Wednesday rolled around, and she and Kyle had agreed she would go over to his place around 7pm. She did some errands after work to kill some time before heading over. Still, she was early as usual, but he was ready for her this time and didn’t make her wait.
She walked in to Kyle’s apartment to see him standing in the front hall waiting for her. She knew exactly what to expect as he stepped forward and simultaneously grabbed her by the waist and the back of the neck, pulling her in to him. His strong arms and hands gripping her body as he kissed her deeply. She just melted in to him as he tore her clothes off and guided her to his bedroom. Another epic time was had.
Afterwards, she and Kyle caught up on how they’d been over the past two and a half months since the last time they had seen each other. He had gone to Europe to visit a friend, and she had… well, done fuck all to be perfectly honest.
She told him about her disappointing dating experiences with Erik and Luca, but Kyle was more shocked when she confessed that she hadn’t had sex since February (basically since the last time she had seen him, other than that quick-draw moment with Mo). They agreed (loosely) to try to meet up at least once a month, going forward. She wasn’t hopeful that Kyle would follow through on that, but it was a nice thought nonetheless.
After their little catch up sesh, it was time for round two, which was always better for her than the first time. She hung out for a little while afterwards but truly, now that they were done there really wasn’t any reason to stay. She got herself ready again and headed home.
Now that she had been properly man-handled, she was hopeful that the pleasure from that hook up would tie her over until she met someone new. Someone who wouldn’t fuck her over like Erik and Luca had, and who might be able to give her the pleasure that Kyle gave her on, perhaps, a more regular basis.
Enter Curtis.
She matched with Curtis the same day she had seen Kyle. He was charming and complimentary. They gave each other the bullet points of each other’s situation and what they were looking for. She explained that ideally the end goal for her would be to start a real relationship with someone, but in reality she was just taking things as they came. Trying to stay open to what the Universe presented to her. Curtis was recently out of a relationship (because of course he was) and made it very clear that he was not at all looking to jump in to another one.
Typical. Guy after guy, it was always the same old story. No one wanted anything serious. Everyone was fresh out of a relationship. She knew she was setting herself up for failure by pursuing something of which both she and Curtis weren’t exactly on the same page, but she didn’t care. She wanted to meet him. And if she stopped herself from dating all these guys who weren’t ready for a relationship, she’d never go out on another date again. It was worth the risk, she felt.
Once they had established their dating goals, Curtis was quick to offer to take her out, and she was quick to accept. He suggested she meet him at his condo that coming Saturday, and they could walk to a nearby restaurant. After her harrowing experience with Derek, she was a little hesitant to meet a stranger at their place. However, she was clear that there were no promises for sex or anything other than just a drink and some conversation. Curtis was respectful of her boundaries and assured her they would just see if they vibed, and would go from there.
Though her guard was still up, she was enchanted by Curtis. He was confident but not cocky. Complimentary, but also mysterious. He would drop little nuggets of information about himself, but not enough to fill her in completely. She constantly felt the need to ask more questions. Which yes, that’s how a conversation works, she realized. But it was different. It felt like he was trying to make her work for it, which she kind of liked. He showed his interest in her but didn’t make it easy to get it out of him. She enjoyed the challenge, and this is all before they had even met. She agreed to his plan of meeting him at his place and walking over to that restaurant.
Saturday came, and they arranged to meet for 5pm. Curtis’ thinking was that if the date was shit, it would be over before the night really began and they’d each have a chance to reclaim their evenings separately. If things did work out, though, then they just had more time to spend together. He’s a damn genius, she thought.
She lazed about all day before getting herself ready around 3pm. Curtis messaged her and said he was done his commitments earlier than he had expected and that she could come by whenever. After going through every item of clothing she owned, she settled on the first thing she had tried on and headed out, still only making it to his place for their originally agreed upon time.
When she got there, she realized she had fucked up royally. Even though the sun was out and it was a beautiful May afternoon, the wind was cold AF and she was wearing only leggings and a crop top. She texted Curtis that she had arrived, and told him that it would be mighty gentlemanly of him to bring her down a sweater. He texted her two shirt options to choose from before coming out to meet her.
When he stepped through the front doors of his building, she looked up from her phone and was pleasantly surprised. Though he looked exactly like his profile pics, she had been conditioned to expect disappointment, especially after her last two dates. Though neither Erik or Luca had catfished her or anything, she still had very low expectations of Curtis being as good as he seemed.
When she saw him come out his building and begin walking down the steps, she realized how attracted she was to him. She eagerly bit her lip, but corrected herself in to a regular smile as he approached her with a welcoming hug and the shirt he had brought down for her.
You guys, his vibe was perfect. Friendly, charming, complimentary, and self-deprecating. Exactly her type. Plus he was tall. His profile said 6’1 but she had been expectng 5’8 (low expectations, remember?) Again, very pleasantly surprised.
He lived in a gorgeous part of town. Beautiful trees lining the streets, in front of a modge-podge of older heritage homes. A classic neighbourhood in which she knew she could never afford to live.
As they strolled down towards the restaurant, Curtis would guide her by placing his hand on the small of her back and indicating which way to go with his other hand. Sounds trivial, but his light touch on her back sent sexy shivers up her spine. He also made sure to always put her on the inside of the side walk, placing himself between her and the traffic. She couldn’t recall the last time anyone had treated her so chivalrously. Green fucking flag.
As they walked, their conversation flowed so easily. Having both grown up in the city, they quickly realized that they knew a lot of the same people. Not surprising considering their “big city” was actually such a small town. Turns out, some of his best friends were guys she had gone to high school with. They were a grade above her, but when Curtis mentioned one name in particular, she confessed that she had actually made out with that guy back in grade 11. Because of course she had.
Curtis laughed and was actually intrigued by that. “Can’t wait to put that in the group chat,” he said. She was only mildly embarrassed, knowing that the make out sesh she had had with his friend back in high school had been fueled by a lot of alcohol and bad decisions. She assured Curtis that she had grown a lot since then, and she told herself in her head that she fucking better have!
They arrived at the restaurant, which typically had a significant line up, but were seated immediately at a high-top table facing the water. This restaurant was gorgeous. It sat basically atop a waterfall, just on the outskirts of the downtown core. The view over the water was breathtaking, and she was taken aback that Curtis had chosen to bring her there. She wasn’t used to guys ever putting that much thought in to dates. She loved that Curtis had taken charge, and that he chose to bring her to such a great spot.
The server came by, and Curtis ordered them a bottle of Rosé. They cheers’d, and continued their conversation from the walk over. Curtis definitely had a dark sense of humour. He was a bit raunchy and crude at times, but he did it with such charm. He made her laugh, and he flirted with her incessantly. He would hold her hand briefly, at times, as he carried on the conversation. An excuse to touch her, she figured, but each time was a welcomed gesture. Their legs touched under the table and she felt a shock wave right to her downstairs area. Their chemistry was electric.
One shared bottle of wine and two fancy chicken tacos later, she was feeling more and more comfortable with him. By that time, their PG-13 conversation had turned 18A. Skirting the line of a full blown R or X rating. She blushed at all the dirty things he said, but again, he did it with such charisma that she couldn’t help but laugh. They ordered another bottle of Rosé, and a second appetizer to tie them over.
A month or so earlier, she had had a profound realization about herself that drinking was likely not a good option for her anymore. Though she never considered herself an alcoholic, her history with drinking was not a good one. She never craved a drink like a “typical” alcoholic might. She didn’t drink during the week or on her own. She never craved it, and could go months without tasting a drop. However, when she did drink, she never knew when to stop. She didn’t have that voice in her head telling her, “Hey, you’re making a complete ass of yourself. Maybe time for a water?”
Being that she and Curtis were quick with the drinks as soon as they had sat down, she was trying to be good by ordering food and asking for more water as often as she could. The server should have just left a pitcher of water at their table, but he hadn’t, so she’d have to wave him down every time she wanted a re-fill.
As the server had just opened their second bottle of Rosé, she made sure to ask for another glass of water. By this point the restaurant had filled up and their server was swamped. He rushed back to the bar to grab her more water, and hurried back to fill both her and Curtis’ glasses before rushing off to another table.
As Curtis continued talking about whatever it was he had been saying, she took a big swig of her newly refilled water. Immediately she knew that something was wrong. Her cheeks filled up with whatever it was she had just drank, but she couldn’t spit it out anywhere because there were people literally everywhere around them. She had no choice but to swallow whatever it was that the server had poured them.
“BLECH!” she exclaimed as she slammed the glass down on the table. “What is that!?” An expression of both shock and concern spread across Curtis’ face. He sniffed her glass, he sniffed his, and he declared, “Oh my god that vinegar!”, before bursting out laughing. “What!?” she asked, incredulously. She took a big sip of her wine to try to get the vinegar taste out of her mouth. How had she not smelled it when she was drinking it?!
They were both hysterically laughing at this point. Curtis called the server over and they explained what had happened. The poor server looked like he could have just died after having made that mistake. Obviously someone had put a pitcher of vinegar next to a pitcher of water back at the bar. The server was very nice and promised to take her tacos off the bill to compensate for the unintentional vinegar shot she had taken.
As embarrassed as she felt, Curtis was wonderful in helping her laugh it off and reminding her it wasn’t even her fault, it was the server’s mistake. They cheers’d their Rosé, and she made sure to take a big sip of the brand new glass of actual water that the server had brought over.
As the sun was setting, the view just got better and better. Except the wind was picking up, so the servers were handing out blankets. They were both shivering now. Curtis in his lightweight white button down, and she in her crop top and the blue dress shirt he had lent her. They chugged the rest of their wine (classy), he paid the bill, and they agreed to head back to his place.
Though their walk to the restaurant was picturesque AF, on the walk back Curtis decided to take her on the even more scenic route to check out more of that lovely area of town. By this time, he had moved on from a gentle touch at the small of her back, to just fully putting his arm around her. They walked like that, intertwined in each other, the entire way home.
The sexual tension had been building and building. He told her some of the sexy, dominant things he wanted to do to her, and she looked up at him with her longing eyes, eager for him to just take her. They stopped walking and he looked down at her, matching her gaze. Neither of them looking away.
“So I guess you wouldn’t mind if I did this…”, Curtis said as he kept his one arm locked around her shoulders, slowly bringing his other hand up towards her neck. He gripped her throat softly yet firmly, and kissed her. Her knees buckled and she basically could have finished right there in the street. She started this date so sure that it wouldn’t end in sex. Now, here she was, thinking about how they couldn’t get back to his place fast enough.
“You taste like vinegar…” Curtis joked as they increased their walking pace back to his condo.