-kissed thighs.

I grasp Layla’s elbow and pull her onto the couch. Her legs settle on each side of my hips and I set my hands on her waist. Layla bites her lip and it takes everything I’ve got not to suck it into my mouth again. I lean forward, my lips brushing against her ear. “You look stunning.”

Layla giggles, pinching her shoulder and cheek together. “Thanks.”

I kiss her cheek once, but stop there. We have reservations at six-thirty. Things got hot and heavy faster than I expected in the bedroom. I can’t guarantee if we start again, we’ll stop in time. “We should probably get going. It’s about a forty-five minute drive to the restaurant.”

Layla’s heels click against the linoleum floor of Thai restaurant I’ve brought us to. Thai Heaven is a mom-and-pop type place I found in high school after a football game senior year. The food is cheap, but amazing. You get more on your plate for fifteen dollars than you would a chain restaurant paying more than double.

Trong is usually the waitress on duty, she works the front while her husband, Kim, cooks, but there’s a new girl working the floor I haven’t seen before. The girl is pretty, but she doesn’t hold a candle to Layla.

Layla chews on her bottom lip as she scans the menu. I stare at her, feeling a nervousness I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. “What do you want?”

“I have no clue.” She turns the page, finding the curry options. “What do you suggest?”

“I like the yellow curry.” I reach over and point to where it is on the menu. “It’s got a little kick to it, but isn’t bad. Do you like spicy food?”

She shakes her head. I flip her back a page and point to my other favorite dish. “You might like this one. The sweet and sour sauce is out of this world. I usually get the tofu to go with it, but they have pork and chicken too.”

Our waitress comes back to the table with her order pad in hand. She bats her eyelashes, an inviting smile on her face. “Do you know what you want?”

“I think I need a few more minutes.” Layla raises her gaze to meet our waitress’ but the girl has set her sights on me.

Our waitress pushes her tits closer to my face and slips a paper, presumably with her number on it, into my shirt pocket. “Whatever you need, baby, I’m more than happy to give it to you.”

“Mmm-hmmm.” I turn my gaze back to the menu and stare at it like it’s made of gold. I don’t know who this woman is, but I’m not interested. As soon as she walks away, I take the paper out of my pocket, crumble it into a ball, and drop it on the floor.

Layla eyes me curiously, the gears visibly grinding inside her precious mind. “Did she give you her number?”