Chapter Eight – Will

I feel weird, that’s the only way to describe it. Sitting across a table in a nice Italian restaurant from Cici, both of us wearing nice clothing, on an actual date. Like a real life, honest to God date. It’s crazy, right? I didn’t think about how strange it’d be when I fired off that text, but now that it’s happening… well, I don’t know what to do with myself. I feel strange and awkward, like I don’t totally know how to move my body properly.

“This place is nice!” Cici declares with wide, excitable eyes. “I haven’t been here before. Have you?”

I shake my head and let out an uncomfortable laugh. “No, I haven’t, but it has really good reviews.”

“I’m not surprised!” Cici takes a giant swig of her wine. I wonder if she feels as odd as me.

I sigh loudly. I need to do something to make this okay again. At the wedding, we had a real laugh, and I just know that we can get it back again. It’s me, it isn’t Cici. She’s not the one acting weird.

“I’m sorry,” I finally announce, deciding just to be honest. “I know I’m being… well, you know. I just don’t go on dates so I feel really out of my comfort zone. If I’m being nuts, just tell me, okay?”

Cici cocks her head curiously, staring at me as if I’ve just said something completely alien to her. “You don’t go on dates much? I never would’ve been able to tell,” she finally says in a wry, teasing tone.

“Oh, very funny!” I roll my eyes and slump back in the chair. “Like you’re the queen of dating.”

“I am actually! I’m great at dating. This is my fourth date this week, in fact.”

I lean in closer to her, finally feeling a smirk spreading across my face. “I better step up my game then.”

I can see that flirtatious spark dancing behind her eyes again and relief floods me. This is what we need. Small talk between me and Cici doesn’t really seem to work, but teasing each other is good. At least for breaking the ice. I can start to feel myself creeping back through, the smooth guy who’s great with chicks. I want to be back to the guy that all the other men are jealous of. Cici deserves that version of me.

“You better step up your game! I need to be seriously impressed. I don’t know how you’ll manage it.”

“I think I might have given you a little clue in advance when it came to the night of the wedding.”

As I mention the night that we met, my heart does that weird fluttering feeling again. But only because it was so damn fun. Having sex with Cici was something else. It was off the scale hot as fuck. I lick my lips as I run my eyes down her body, recalling what she looks like naked. That unblemished pinkish skin of hers is crying out for me to sink my teeth into her all over again. I want to nibble her everywhere. She fucking needs it!

I part my lips, ready to say something to that effect, but before I get the chance to do so, the waitress comes over to our table to finally take our food order. As she does, and I keep my eyes fixed on Cici’s, the tight knot of stress loosens in my chest. This will be okay, we’ll be alright after all. I needed to remember that Cici doesn’t expect too much from me, she doesn’t want me to be ‘on’, she just wants to have a good time.

This is why I like her, this is why I can’t get her out of my mind. She’s different, she’s new…

Once the waitress is gone, I feel a tingle on my leg as a foot delicately runs up and down me. I should be scared, this feeling of actually liking Cici should utterly terrify me, but instead I simply feel relaxed. Like I want to go with the flow. I’m not about to turn into Andre and Landon and wed her, I’m not about to commit to something long term, but if this gorgeous chick wants to climb into my bed, I won’t kick her out. In fact, if she wants to climb into my bed and stay there for the next few months I don’t think I’d be dead against it.

“So, what’s your week been like?” Cici asks me while leaning on her hand. “Crazy, I bet.”

“Oh yeah.” My week spins through my mind, each day more frustrating than the last. Every time I think that I might be getting one step closer to Kingpin, he outwits me again. I’m starting to fear that this asshole might have someone working in the DEA with me. I don’t want to look at my colleagues with suspicion, but I can’t seem to help it. This fucker is climbing right under my skin. “Not as bad as yours though. What about the kids?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, my goodness, the kids. The little bastards have been killing me all week.”

I laugh loudly, a sound that comes right from the pit of my stomach. “Yeah, I can imagine.”

“But it isn’t just the kids. It’s the teachers too…” I can sense her working up to something. And something that I might not like judging by the way that she won’t meet my eyes. “Some of whom seem to know you.”

Oh shit. Here it is, my lifestyle coming back to bite me on the ass. I should’ve known that actually wanting to go on a date with a woman who lives in the same area as me wouldn’t be a good idea. This is what happens when you stick it around in a town. I should’ve moved into a city where I could be anonymous.

“Hmm, right,” I reply distractedly. “I see. So, that doesn’t sound like good news.”

“Oh, no, it isn’t bad news.” She reaches across and grabs my hand, forcing me to look up at her. “I just wanted to let you know that… that it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t bother me, even if people talk.”

Who is this woman? How the fuck is she so perfect and how have I never come across her before? I would expect her to freak out, I mean what woman wouldn’t? I guess one with enough self confidence not to be put off by my past… my not so distant past at that. If she was as insecure as her cousin, then I’d be in trouble.

Maybe this is the start of something. Maybe, I really am about to end up committing…

Oh God, am I being serious? Is this actually me thinking those words? What the hell has happened to me? What has Cici done? I should arrest her just for turning everything upside down on its head. Although, if I did slap some handcuffs on her, there’s no way in hell we’d make it to the police station. Not a chance!

***

After a slightly terrifying start to the date, it actually turned out to be really nice. We had pizza, we had ice cream, we drank a fair amount of wine, and it was great. There was laughter, teasing, fun… I loved it. For my first ever date, it was actually pretty cool. I don’t think I’d mind going on another one.

“What do you want to do now?” Cici asks me as we eventually leave the restaurant. “Any idea?”

I’m sure she’s expecting me to suggest we go back to my place, which admittedly is the first thing on my mind, but I don’t. Instead, I smirk at her and I point to the hill behind us. “I think we should take a walk.”

She gives me a suspicious look. “Are you serious? You want me to walk up there? In these shoes?”

“You say that like you’re wearing sky high heels,” I laugh merrily. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Trust me.”

Her eyes narrow and her hands fling onto her hips. “You’re acting like you know something that I don’t.”

I do, but I’m not going to confess that, so I shrug my shoulders and hold out my hand to her. After a moment of hesitation, she slips her fingers through mine and accepts my offer, albeit a little reluctantly.

“Is this something that you do to all your dates? You torment them by making them walk? What, is that so they never want to see you again? Because I have to say, that’s definitely working for me…”

I dip my head down and kiss her adorable lips, mostly just to shut her up. “You know this is my first date. I’m pretty sure we covered that already, and don’t be dumb, you aren’t going anywhere. I have you now.”

Cici doesn’t say anything but she squeezes my hand tight. I’m not totally sure what she’s trying to say, but it feels nice. It’s like a silent little communication that’s just for us. I don’t want to admit it, but maybe the hard outer shell that I wear all the time is cracking, just a tiny bit. There’s something magical in her skin.

“It’s a nice night,” she says softly. “The moon and stars are really bright tonight. It’s beautiful.”

The night is beautiful, but Cici is prettier than all of it, she’s amazing. She’s churning my insides, making my heart dance, she’s turning me into some mushy ass guy that I’m really not. It’s an intense feeling.

“Yeah, and it’s about to get much better too.” I grab her shoulders and spin her around to see. “Look.”

Once we reach the top of the hill, I turn Cici towards the direction where I know there’s a firework display about to happen. It arose suspicion in our office, one of the people involved is on our radar, so the DEA men on duty will be there watching just in case there’s something going on underneath the surface that we need to know about. It’s not something that we’re certain is linked to Kingpin, but we have to on top form. The way that things are at the moment, we need to check out every single lead just in case. I hope they get something.

Or do I? I’m not so sure anymore. Now that I’m so deeply embedded in this case I kinda want it to be me. But I’m not so egotistical that I wouldn’t be happy if we got some kind of breakthrough. If they get something, great, I’ll be happy. If they get him, I’ll be silently fucking furious while outwardly happy. It has to be me, I’m sure of it. The more that this case goes on, the more I feel like everything is a personal attack.

Or maybe I’m nuts. Perhaps my ego really is off the scale and I’ll getting out of control. Who knows?

“Oh my God!” Cici squeals as the fireworks light up the sky. “How did you know this would happen?”

I lean into her, wrapping my arms around her back and resting them on her torso. I snuggle my face into her neck, breathing in the wonderful scent of her hair while we watch. “See? I told you it would be worth it.”

“Oh yeah.” Cici nods enthusiastically. “Totally worth it. If you’d told me then I would’ve gone faster.”

“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true.” She rocks her hips back into me. “The shock factor was pretty cool.”

We watch the rest of the fireworks display in silence, with my arms clinging to her the entire time. Even when I heard about the fireworks, I didn’t think I’d bring her up to it, but now that me and Cici are here it feels right. I don’t even mind that I’m up here with her rather than down there with my colleagues sniffing out the next clue. Well, not much. Maybe there’s a small part of me itching to get down there, but it isn’t strong enough to drag me away, and that’s really something. That’s enough to make me realize that this is something truly special.