LbA: Goodnight, Sweet Girl

“So, is it serious?” Aaron casually asked, taking a sip of his Bud Light.

I looked down at my hands, unsure of how to answer.  Unsure because I really wasn’t sure, and also because a part of me deep down in my secret desires spot didn’t want to give Aaron a reason to not ask me out again.

We were out for the drink that Aaron owed me... my prize, I suppose, for winning his game of I Spy.  Both of our schedules had conflicted, so we weren’t able to get together until a couple weeks after Halloween.  He had asked me what I had done, and I had just finished telling him about the night with Matt, Sarah, and Chase.  And I had mentioned how we were dressed as the Big Bang characters.  And how Chase is someone I’ve been seeing.

I glanced back up at Aaron, his expression unreadable.  “Well, we’ve just been dating.  He’s not my boyfriend.”

I saw a small smile play at his lips.  “I see.”

I had only agreed to a beer with him, but we were now each on our third.  Talking to him was natural, with playful, flirty banter intertwining the genuine “getting to know you” questions.  We had been at the bar for a couple of hours.  Or three.  He had picked me up from my apartment.  When we got to the bar, he had purposely sat himself facing the door, so he would always be aware of our surroundings and who was in and out.  Apparently it was a police thing.  Probably for the first time in a couple of months, I felt relaxed and protected, and neither Luke, nor Victoria, crossed my mind. 

Every once in awhile, when it was appropriate, he would reach out and lightly touch my hand, when making a point or when teasing. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I am!” I giggled.  “Plus, all this beer is catching up to me, and if we don’t get something solid in me, I’m not going to last much longer.”

He smirked, “That’s what she said.”

I rolled my eyes, but laughed along with him.  Seeing as how we were at a sports bar, we ordered a couple of appetizers.  Specifically, mozz sticks, potato skins, and a fried veggie basket.  “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I asked him.

“Oh, that is in two weeks already.  This year has flown.  Nothing big.  I’m actually the on-call detective , so I’ll probably go to my parents’ house, but don’t anticipate actually being able to stay the whole time.”

“So are you on-call just for your unit?”

“No.  When on-call we have to cover anything that comes in.  We try to slap a Band-Aid on it, if possible, until normal hours, but covering the full investigation if the situation calls for it.  So I could be responding to property crimes, homicides, domestics, child crimes, just to name a few.  It kind of mixes it up a little for me, which I like.”

“When you’re on call, are you usually busy?”

“It’s really hit or miss.  It just depends on how naughty people are being.” He half-smiled at me and winked.

I blushed.  Something about his winking at me seemed... flirty.  Though the topic definitely wasn’t.

The waitress arrived then, with our appetizers.  Every time she had helped us, she had been more than friendly to Aaron, all but ignoring me.  And every time she focused on him, he managed to not awkwardly turn the attention back to me.  She asked, while batting her eyelashes and staring directly at Aaron, “Does everything look good?”  Her body was even positioned more facing him. 

He smiled kindly at her, and then looked at me.  “I think it looks fine, what do you think, Aleah?”

His eyes never left mine as I responded, “Absolutely delicious.”  The waitress turned her head towards me, but looked annoyed that I even existed right then.

“I swear,” I muttered after she walked away.  “You’d think I was invisible!”

“Well, when you’re hanging out with someone with as killer hair as mine, you get used to kind of falling into the background.”  He looked completely serious when he said it, but I could tell by the glint in his eyes, that he was teasing.

“I see,” I knowingly said, while obviously eyeing his hair.  “I mean, it is pretty nice... but I think you’ll know how it feels when we have a male server sometime.”  And it was my turn to wink at him.

He leaned forwards, finishing the bite he had in his mouth, looking at me intensely.  “So, are you trying to ask me out on a second date?”

I blushed, not realizing my words when they had come out previously, and also at the fact that he considered this a date.  My heart did a little leap of joy.  I was worried he really had just viewed this as hanging out with a friend, having won a “bet.”  “Oh wow, um, I wasn’t trying to... I guess I didn’t mean my words like that.”

I saw a look of disappointment flash across his face.  But before I could identify if he was really hurt or it was a joke, it was gone.

So I rushed on, “I mean, oh gosh. I didn’t mean it like that.  I mean, I’m having a really good time, I just don’t normally... I’m not really that bold.”

He laughed, smiling at me.  “Aleah, slow down.  I was just kidding with you.  Partially.  I was joking about you asking.  I wasn’t about this being a date.”  I bit my lip at his modest confidence, yet how he was able to reassure me without even knowing the waves of insecurity that were lapping at my confidence.  My confidence usually shown through in normal conversation, whether it was genuine or forced.  But apparently not when I was taken aback by a handsome suitor.

He was studying me, as he took another bite.  He raised an eyebrow, and I could tell he was waiting for me to say something.  “A date?  Well, I can’t say that I’m disappointed by that.” 

We continued talking throughout the eating, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight.  He drove me back to my apartment and got out, walking me to the door.  “Have your keys this time?”

“Eh, you’ve got jokes I see there.”

He bumped his shoulder into mine.  “Detective by day, stand-up comedian by night.”

I shook my head and chuckled at him.  “I had a really great time tonight,” I shyly looked up at him.

“Aleah, I really did, too.  Would it be okay if I took you out again sometime soon?”

I nodded my head, my smile splitting my face.  “It would.”

He placed his finger tips lightly on my chin and nodded my head up towards his.  He leaned down, at the last minute moving to the side and his lips grazing my cheek.  He stood back up to his full height and smiled at me.  I swear my heart had stopped, yet was pounding out of my chest at the same time.  His smile, a simple smile that said a thousand words.  “Goodnight, sweet girl.”

And as I watched him turn and walk back towards his car, I breathed out, just realizing I had been holding my breath.