Apparently, Kissing is Hard

As had been the case all weekend, I was the first one up.  I went into the kitchen and started my now familiar routine of cleaning up.  I was washing the last of the dishes when Brody came into the kitchen, bleary eyed and tousled.  And so, so hot.

"I thought I'd find you here," he said, smiling sleepily.  He switched on the Keurig and then grabbed some of the clean dishes.  He dried and put them away while the Keurig warmed up.  When they were done, he put in a K cup while I jumped up onto the island and sat, facing him, wanting to say something, but not knowing what.  He turned to me as he pulled his mug out of the machine.  "Need a refill?" he asked, motioning to my almost empty mug.

I nodded, handing him the mug and requesting Cafe Vanilla.  When it was done, he walked over to the island.  He handed me the mug and then turned and leaned back against the counter next to me.

"You know," he started, gazing out the window above the sink at the brilliant morning sun glinting off the trees.  "You're not anything like I imagined you'd be."  This was not what I was expecting, and I looked at him dumbly.  He chuckled, and continued.  "When Lauren said a friend from Wisconsin was moving out, I was expecting...well, I don't know.  A big, dumb, farm girl, I guess.  I'm sorry.  That's awful.  It's a terrible stereotype.  But whatever I was expecting, it wasn't a smart, petite, gorgeous girl like you."

My brain got stuck on the "gorgeous" part and I didn't hear anything else for awhile.  After a moment, I realized he was still talking.  "...only driven through part of it once, and all I saw were cows and corn.  So I guess that's what stuck in my mind."  He looked up at me.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I can throw hay bales with the best of 'em," I joked.

"I don't doubt it, even if they might be as tall as you are," he said, laughing.  He's lucky I'm not sensitive about my height.  It's taken me awhile to come to terms with it, but I'm pleased with my 5'1" height at this point in my life.

I rolled my eyes and kicked at him halfheartedly.  He grabbed my foot and turned so he was standing in front of where I sat on the counter, between my knees.  His hands skimmed up the outside of my thighs before he planted them on the counter top on either side of my hips.  Even though I was sitting on the counter and he was standing in front of me, I would have had to tip my chin up to rest it on the top of his head.  I trailed my fingers from his wrists up his forearms to his biceps and smiled at the goosebumps that raised.  He grabbed me around the waist and lifted me down from counter, setting me on the floor in front of him.

Pinned between him and the counter, I didn't hear the footsteps approaching the kitchen.  Brody must not have either.  His hand was at the side of my neck when we heard Savannah's sharp voice say, "I can't believe this!"  I started, and we both whipped our heads towards the hall.  Savannah stood in the doorway, her face an impressive shade of red that I don't think even mine can achieve.

Brody regarded her calmly.  "Savannah," he started, his voice low.

"No!" she snapped.  "Shut up!"  Then she turned to me.  I could see the hatred etched into her face.  I didn't say anything.  Is there really a right thing to say in this situation?  'Sorry that I just almost kissed the guy you're obsessed with, even though he's not interested in you,' doesn't really seem appropriate.  She stood, staring at me, her body rigid.  Then she spit out, "Fucking slut!" 

Brody's face hardened immediately.  As she spun around to stalk off, Brody started to open his mouth.  I squeezed his arms, hoping to stop him.  "No, please don't," I murmured.  It wasn't worth it.  Anyways, she was already gone.  I rested my forehead against Brody's chest and sighed.  His whole body felt tense.  He took a step back, and I lifted my head.  He looked furious.  When we made eye contact, his face relaxed and then he just looked a little sad.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head and running his fingers down my spine.  "She is so out of line."

"It's not your fault," I replied, sliding my hands up his arms and down onto his chest, hoping to redirect things back to where they had been headed before Savannah's rude interruption. 

"It is," he said solemnly, "but that's a story for another day."  My plan seemed to be working, and he stepped closer again, smiling down at me.  His thumb had found the hem of my shirt and slipped under it, and he was rubbing it in small, slow circles along the small of my back.  I shivered and gripped the front of his shirt, raising up onto my tiptoes.

Just as he was bending his head down to mine, we both heard the footsteps and voices moving towards the kitchen.  I leaned back against the island again as Brody muttered, "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" under his breath.  He stepped back as Kendra and Christian walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Kendra said cheerfully, unaware that they had just become the third and fourth people this weekend to prevent us from finally kissing.  "What time are we planning on leaving?"

"Morning," Brody said back, shortly.  I glared at him, and his next sentence came out a little kinder.  "Whenever everyone is up and packed and we've gotten things picked up.  I'll have a service come do a good cleaning, but I don't want to leave it a complete mess either."

"Fair enough," she responded, nodding.  "What would you like us to do?"

Brody gave some suggestions and Kendra and Christian got to work.  He smiled at me ruefully as I walked out of the kitchen to go pack up my stuff.

A couple hours later, we were hauling stuff out to the two vehicles.  Savannah and Allie had, unsurprisingly, opted to ride with Kendra and Christian.  I can't say I was sad about it.  When everything was packed, Brody opened the front passenger door for me and motioned that I should get in. 

"I don't actually get--" I started, but he cut me off.

"So what?" he asked.

"Well, I sat in front on the way up, what if someone else wants to?" I responded.  To be honest, I felt a little awkward about everything that had happened and didn't want to feel Alex's eyes drilling the back of my skull for the whole ride.

"I don't really care if anyone else wants to.  It's yours if you want it."

I realized that sitting here arguing what seat I'd sit in was ridiculous, and even with the weirdness, I did want to sit there.  So I got in.  He waited until my feet and hands were out of the way and shut the door firmly.

The ride was pretty quiet.  Every time I looked back in the rearview mirror, I saw at least two people asleep.  I was tired too, but I was enjoying the mountain scenery as we drove.  When we pulled up to Brody's house,  I was disappointed.  Even though there had been some really uncomfortable moments, I had had fun and wasn't looking forward to going back to work.

Once everything was unloaded and transferred to the vehicles that everyone arrived in, I knew I couldn't prolong the inevitable departure for much longer.  I was shutting the back of my SUV when Brody came over.

"I'd like to look at your foot before you go.  Make sure it looks ok.  Will you come in for a second?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied, suddenly feeling anxious.

I followed him in.  He pulled out a chair from his kitchen table and gestured for me to sit.  I slipped my foot out of its flip flop and he lifted it gently.  He pulled the tape off the gauze I had applied this morning after showering and tipped it from side to side, looking at it.  "Does it hurt at all?" he asked, looking up at me.  I shook my head.  "It looks good," he concluded.

I smiled.  "Probably because I had such a talented surgeon to remove the glass from it."

Brody laughed.  "Well, lucky for you, huh?"  He paused to re-cover it.  "Feet can get infected easily, so keep an eye on it until it's all closed up.  If it gets red, sore, or swollen at all, you should get it checked out."   He stood, pulling out a chair to sit.  He leaned forward, looking intensely at me with his gorgeous, strange light green eyes.  He almost looked nervous.

"I'm really glad you came this weekend.  I enjoyed getting to know you better.  I'm not quite satisfied though.  Can I take you out this week?"

Finally! I thought.  "Yes, I'd like that," I replied, smiling. 

His face relaxed and he grinned broadly.  "Good.  I'll call you tomorrow and we'll plan it, ok?"  He offered me a hand, and I took it and stood.  He let go and his hand moved to the small of my back as we walked towards the door.  He paused with his hand on the door before we walked outside and pulled me towards him.  This is it, I thought, thinking we would finally be able to kiss without interruption.  I was disappointed when his lips landed on my cheek.  He pulled back and smiled.  "I'll talk to you tomorrow.  Drive safe."

I walked outside, simultaneously excited and frustrated.  He'd better be a fucking good kisser, because after all this build up, I'd be pissed if he was a slobberer.

"Well?!" Kinsley asked, the second my car doors were shut.  Lauren looked at me impatiently.

"My foot looks good," I deadpanned.

"OLIVIA!" Kinsley shrieked.  "You know damn well we were not sitting here waiting on news about your FOOT!"

I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise.  "Well thanks for your concern!"  Laughing, I told them what had occurred this morning, since it was the first time we'd been able to talk since then, and then about the conversation we'd just had.

"So he didn't even kiss you in there?"  Lauren asked, skeptical.

"No," I confirmed.  "He didn't.  I don't really get it.  If he doesn't kiss me after our date, this shit is over."

"If he doesn't kiss you after your date, I will personally kick his ass," Kinsley said decisively. 

We all laughed, and then talked about Savannah's antics this morning.  I dropped them off and finally made my way home.  I picked up a salad for dinner at a cafe a couple blocks down because I was pretty sure I didn't have anything good in the fridge.  When I walked into my house, I felt really alone.  There had almost always been someone around this weekend, and I had gotten used to it.  I missed having a roommate, though there were definite cons to roommate life too.  I unpacked my bag and started a load of laundry before crashing on the couch with my salad.  I turned on my phone for the first time since Thursday afternoon.  It beeped at me immediately, and I looked down to see I had two voicemails and a text.

The text was from John.  My heart fell as I read: "Work is sending me to a training.  I'll be out by you towards the end of the month.  I'd really like to see you.  I miss you."