That little mystery was solved when she returned a missed call from her friend, Anna.
“Cynthia, I think you ran into a friend of mine tonight.”
“I don’t recall meeting anyone.”
“Billy, did you meet a guy named Billy?”
Oh yeah, that.
“A zombie came up to me in the fun house and said his name was Billy.”
“That’s the guy I wanted you to meet.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I think I can meet a ghoul just fine on my own.”
Cynthia hoped that would be the end of it. But of course, it wasn’t. Out of sheer curiosity to see what this guy looked like in the real world, she agreed to go out with him. She had no choice but to accept the blind date or be forced to go on a dreaded double date. That was even worse.
The date was going well. Suddenly Billy leaned forward towards her and said, “I’m going to kiss you. Everything’s going good right now, and I don’t want to risk the chance of losing out should I suddenly screw up.”
She was so surprised she couldn’t move. Then he was kissing her and she was enjoying it. Until her brain had to go and ruin it.
She tried valiantly to make up for her post kiss silence, but she couldn’t keep the awkward out of the rest of the evening. The date ended shortly after that. He didn’t try to kiss her again.
***
The next thing she knew it was almost a month later, she was waking up in his bed. His sheets smelled pleasantly of fabric softener and his shoulder had a light sprinkling of freckles that were the exact color of cinnamon sprinkled on a latte. His arm lay draped across her stomach and she was afraid to move.
She didn’t want to wake him up and she didn’t really want to get up. She was incredibly comfortable snuggled next to him. Just like with the kiss, things had moved so quickly, all of the events leading up to this moment were a little blurry. She heard Billy sigh and then he rolled over, taking his arm off of her. She arched her back as she stretched and cuddled back into the pillow. As she tried to go back to sleep, the night before came back to her in bits and pieces.
***
As part of her non-dating, not-looking ritual, she went to the bookstore on Friday after work. It was too late for coffee so she grabbed a bottle of juice from the coffee shop as she walked towards the paperbacks. She browsed for a moment or two then heard someone say her name.
“Uh, Cynthia?” She turned; completely unaware that she was holding a steamy romance novel with a very graphic cover.
Billy was standing in front of her, holding a magazine. He looked very cute with his longish hair brushing his collar and his glasses slipping down his nose.
She turned and glanced down at the same time he did each of them fixing a look of a barrel chested man embracing a barely clad woman in his huge arms. She turned pink and said, “Oh, hi, Billy.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t called. . I got sent out of town to stage a few more carnivals for the company.”
“I had no idea the Zombie business was so demanding.”
She hadn’t meant to sound so bitchy, but it was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Fortunately he thought it was funny.
“So, do you have any plans tonight?”
“Not really.”
“I don’t want to keep you from your reading.”
She chose to find this funny.
“Did you have something better in mind, or are you just taking a poll?”
He laughed.
“Well, we could go have dinner or catch a movie or just go somewhere and talk.”
They actually wound up doing all three. They walked around the store talking about what they liked to eat. It turned out that they liked the same take-out pizza place; his apartment was closer, so that’s where they wound up.
They sat and ate pizza and laughed at a stupid comedy that they both found funny for the same reasons (improbable situations faced by unlikely duo who wind up falling in love with each other’s hot sister.)
They wound up sharing a kiss instead of splitting the last slice of pizza. This kiss was just as impressive as the first one. Cynthia was swept away by the softness of his lips and the way he used just the tip of his tongue to investigate the edges of her mouth as if waiting for her to permit him to explore further. She melted into his arms and tasted the sweet wine they shared and the tartness of the pizza sauce. Kissing this man was as warm and welcome as pajamas on a Saturday night.
He stroked her hair as the kiss deepened. He made her feel dainty and special, both welcome feelings after all of this time alone. His arm slipped down and he gently rubbed the back of her neck with his thumb. She moaned against his mouth. He kept kissing her, bringing his other hand to her neck and massaged her as he kissed her. He broke the kiss, took her hand and led her into the bedroom.
“Don’t worry. I just want to make you comfortable while I work on your back.”
Those were the most beautiful words Cynthia had ever heard. At his instruction she lay face down and he tucked a pillow under her knees. She sighed contentedly as he massaged the back of her neck. She enjoyed the feeling of his hands working their way down her back. His touch was firm and strong, but not painful. She focused on the feelings that were coursing through her. The muscles in her back were loosening and the muscles between her thighs were tightening. He began to knead her lower back.
“You’re tense down here.”
“You have no idea.”
She rolled over and smiled up at him. He leaned over her and she slid her arms around his neck. He leaned in and kissed her neck. She arched up at him as he lightly nibbled his way towards her ear. He gently licked her earlobe and she moaned. His hand slipped down and stroked her rib cage. He nibbled alongside her jawbone back to her mouth and kissed her deeply. She wrapped one arm around him and used the other hand to unbutton his shirt.
He sat up and pulled it and his t-shirt off in one movement. He tugged at the bottom of her blouse and she pulled it off. He lay on top of her, his skin warm against hers. He kissed her again. Cynthia thought that she could kiss him forever. His hand slipped up her stomach. His thumb stroked her gently and anything else she could think of just disappeared in a flurry of sensation. His fingers danced along her stomach and ribs then magically walked around to her back.
As she arched up to meet him he reached around and unhooked her bra. She helped him pull it off and then her hard nipples were pressing against him as fingers continued to explore her. She could feel his hardness against her hip bone as he kissed her. She gently raked her nails against his back and she felt him shiver.
She did it again and he moaned against her mouth as his kiss lingered. It seemed only a matter of seconds and his pants and her jeans were tossed to the floor and he nestled against her like it was the most natural thing in the world. Their underwear soon followed. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry as he kissed, nuzzled and licked her all over. His fingers and tongue soon stroked her to climax.
As she shuddered in his arms, he whispered into her ear, “May I?” She kissed him and reached for him. He leaned over and took a condom from the night stand. He slipped into her and they both sighed. He took his time as if gauging her responses to work out his rhythms. He wrapped her legs around his hips and he stroked her thigh as he moved in and out. It was nothing short of amazing.
The next thing she remembered was drifting off to sleep in his arms. Now here she was in his bed remembering and it wasn’t at all bad. For several long minutes, Cynthia didn’t worry about messing things up or thinking about what could possibly go wrong, she just enjoyed the warmth of this sweet man lying next to her.
She was so relaxed she almost fell asleep. She was startled by the sound of the apartment door opening. At first she thought that it was the apartment next door, but then she heard the jingle of keys then the following thunk as they were tossed on the coffee table.