Spread the Love

I shoved my phone into my bag. I didn't want to respond to Justin right away for three reasons. One, I wanted to consider what he actually meant and decide how to respond. Was he mad or simply curious? I imagined him asking the question in person and it could've had a couple different tones. Second, I wanted to make it clear to him that we were taking this slow. I didn't want him thinking I was going to immediately answer him whenever he demanded an answer. Third, I had to figure out the Darlene debacle occurring at the present moment.

I walked over to Darlene and asked her if she'd be okay with taking the next train home, which meant we'd have to say our goodbyes and head out.

"Why so early?" She asked, with a genuinely puzzled look on her face. "Doug knows a great hookah bar that's not too far away! It's freaking Friday!"

She had a point. If we all had work the next day, I'd definitely try to convince her that we had to go. But it was, as Rebecca Black sang, Friday. I turned to Anna who shrugged with indifference.

We ended up getting to the hookah bar after about twenty minutes of walking. The five of us sat down at a table and ordered a strawberry flavored hookah. I'm not a huge fan of the flavored tobacco, so I just ordered a cappuccino and decided I would enjoy the atmosphere. I took out my phone after ordering and was pleased to see Justin had not texted me again. It was nice to see that he could exercise patience.

"I'm out with Darlene and Anna! It was a nice night so I thought I'd dress up a little. You like? ;)"

He answered within five minutes. "Yeah. I guess I've just never seen you wear a dress around me. Spread the love :-p"

I let out a sigh of relief. If Justin had been mad in the original text, he hid it well and I was happy that he, at the very least, changed his attitude. Maybe he had overreacted, but he seemed okay with it now.

"Boy problems?" Rachel asked, leaning in close to me.

"Not really," I answered with a smile. I liked Rachel, but I saw how gossipy she could be and preferred her not discussing my relationship with Darlene at work, even though I was obviously going to share this incident with Darlene and Anna.

We spent about an hour at the hookah bar before Anna and I convinced Darlene to go home. While her and Doug had continued flirting the whole time, they both seemed ready to conclude the night without going any further.

Once on the train, I was too tired to address what Darlene did or didn't know about Doug, in addition to questioning her intentions. It's not like she tried to go home with Doug or anything. I figured she knew what she was doing and was sure Rachel would clue her in if Darlene didn't already know the situation. The three of us remained silent for most of the ride and I took advantage of the time to text Justin with my full attention. He said he was having a great time in Connecticut but couldn't wait to get home. Since Darlene had decided while we were waiting in Penn Station that she wanted to go bowling the following weekend for her birthday, I extended an invite to Justin.

Justin and I decided to get together on Wednesday though, as a way to break up the long week. After getting out of work, I put on a sundress and arrived at his apartment with a pizza. He wanted to see me in a dress, so I would deliver! (Pun completely intended).

Justin answered the door, rocking his usual look: basketball shorts and no shirt. When he saw me, he looked confused for a moment.

"Are we going out?" He took the pizza box from my hand and moved aside so I could walk into his apartment.

"Nope, just 'spreading the love.'" I turned to him so I could see his expression when the light bulb went off in his head. The look was priceless.

"Well," he began after putting the pizza box down. "You look hot." He walked closer to me and ran his hands down the side of my body while bitting his lower lip. "Can I change my mind and request you wear nothing?"

I felt a tingle run through my body as I stretched up to kiss him. "Maybe after pizza," I said once I pulled away. "I'm starving." I walked over to the box and lifted the lid. I had picked up a sicilian pie with everything on it from this place right by Justin's apartment. The pizza was still hot and smelled so fresh. I told myself I'd only have one slice (and then maybe treat myself to another as a post coitus snack).

As we sat at the small table, Justin told me about his family in Connecticut. He had several cousins who were about his age and they spent most of the time playing basketball and swimming. "It's a good time," he said grabbing a second slice from the box. "But I definitely missed something about home."

"Oh yeah?" I knowingly teased. "I think something here kind of missed you, too."

He told me a little bit more about his family and we talked about work before I began wrapping the pizza up and putting the leftovers in the fridge. Things with Justin were going so well. It made me wonder how we could have such a connection when we were together but he could be kind of controlling when we weren't. I decided not to overthink it, especially when he crept up behind me, put his arms around my waist, and began reaching under my dress.

I didn't overthink anything for the rest of the night. Wink, wink.