The cab ride was a quiet affair of sneaky glances and soft smiles. As we weaved through busy streets, I paid attention to every little detail and tried to figure out exactly where we were going. The longer we were in the cab, the more antsy I got. I felt like a little kid waiting to open up her Christmas presents. I just wanted to know.
“I have something to ask you,” Josh said beside me.
I turned to look at him, and immediately found myself lost in the sharpness of his features and his warm brown eyes.
“What do you want to ask me?”
His voice dropped dangerously low. “Do you trust me?”
I didn’t hesitate in my response. “Yes.”
His eyes softened and, without a moment of hesitation, he lifted his hips off the seat and his hand disappeared. I watched with piqued interest as he pulled out a sash of red satin from his back pocket and rested it on his lap. The air shifted around us, and my body switched on as his eyes blatantly ran over my body. I felt drunk on lust.
“I could only choose a red blindfold to match a red dress,” he muttered, shifting across the seat until he was flush against me.
Blindfold?
“I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing,” I said in a teasing tone, desperate to conceal the high pitch threatening to take over my voice at the thought of him blindfolding me. “I am learning more about you every day.”
His smirk was almost territorial. “One day I’ll show you just what I’m into.”
And there goes my body: flushed, wet, and ready to be shown exactly what he could do. I needed a damn off switch when it came to him. I swallowed the need that I knew would show through in my voice and said, “Friends don’t show friends. Friends tell friends.”
“Our kind of friendship allows it.” He leaned in and the smile he shot caused a shiver to run frantically down my spine.
Sight no longer existed, as Josh gently placed the red satin over my eyes. My senses exploded. My hearing went from soft to loud, and suddenly every breath we took thundered to life. I inhaled sharply as my sense of touch was ignited by his fingertips sweeping down my cheek and over my lips. It was too much to comprehend at once.
“Shit,” I whispered as my hand shot out, desperate to grab onto his hand, arm, anything to use as an anchor. “Josh, this is too much.”
“Just relax, Ashy.”
His fingers entangled with mine, and we remained linked for the rest of the trip. I continued getting swept away by the sounds around me. I heard every hoot and holler from the street as the cab weaved through the city to a destination unknown. Sensing that the cab began to slow, I focused harder, then we came to a stop. Josh released my hand, and I was hit by cool air as a door opened and Josh exited. I sat in silence and warmth until the door beside me opened. Josh’s fingers tangled with mine again, and I was slowly led out of the cab, still in complete darkness.
“You ready?” His soft breath danced over my ear like a seductive waltz, sending a shiver more intense than ever through my body. This whole blindfold thing was freaking amazing.
“I think so.”
His arm wrapped around my waist until his hand was resting on my hip, and we fell into step. We must have looked crazy. A woman, blindfolded, dressed in a red dress that was tight in all the right places, with killer heels, being led along a street by a man who could fill out a pair of slacks and shirt better than 99.9% of the world’s population.
“Be careful, you need to take three steps down,” Josh said, his arms pulling me close to his body as we stopped walking.
Carefully, I did as he said, and was immediately hit by warm air, the smell of garlic, and the sound of laughter and chatter. Where the hell were we? Josh grabbed my hand and led me through the darkness provided by the blindfold. As I concentrated on every step I took and the feeling of Josh holding my hand, I lost all sense of awareness and bumped into his back when we stopped suddenly. I stumbled, and his arm shot out protectively, diverting me from crashing to the ground.
“Watch out, Ashy. I’ll think you’re falling for me if you’re not careful.”
Oh, dear lord.
Gently, he moved me until my legs hit the back of a chair, and I lowered myself.
Josh’s voice sounded from opposite me. “I’m about to remove the blindfold, but don’t open your eyes until I say. You okay with that?”
“Yes,” I replied, more breathy then intended.
With a featherlike touch, the blindfold was removed, and it took every ounce of strength I had not to open my eyes. I counted to ten, and then started singing the national anthem in my head to distract me from disobeying and looking.
“Show me your eyes, Ashy.”
My eyes fluttered opened, and I was hit by low lights. Josh sat across from me with a smile that could light up the world. My eyes frantically darted around the space, and my hand shot to my mouth as a million emotions hit me at once. This couldn’t be real. I had to be dreaming. My mind had to be playing games on me, because this kind of thing only happened in my favorite novels.
We were in Rosie’s Bar, sitting at the exact same table we’d sat at five years ago to the day when we first officially met. On the table between us was a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, along with two beers. The exact same kind of pizza and brand of beer we had five freaking years ago. I was spinning out. This was just . . . holy shit.
“Do you really think I’d forget that it was five years ago today that we sat at this exact table, eating this exact pizza, and drinking this exact beer?” Josh leaned over the table and linked his pinky with mine. I looked down at them before meeting his gaze. “Happy rocking-my-world Anniversary, Ashy.”
I was at a complete loss for words, and all I could do was stare at him. What could I possibly say? His eyes were soft as he stared back at me. There was no cockiness, no arrogance, and no obvious innuendo. It was just Josh. For the past five years, I had lived with the assumption that what we shared was just a night we spent together, that he had put into his memories of one-night stands and moved on. I was beyond shocked that he remembered even the finer details, right down to the pizza and table we sat at. My chest tightened. Oh fuck, were my eyes watering? This was hands down, without a doubt, the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.
“You look shocked.”
“I am,” I replied, finally able to put two words together.
“You thought I didn’t remember?”
“To be honest, yes.”
“I remember everything, Ashy. Absolutely everything. That night you gave me the best gift anyone has ever given me.”
He remembered, and just that thought alone did something unexplainable to me. My body started to react, and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. Oh god, I was swooning. I averted my eyes from his and focused on the pizza.
“I think about it a lot,” he continued, and leaned over the table toward me. With his thumb and forefinger, he moved my face back so I had no choice but to look at him. “I think about why this beautiful girl gave me the one piece of her no one else would own. I think about whether I was good enough to you. My constant thought is whether it was what you expected and deserved?”
“It was perfect,” I whispered in a truth I never knew existed. “I’m glad it’s you that owns that piece of me.”
“Believe me when I say it’s cherished.”
Josh released my face and shifted back into his seat, then lifted the beer to his mouth. I chanced a look around the bar. It hadn’t changed a bit in the past five years. Young professionals, couples who looked to be out on dates, and groups of people watching the game filled the space. I still couldn’t believe that he actually did this.