Page 15 of Mending Me

“An accidental pregnancy would be a real bummer,” Conrad added. I rolled my eyes at both of them.

“Yes, I have precautions for after the date. I’m not holding my breath on needing them though. If she wants to, I won’t tell her no. But I am not going to insinuate that it needs to happen or should happen.”

“I think that’s very noble of you,” Kolbi noted, standing from the table to grab another beer.

“But if you do get her in bed, be sure to wrap it up,” Conrad quipped.

“And when you get her in bed.” Malcolm took a pull from his beer. “You’ll need to let us know how it is.”

“I’m not telling you fuckers anything.” I rolled my eyes again.

We continued our playthrough for the night without anymore talk of my date. As we played, I tried to keep my mind on what was happening in front of me instead of where it was trying to sneak away to.

Towards images of Bailey in my bed with me on Saturday.

I wasn’t holding my breath that it would happen and I wasn’t going to push her to do anything she didn’t want to do. But if she was interested in coming home with me, I would be ready.

What kind of gentleman would I be if I wasn’t?

10

BAILEY

The rest of the week came and went as fast as June was flying by, and by Saturday morning I was nearly shaking with excitement for my date with Hank. The feelings of nervous energy and excitement churned in my belly every time I thought about him picking me up.

The last two days at the gym when I came in, he’d come over, said hello, and told me that he was excited for our date. He even called it a date which I thought was cute. Guys don’t normally label things so quickly, but he did, and I liked that about him.

Ophelia was excited for me when I told her he’d finally asked me out and immediately asked when the last time I had gotten waxed was.

“Ophie!”

“Don’t ‘Ophie’ me, you haven’t gotten any in a long time and you don’t want to scare him away by bringing a jungle to bed.”

While I didn’t love the comparison of my pubic hair to a jungle, she wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t gotten any in a long time and had stopped tending to that part of my body. I didn’t see the need to trim around the edges if no one would be seeing themanyway. The waxing appointment I booked for Thursday was less than enjoyable to say the least.

I didn’t even know if it would be worth it either, getting waxed. I wasn’t normally one to sleep with someone on the first date. Plus, Hank is so shy I don’t think he would try anything even if I wanted him to.

Even though Idowant him to.

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about him pulled me in. I’ve dated my fair share of men, but I never had the same level of attraction towards them that I do towards Hank. When he looked at me it was as if the entire world stopped spinning. When I’m at the gym, I can feel his eyes on me. And when he finally asked me to dinner on Monday, and took my phone to give me his number, it took everything in me to not turn fifty shades of red.

My phone buzzed and pulled me from my thoughts. When I looked at it, I smiled without even meaning to.

2 New Messages: Soldier

I’ll be there to pick you up in 30 blondie.

I’m really excited to take you out tonight.

He sent the second message quickly after the first, almost as if he’d forgotten to send it with the first one. I’d never had a guy tell me he was excited to take me on a date so many times before.

I finished doing my hair and slipped into the dress I bought yesterday after getting done helping at a small event Ophelia was running at work. She and I walked down the main stretch of King Street looking for something that I could wear and when we walked by this one in the window, I knew it was the one.

It was a mid-length dress that flared in the skirt and the fabric was lightweight, making it perfect to wear for a summer dinner date. I loved the floral pattern and how the blues and oranges made my blonde hair and blue eyes pop. I also loved how the front of the dress was cut low but wasn’t too revealing. The way the top tied around my shoulders was my favorite part of the entire thing.

It was perfect for a first date.

After slipping on my dress, I checked my hair and the small amount of makeup I had put on in the mirror. My eye caught something dark behind me and a wave of fear hit me. I spun around to see what it was only to discover it was my gym bag hanging on the hook by my door. A memory flooded my brain as I stared at it.

---