Do They Deliver?

After an hour or two in bed with Scott, who showed no sign of being tired anymore if you know what I mean, I was ready to get some grub. I needed fuel.

Scott was hungry, too, but when I suggested trying a new Italian restaurant that opened up fifteen minutes away, he started groaning.

"Do they deliver?" He asked, as he rolled over, letting his eyes close.

I was sitting up next to him and didn’t respond when he asked this. I peered down at him. He looked so hot lying there; even though I was annoyed he was about to fall asleep when we were supposed to get dinner. His hair was just long enough to fall low on his forehead. I knew he’d be getting it cut in the next few days. He liked it short, no matter how many times I told him he looked cute when it was a little longer.

“I want to go out,” I finally replied, running my nails along his chest.

“Oh, that feels good,” Scott exclaimed, as if I hadn’t said a word. “Let me turn over.” He rolled onto his stomach and pushed the comforter off his back. A prospective back scratch got him to move, but going to dinner with me didn’t?

I began scratching his upper back before trying again. “Five minutes of this and then we’re going.” I tried to sound stern, like I had any sort of clout.

Scott let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, babe.”

Five minutes passed. Then ten minutes before I leaned down, kissed the back of his neck, and said, “okay, time is up.”

Scott shifted his body to face me. “I was almost asleep. That feels good.”

“Well, I’m glad,” I replied as I stood up and grabbed my jeans from the floor. “Want me to pick you out a shirt?” I asked, hoping that I wasn’t sounding too nagging.

Scott let out a breathe into the air as he stared at me. “If we order in, you can pick the movie.” He raised and lowered his eyebrows at me, as if what he was saying was so tempting and somewhat scandalous.

I dropped my shoulders and tilted my head. “Why don’t you want to go out?” I finally asked.

“I’ve just had a long week,” he replied. “It’s not that I don’t want to go out with you. It’s just, well, what’s the difference if we order in? We don’t have to deal with waiting for a table and then waiting for the food.” Scott lifted his upper body off the bed and I could see the muscles in his arm flexing. Even though Scott hasn’t worked out in months, his body was still a thousand times more ready for summer than me.

“Besides, we don’t even have to get dressed if we stay here.”

I felt really conflicted, because a huge part of me wanted to pull Scott out of bed and drag him to the restaurant. Another part of me wanted give in to his pleading and curl up next to him.

Then, Anna’s words from earlier in the day rang through my mind. Boring, I believe, was the word she used.

I walked over to the bed and sat next to him. I was just about to tell him that I didn’t want to be boring anymore. I wanted to go out to dinner and you know what? Maybe next weekend we’d go skydiving. He ran his hand through my hair and gazed at me. “I’m sorry, Caroline,” he began. “Tax season has just been exhausting. If you want to go to dinner, though, I want to go to dinner with you.”

How did he know the perfect thing to say?

I didn’t want to drag him out. If he didn’t want to go to dinner, I’d feel bad the whole time. I knew after the fifteenth, he’d have more time anyway. If I liked Scott because he was just as busy as I’ve been the past several weeks, wasn’t this the other side of that?

“Okay, but I don’t want to hear a single protest about the movie I choose,” I bargained.

Scott laughed at me. “Okay, fair enough.”

I bit my bottom lip and began to blush at my next thought. “And you have to do that thing with your tongue again.”

Scott smiled. “With pleasure.”

So I lost the battle that night. And I know what everyone’s thinking. Anna’s speech repeated in my mind that night as I drove home. Boring. We’re boring. I’m boring. But, I rationalized, one boring night does not mean we’re a boring couple.

The following week, I got a text from Moose. I was surprised when I saw his name pop up on my phone. I hadn’t heard from him since New Year’s Eve. It’s not that we were avoiding each other or anything. I attributed it to both of us being in new relationships that were going well. From what I saw on social media, Moose and Beth were still together and they were definitely not boring. He went to Florida with her family for a week. She was always posting pictures of them at various bars and checking in at cool, new restaurants.

Anyway, Moose texted me, “Hey, stranger! What are you and the girls up to this weekend?”

“Hey, yourself! Um, not sure. What’s up?”

“The guys and I were talking about going out. Come!”

“Awesome! I’ll let you know.” I was eager for a fun night out, but I didn’t want to commit to anything too soon with too little information.

“Don’t make me beg, C.” A whole season had gone by since I last saw Moose, so I didn’t really get the begging sense.

Moose texted me the details Thursday and I confirmed that I would be there with Anna, Jessica, and Darlene. Scott agreed to go, too, without much protest, but I just hoped he wouldn’t back out at the last minute.