"You like it?" she asked hopefully. Fuck, how long had it been since I kissed her? I didn't need my dick ruining this for me.
"You look great. Ready?"
She grabbed her purse, and we headed out. That little bit of awkwardness that was between us the last time we were alone together on the blind date was gone. Sitting there in my car, there was nothing between us, like we hadn't missed a beat since last year.
I knew better than to think that, though. I wasn't treating this like it was a sure thing because it was not. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure this worked. That was why dinner tonight was at a steakhouse I knew for a fact she liked because we had been there together before.
I wanted to hold her hand, but that might have been pushing my luck. It was enough that anyone who looked at us would know that we were together. I did let my hand ghost over her lower back as we moved through the restaurant, though, getting to our table.
"I know what you're getting," I said, looking at Ron over the menu when we were sitting.
"What?" she challenged.
"Chicken Caesar if you're still trying to impress me and you're nervous. Porterhouse medium-well which you won't be able to finish and give to me if you feel like getting your usual," I said. Ron was the only other person I knew who liked a higher cook on her meat than medium. The blood just grossed me out.
"You got cocky since sophomore year," she said. I smirked; I was right.
"Naw, babe. You're just predictable," I said. She made a face, making me laugh.
"I'm getting the tuna," she said in a mock-offended voice.
"And a side of fries to split," I said finishing her order. "Some things never change."
"You're not the same," she said.
"What's different about me?"
"You're older."
"We're the same age."
"I don't mean like that," she said. She paused as a server took our orders; she asked for a side of fries for the table, just like I knew she would. "I mean, more experienced. Mature."
"You're older, too," I said.
"We're the same age, but you do not, under any circumstance, tell a woman she's old," she told me teasingly.
"You have your own place, you're doing great in school, and you have your shit together," I said, leaving out the part about the guy she was supposed to be seeing. It wasn't serious if she was here with me, and I didn't care about him, anyway. I was trying to get my girl back. I didn't owe him shit.
"I'm glad it looks that way," she said. "I'm just trying to graduate with a degree that I can use one day."
"You're more than halfway there. You'll have your own practice in no time," I told her. She smiled. We had talked about what we wanted to do when we “grew up.” Mine had always been football, not really a lot of Plan B planning in case that one fell through because it wasn't going to. She had toyed with the idea of being a shrink, eventually opening her own practice.
"I'm not in a hurry," she said.
"No?" I asked. She was in a hurry to get out of school, but not to become a professional psychologist. She wanted to travel for a while before settling. I had known that already, but the cross-country road trip she wanted to do was new. I was intrigued; more than that, I wanted to be the one who went with her.
When our food showed up, I was almost pissed that our conversation would slow down. It didn't even matter what we were talking about, I just wanted to keep doing it. All that stupid, giddy excitement you felt at the beginning of a new relationship? I was feeling it now, but it was better because I already loved the person I was talking to. We already had inside jokes, knew each other's wants and secrets. The night was going great. She was laughing and hadn't seemed nervous the entire time.
"I don't want to go home," she said when our plates were gone. I was having my second beer, but she was still nursing the white wine she had gotten when we sat down.
"You want to stop somewhere for drinks first?" I asked.
"Not my own home, I meant," she said. I grinned, pretty sure she was asking me to take her to my place.
"No? Nowhere to go tomorrow?" I asked, teasing her a little.
"Nope. No plans."