I Never Planned on You (I Never 1)

I let out a giggle, and she gives me a stern look back, knowing I am thinking of the time she threw up in his gym bag from the dare. Deep down, though, I feel a little bit of sadness knowing that I wasn’t here for her to calm her nerves and help her get ready.

“What I’m trying to say is just take it one day or date at a time, okay? Now cheers, bitch—to us being back together and being able to gossip about boys and it not be my brother.”

I go to open my mouth to interject that her stories these days do include my brother, but I keep my thoughts to myself. “Now spill all the juicy details of Lawson because I am dying to know!”

We cheers and I fill her in on everything that has been happening over the past few weeks—our first kiss, hanging out, and of course last night and this morning’s activities. The waiter clears our plates and brings the check.

Haylee claps her hands together after finishing the last of her drink. “Kyler would kill me if I got you good and toasted before your date, so let’s head on out and I’ll help you get ready, just like old times.”

Old times… That catches my breath for a moment as I think of all the dates with Em that Haylee had helped me get ready for.

She can sense my hesitation as I rise from my seat, and walks around to my side of the table and places her hands on my arms. “Whatever you are thinking—stop it. There’s no need to overthink this. He’s a good man, Dani. Zach loves the guy, and so do I. Your brother wouldn’t be okay with this if he didn’t think so, and last night the entire ride home he was giddy as a fucking schoolgirl over the thought of you two finally getting your heads out of your asses. Anyone in a three-foot radius could feel the tension between you guys. We’ve watched it go down for weeks just waiting for it to explode.”

Maybe we weren’t as secretive with our feelings as we thought, if Zach and Haylee picked up on something between us. I guess I’m doing this—I’m really doing this. Time to go get ready for my date.

HAYLEE HELPED me curl my hair and apply a little bit more makeup than I typically wear. I went so long with not caring about my appearance that it feels good looking in the mirror and seeing myself dressed up like this.

I turn around to Haylee staring at me. “What? Does it look okay? It’s too much, right? Maybe this was a bad idea.”

Haylee jumps up from where she’s sitting on my bed. “Oh no you don’t. You look amazing. Kyler isn’t going to know what hit him, and I have a feeling dinner and whatever he planned may be cut short because I’m sure once he sees you in this outfit, the first thing he’s gonna want to do is get you out of it.”

I can feel a flush creeping up my neck at that thought. Haylee had convinced me to buy some matching sets of lingerie—“Just in case,” she joked—a set that I happened to have put on under my clothes tonight—just in case, of course. But I’m not sure I’m ready for sex yet. Kyler meant what he said last night that we can take it one step at a time, but this morning…holy shit, I had forgotten what it was like to be touched to orgasm by a hand that belonged to someone besides myself, to be craved, and now that I’ve had a reminder of what that all feels like, I’m not sure if I want it to go away.

I apply a little bit more lip stain on my lips and fluff my curls one last time as Haylee shouts, “I’m going to check on the boys. See you out there, D!”

Before she can fully exit the room, I call out, “Hey, Hails.” She turns to me with one hand on the doorframe and one by her side., “Thanks!” I don’t need to explain what my thanks are for—she knows. That’s the thing about my best friend: we don’t always communicate with words.

Grabbing my purse, I smile at my reflection and swallow big before heading out into the living room.

Haylee walks out of the bedroom first and meets me and Zach in the living room. She is looking at me funny, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. Haylee walks over to where Zach is sitting in the chair and sits on the arm, putting her arm around him while he reads something on his iPad.

“Everything okay?” Zach asks Haylee without even looking up.

“Yep, everything is great. She’ll be right out.”

Okay, well, that settles the question of whether or not she was going to bail on me, but I still don’t know what’s up with that expression on Haylee’s face.

Why am I so nervous? It’s not like I haven’t gone on dates before. I need to act cool. Be cool, Ky! It’s just a date! You guys have been out before—just this time it’s without anyone else joining us. Shit, you’ve already tasted her pussy, why be nervous all of a sudden? In the middle of my ridiculous pep talk I hear the clicking of heels against the floor, and my eyes slowly lift to see her.

I hear Haylee whistle in the background, and I’m thankful it’s a low whistle and not her eardrum-bursting one she usually does. I don’t turn around to see their reactions. My eyes are trained on Dani, this absolutely beautiful creature walking toward me. I’m the luckiest bastard in the world for getting to take this girl—no, woman—out tonight.

My eyes travel up her body, first noticing the black heels on her feet, and I hope one day to get her naked wearing just those. After I notice her fuck-me heels, I travel up her sexy, toned legs in skinny jeans that fit her in all the right places. Would I be a total pig to ask her to spin around so I can check out her ass? Damn! As I continue up her body, my eyes stop on her tits that are spilling out of her fancy-looking top thing. Dani doesn’t usually wear low-cut tops, so I can’t help but wonder if she is doing it on purpose just for me. Either way, I’m sure as hell not going to complain. I need to stop thinking about taking that top off and dragging my tongue along her breasts to suck on her hard nipples or I’m going to A) make this all super uncomfortable having a major hard-on in front of my best friend, B) end up taking her out here on the couch with an audience, or C) need to go back to my room and change my pants.

I try to think thoughts of the least sexiest things…dead bugs, road kill, grandparents getting it on… Okay, that last one was definitely not necessary and makes me shiver a little, but at least it did the trick and I can feel my dick deflating and at a pretty quick rate. It works until my eyes meet Dani’s. She looks so shy right now, but she smiles big at me. A real genuine smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

It’s not until Zach clears his throat behind us that we are both knocked out of the trance. I walk over to her, and she bites her lip, looking a little nervous. When I reach her, I place my hand on her c

heek, brushing my thumb up and down in hopes of calming her nerves. She leans into my touch.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You look beautiful.”

She blushes at my comment and leans into my palm. “Thank you.”

“You ready to go?” She nods her head yes. I remove my hand from her cheek and take her hand, intertwining her fingers with mine.