Dinner And Maybe Desert

It's late and I can't sleep. I want too, I'm tired I just can't seem to stay asleep.

Maybe it's because I'm still mad at Reed, or maybe it's because of the nearly naked man in my bed.

That's right, I did say nearly naked.

So here's how it went earlier today. Or was it yesterday now?

Alexis and I were approaching the Jeep in the parking lot when we heard tires screech and a horn blow. Stupid morons, I thought as we both looked towards the road in time to see a dirty white work truck whip into the parking lot.

We didn't think anything of it, I went to open the back door to put Alexis in when I heard someone call out my name as the truck pulled into the empty parking spot next to me. Alexis and I both were surprised to see Chris leaning out the passenger window.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, smiling because I was happy to see him. "I haven't seen you in a while," I stepped closer to the truck to look up at him without the sun being in my eyes.

"I know," he sighed. "I - " The guy in the driver's seat turned up the radio making it harder to hear what Chris was saying. He turned to tell him to turn it down but then changed his mind and jumped out of the truck.

"I was saying," he smiled at me. "Things have been stupid at work, a couple guys quit so the boss asked Ted and I to work our days off. I've been working 19 days straight." He rolled his eyes and then his smile was back. "But now my days off are Friday to Monday, so I guess it worked out better for me, I can actually do stuff I want to do."

When I told him that was great, he told me that he was hoping I'd think so. "I figured that now we could go out some nights, just the two of us."

He looked so excited by the idea that I didn't want to tell him we couldn't. Then I remembered the phone call the night before, I never told Reed I wouldn't date anyone else. I didn't tell him he was even getting a second chance!

I told Chris that sounded good to me, that I'd love to spend some time with him, alone. We chatted for a couple more minutes before his buddy told him they should get going. "We were on our way back to the shop," Chris told me. "If the boss has nothing else lined up for today, would you like to have supper with me? We can go anywhere you'd like."

I told him I'd think about it, "But right now I have to go. Alexis and I have a playgroup date!"

And what a playgroup date it was! We both had such a blast! Not only were the parents nice, yes I said parents. It's listed as a mommy and me group but there were a couple dads there with their kids; one of the guys was a 'stay at home' dad, one was a single guy who took Tuesdays off work to spend time with his little girl and the other worked nights while his girlfriend worked during the day.

Alexis enjoyed crawling around with children here own age, and when she wasn't playing with the, she seemed to watch the walkers with awe. It almost looked like she was jealous of them!

After the playgroup was over, Donna pulled me aside and told me that everyone loved having us both there. "They are all hoping that you'll keep coming back every week." She gave me this grin that made me wonder if she wasn't up to something but I didn't say anything about it, I just told her that we would certainly be back!

It was after 5 when we got home. While I unlocked my apartment door, Chris came out of his apartment. After we said hello, he asked if I was interested in getting something to eat with him.

I was going to say no, but I was in such a great mood from the playgroup. "Yes! We'd love to join you for supper."

We went out one of the restaurants in town that I wasn't too familiar with. It was technically a 'fast food' restaurant because they mainly served burgers, fries and pizza but it seemed more than that, they made everything from scratch so they took longer to cook. I ordered the Chicken Supreme burger (real chicken breast with green peppers, mushrooms, onions, cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo) and Chris ordered their Double Mozza Mushroom burger plus we both ordered fries, gravy and drinks. It took about ten minutes or so for our food to arrive but damn, it was so worth it. With every bite I took of my burger I swore that I was in heaven and my mouth agreed! Not only were the burgers and fries hot and totally mind blowing, there was a lots of it too. The burger had to be about 5 inches around and 3 inches tall, I didn't think I would even finish that, let alone the mountain of fries that they piled onto the plate.

It was almost 7 when Chris and I finally managed to get up out of our chairs to waddle out to his truck. Chris carried Alexis for me and when he was done strapping her in, he turned to find me staring at the distance I had to step up to get in his truck. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think I can make it," I told him with a smile. "Just pull down the tail gate and roll me in the back!"

He laughed, "Come here let me help you." He came over to me, in one swift moment, he picked me up off the ground and set me in the passenger seat. "How was that?" He asked, pulling the seat belt across my body and snapping it securely in place.

I was in shock, I never expected him to do that. "Thank you," I almost whispered when he turned to smile at me.

"No problem," he replied as his eyes travelled over my face, from my eyes to my lips and back again. I lifted my hand to his face, my fingers rubbing over the roughness of his jaw while my thumb brushed his bottom lip. He leaned in to give me a brief kiss on my lips before he said something about getting us home.

I invited him in when we got to my apartment and told him to make himself comfortable while I went to get Alexis ready for bed.

Once she was starting to nod off, I went out to the living room to see that Chris was nodding off as well. I didn't say anything as I sat down next to him, took the remote and turned off the TV. He reached out and touched my face, "I'm sorry," he said.

"It's ok," I told him as I moved in closer to him.

He wrapped his arms around me and sighed. "I hoped I would make it past 8 before I started to nod off."

I smiled, "I'm just glad that I got to see you today."

"Me too," he mumbled, he was fighting a losing battle, his eyes were staying closed longer than they were opened. When I told him he should probably go home, he told me in a minute, he wanted to hold me for a while longer.

I didn't say anything to him then, I didn't even say anything to him when he woke up an hour later and looked up at me. "I should go home," he mumbled but he fell back to sleep before he could move.

We were lying on the couch, in an awkward position when he woke up around 10. "Sorry," he said as he stared down at me. I told him it was ok, and he straightened out on the couch then helped me straighten out.

We talked for a while, then I kissed him.

We were going at it pretty hot and heavy long enough that the only thing either of us had left on was our underwear. I suggested we go into my room and he didn't argue.

I'm not sure what happened in between the time that we left the couch and crawled into my bed. All I remember is that the desire to go further wasn't there for either of us; he was starting to fall asleep again and I felt cheated.

Well, I better go and wake him up. He asked me to make sure he was up by 5, he has to get ready and leave for work by 6.