“For what?” she asks, suspicion in her voice.
“For excitement. Isn’t that what you want?”
She nods.
“Then follow me.”
I lead the way down the narrow strip of boards pieced together that lead us through the dunes to the soft sand. Instead of bringing her closer to the waves, which I’m sure she’s expecting, I take a right and walk. I slip my hand into hers, testing. She tenses but doesn’t pull away. We go about a hundred yards until I leave the beach and head toward one of the high rises.
“Chad?”
I just laugh. I’m sure she’s thinking I’m out for the ultimate seduction scene with a rented room or something. Not that I wouldn’t want to do that but Katie’s different and I mean to show her that. I slide into the delivery entrance and into the darkened building.
“Chad?” This time her voice has dropped to a whisper. “What’s going on?”
“Trust me.” It pays to have connections. I have a friend of a friend who got me in.
“Why is it dark? Where is everyone?”
“This an old building, shut down until the needed updates are made.” Unfortunately it means we have to take the stairs, but it’s worth it. She follows me up, trusting. Maybe there’s a chance she’ll forgive me.
Her breath comes out in puffs. “We almost there?”
“Close.” Two more floors and we arrive. I lead her to the waterfront room. Even though there’s no electricity, the large front windows let in natural light.
She rushes forward, leaning her hands against the pane. “Wow. Look at these views.”
I move in behind her and slowly wrap my arms around her. They seem to fit like her body was made for me. She doesn’t push me away. I rest my chin on her shoulder and see what she’s seeing. The scattered puffy clouds, the patches of blue sky, and the never-ending ocean sinking into the horizon.
“Thanks for bringing me here.” She leans her head against mine. “Definitely a different perspective. I needed this.”
I pull away and grab her hand. “What? You think we climbed twenty zillion flights of stairs just for this?”
She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth. “Um, yeah?”
“We’re just getting started.” I motion with my arm. “Come on.”
We leave the main living room and into the master bedroom. I purposefully keep my gaze from roaming to the bed and fantasizing about what we could do between the sheets together.
She lets out a nervous giggle. “Chad?”
“Have a little faith.” My nerves skyrocket around in my stomach. I push open the sliding glass door, the cool breeze rushing into the room. “Close your eyes.”
“Okay. You’d better be on the up and up with this.” She blindly holds out her hand.
I grasp her fingers and gently lead her outside, telling her when to step to the side, when to move forward, and when to sit down. “Okay, open!”
She gasps and I feel a rush of adrenaline as she takes in my hard work and planning. A smile spreads across her face and she laughs.
Uh-oh. “Did I mess up?” Shit. Maybe I should’ve gone for the spaghetti dinner or take out.
“No.” Her words are forceful. “I love it.”
We chow down on peanut butter and crackers. After the first couple, we make a tower of about ten and then try eating them. I figured who could resist peanut butter? Earlier today, I brought up a cooler with cartons of milk, and hidden under the ice are chocolate and grapes.
After we’re done eating with just the grapes left on the table, our chatter fades. The late afternoon sun touches her hair and her face, highlighting her happiness and joy with life. “You’re beautiful.”
She lowers her head. “Thanks. You are too.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Come here.”
She moves around the small table and I pull her into my lap. The iron railing and the endless future spread out before us. So much I want to say but so much I’m not ready to say. My fun times with her have burned away the bullshit in my life. I want this. The feeling I have when I’m with Katie. Maybe I needed some excitement too, a different kind of excitement. Somewhere along the line, she’s become like breath to me. I bury my face into her hair, then kiss her cheek. Somewhere and at some point, this feeling went beyond a crush.
“Am I forgiven?”
“Forgiven.”
After sitting for a while as the sun dropped in the sky, I dropped Katie off. I tried my hardest not to end the date abruptly. I don’t need her questioning my work for my dad, or getting mad. I never want to see that disappointment in her face again. Not if I can help it.