Kendall
This is the slowest night in the history of all nights. I mean, seriously. The earth stopped rotating and the seconds are passing at a turtle pace. I feel like I've been in this office for days instead of six hours.
Wednesdays are usually busier than this but it's like everyone in New York is against me. The phone has ceased ringing and I've had very few emails to respond to. It's been so dead I was even able to file the stack of client folders that have been sitting on top of the file cabinet for months. I may be bored and unhappy with the way the night is trailing but at least Noah will be happy I finally took care of the files.
I haven't heard from Levi since our texts earlier today. It's making me crazy. I don't know if I caught him in a vulnerable moment or if he meant what he said. I've been waiting a year for that man to tell me he wants me. I should be able to wait one more hour until he comes up here to walk me out. I have a funny feeling he's going to try to brush our texts under the rug but I've never been the type not to address something. My persistence isn't going to change now.
As I wait for this last hour to pass the responsible thing to do would be to catch up on some of the other work I am behind on. Yeah, that's not going to happen. I watch a show on Netflix instead. When it's finally time to close up I get everything shut down in record speed.
Now I just wait.
Do I look needy? Desperate? Will he be able to tell that I've been eager to see him all night? The knock comes on the door and I open it immediately. He doesn't even get a chance to announce himself like he usually does every night.
Yeah, he definitely knows I've been impatiently anticipating him.
"Hey," he says shyly as he flashes those dimples down at me. Just one word and I already feel my body overheating.
"Hi." My reply back is just as simple. It's the first time since I met him that I'm not confident on what I should say to him next so I blurt out, "Are you itching in areas you shouldn't be?"
It takes a second for me to register what I just said and embarrassment hits me just as Levi's grin grows wider. "Yep. It's why I've refrained from sex for five years," he teases.
"Oh, I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I meant head lice. I was trying to be funny."
"I know. I'm just teasing...and my head's shaved bald so I think it's safe to assume I'm free of lice. Thanks for your concern."
This was not the way I pictured the start of our nightly walk.
We start to walk down the outdoor hallway and I'm still mortified at what I said. "How's Brody doing?"
"Oh, he's loving this. He looks at lice as a vacation from school."
"I figured he'd like school since he's such a good reader."
"Nah, he hates it. If it were up to him I'd homeschool him, so he could spend most of the day playing baseball."
Instead of walking downstairs and to the curb to get a cab, we sit down at the top of the steps and continue to talk. I pull my skirt down so the cold cement step doesn't touch my skin.
"Is it hard for him to play since he can't hear anything?"
"He adjusts. He's incredibly observant and intuitive. It's amazing to watch. He's better than most kids his age."
"How did he get started playing baseball?"
"I grew up playing. It was the one thing I loved growing up and I was good. It just made sense to teach him how to play. I never would have predicted how good he'd be."
"What position does he play?"
"He's a catcher, which is cool because I pitched."
He talks about baseball with wonder and amazement. It's like I'm hearing about the sport through a child's eyes. He must have loved to play.
"Baseball must be in the genes."
Levi's shoulders tense and he looks down at his shoes. "So how about you? Did you play any sports growing up?"
"Some would call competitive shopping while working out my mother's credit card a sport."
He laughs. "So you were that girl."
Waving a hand over my stylish skirt and fitted top so he can see I love to dress well, I shrug my shoulders in defeat and reply, "I had daddy issues. Shopping was my way of ignoring the problem and in the process I fell in love with fashion."
I tell him about some of the hideous things I would buy just to be spiteful. And when my outrageous spending didn't garner my father's attention and force him to visit, I used sex to get attention. I wouldn't come home for days at a time but my mother never noticed. She was too busy spending my father's money on drugs and European trips.
Levi tells me about his childhood growing up in a loving family with parents that idolized him. They had little money but the little extra money they did have was put into baseball. They would come to every one of his games. His parents are still happily married but their relationship with Levi is strained. They don't agree with decisions he made in his life.
We're sharing personal stories about our past and I'm not even surprised at how easy it is to talk with him. There was something about him that drew me to him from the very beginning. The more I get to know him the more I like about him. Now there are several things about him that intrigue me and I want to know everything.
"Aren't you going to get in trouble talking to me? They're probably looking for you back at the club." I look down at my phone and we've been out here for thirty minutes. I wish the night didn't have to end but he still has a few more hours of work left.
"I am working. I'm walking you out of the office. We're just waiting for a cab."
"We have to be on the street to flag down a cab, Levi."
"Is that how it works? Huh. No wonder I take the subway." He stands up and extends his hand to me. I take it and he pulls me up from the step as if I weigh nothing. As we walk down the stairs and head toward the curb he adds, "You're probably right, though. I should get back to work."
There's a yellow taxi in the distance and I lift my hand to hail him over. He cuts across traffic and pulls up to our curb at a dangerous speed.
"It's so easy for a woman to get a ride."
"Depends on what I ride." I turn to face him and we're closer than I thought. My breasts skim his chest and my lips are just inches from his. "I've recently learned some rides are hard to get on."
"You're definitely right about one thing," he replies huskily. He licks his lips as his breath comes out faster. He brings his hand up to a loose hair and brushes it behind my ear. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, filling my nostrils with his scent.
His touch sends electricity through my body. His palm moves from my hair to my jaw and then his fingers trace my lips. It would almost tickle if I weren’t so turned on. "What am I right about?" I ask, my warm breath assaulting his fingertips.
"I'd be a hard ride." He flashes me those dimples and then his lips press against mine and I forget to breathe. I'm stunned he made the first move and the shock paralyzes me. His confidence confuses me. One minute he's this shy guy who hasn't had sex in five years, and the next he's making sexual comments and kissing me.
I don't stay confused for long. Levi's lips open and suck my bottom lip between his and I gasp, finally taking a much-needed breath. His lips are smooth and demanding. This kiss is everything I imagined. I feel like I'm floating.
My hands move up his arms and then his shoulders as I kiss him back with a year's worth of passion inside me. I've wanted this for so long and I don't want to miss a moment of this kiss. He groans into my mouth as I grip the back of his t-shirt and pull myself closer to him. I can't get close enough. My lips open against his and his tongue touches mine, and I feel the connection all the way from my fingers to my toes.
How is it possible a kiss can feel this way? This one kiss is opening emotions inside me I've never let out before. I feel happy and sad and loved and angry all at the same time. It's unexplainable, yet I want to feel more of it. He makes me feel wild and I like it.
His lips move from mine as he kisses my chin and then my cheek. His mouth moves to my neck and I tilt my head back, giving him better access to my skin. My mouth parts as I sigh in pleasure, loving the way his kisses feel against my exposed body. His hard erection presses against my lower stomach and I know he's enjoying this as much as I am.
I can't believe he hasn't done this in five years. The way he sets my body ablaze is the work of a practiced man.
A horn blares and then Levi is pulling away from me–his lips no longer passionately kissing my neck. The cab driver blares the horn again and I can't blame the man. We've left yet another driver waiting for us.
"You better go." Levi half pants half groans as he opens the door for me.
"Don't you want to come with?" I ask. I'm wound up. I need a release. He must feel the same way I do. This night can't be over already.
"I wish I could," he replies and then grabs my hand, holding it between his. "I really do, but I'm still working."
"Oh, right." At least it's not a rejection.
I slip my hand out of his and slide into the backseat of the cab.
"Have a good night, Kendall." He closes the door and taps the top of the cab. I wave goodbye and he waves back and I have a ten-minute cab ride to replay the kiss over and over in my head.
After a year of waiting–not so patiently, I might add–I finally have a chance with Levi. A year ago I would have begged him to leave work to come finish where the kiss left off. He wouldn't have said no. He would have followed me up to the office for a quickie and I would have rocked his world. Nothing else would have mattered. I just wanted him for sex.
Now that I've gotten to know him a little, I no longer want a quick fuck. I want a romance and friendship. I want sweet little moments. I want dates with flowers and a kiss goodnight at the door. Okay, maybe I don't want a date to end with just a kiss goodnight at the door, but I want a relationship.
While I'm not sure Levi's reason for staying abstinent, it looks like he's coming around and I'm happy I'm the one he might start fresh with.