The Law of Attraction(17)
“I should warn you that I’m very out of practice with the dating thing and it might take me a little while to get back into that mindset. For example, although part of me is sitting here thinking, wow here’s this amazingly smart and sexy woman and I really want to get to know her better, there’s still that other part of me that’s thinking I want to take her back to my place and bang her until she can’t walk straight.”
I felt a little lightheaded for a second but then I imagined a little Jess hovering over the table saying “Confidence, Gabrielle! It’s okay to want to be banged until you can’t walk straight, honey!” I wasn’t exactly sure why Jess was dressed like Yoda but I was just going to go with it.
“Ah, well. They don’t really have to be mutually exclusive goals do they?” I started, and his grin slowly got bigger as his gaze got hotter. I was feeling very baby gazelle-like at the moment.
“Not at all,” he said in a low sultry voice.
“Not tonight! I mean, because, well you have to go somewhere tomorrow.” I swallowed.
“Okay? So, you don’t want to hook up with me?” He looked confused. Oh fuck! I was totally messing this up! I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t want to!
“I’m not saying that I don’t want to have sex with you! Believe me! I do! In fact, I want to have hot sweaty monkey sex with you! Okay, maybe that was a bit too candid. I’m just saying that I want it to be different than if you just picked me up in a bar. I wouldn’t want you to just leave and thank me on the way out the door. I’m not expecting some kind of huge emotional connection right away. I just want it to be different than going to bed with my vibrator. Do you know what I mean?”
“You have a vibrator?” he asked with a smile and I rolled my eyes. “I’m just kidding! I know what you mean, Gabrielle. Would it shock you if I told you that I felt that way too?”
“You do?”
“I’m sitting here on a date with you, aren’t I? I invited you over to my place to spend time with my friends. I invited you to my family’s fundraiser at my parents’ home. Obviously, I don’t view you in the same way as some person I hooked up with at a club last weekend and whose name I forgot. Or never knew. What I meant was that I’m trying to do this right but I’m distracted by how much I want you physically. That’s all.”
“Oh. Oh!” I smiled. “Well, um, I feel that way too. You distract me a lot. ”
“I kind of got that from the hot, sweaty, monkey sex comment.”
“Oh Jesus. I really said that, didn’t I?” I felt my face getting hot.
“Don’t be embarrassed! Weirdly enough, I think that may have been the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me. And believe me, I would be happy to oblige, but I understand what you’re saying about tonight. And I’d like to be able to take my time and not be worried about having to be somewhere. Don’t worry, I’m a big boy and I can wait a while. Not a long while. I have kind of a strong libido.”
“So do I and I don’t have much of an outlet for it, so believe me, I don’t want to wait a long time either. I’ve been having X-rated dreams about you for God knows how long. Okay, that’s probably too much information too.”
“You’re a very upfront person.” He laughed.
“With you at least, it seems. So anyway! Since that’s not in the cards for tonight, maybe we could just focus on getting to know each other better. We did the basic details but we didn’t try to figure out if we have similar interests. Besides sex I mean,” I said, and he laughed again. “I amuse you, don’t I?”
“Yes, very much, and that’s one of the things that I like best about you. I’m sorry if this sounds sexist but I find you kind of adorable sometimes.”
Our entrees arrived then and we spent the rest of the meal discussing hobbies, books, movies, television shows, our college majors and activities, and our favorite pastimes. (Besides sex.) Amazingly, Braden and I actually had a lot in common. Perhaps the oddest thing we shared was a mutual enjoyment of watching PBS in bed. We wound up talking for hours. By the time we sat sipping our Afghan tea I felt much more comfortable with him, even though I was more attracted to him than ever.
“Well, that was delicious. Excellent choice. So where did you want to take me now?” Immediately, my stomach got a little queasy and it wasn’t because of the lamb. Even I had to admit that what I was going to suggest was kind of an eccentric thing to do on a first date — or any date.
“I want to take you to hear one of my favorite musicians.”