Page 43 of Waiting on Life
“Good,” he said, his voice bright.
“But! I want you to call me to prove he cleared you. No clearance, no working.”
“I’ll take a picture and send it on my phone.”
My head must be all over the place, because the next thing I knew, my mind was going to Kyle sending a naked picture of himself holding the paperwork.
“That’ll be fine,” I choked out.
“Speaking of, I’d better get going.” He stood and picked up the dishes. “I’ll talk to you later. Enjoy the day off.”
Then he did the oddest thing. He came to where I was standing, stood on tiptoes, and brushed a kiss over my lips. It was so natural, like we were a couple, and for a moment, I relished it so much. It wasn’t enough for me, though. I leaned down a bit and pressed my lips to his, suppressing a grin when he sighed and let me hold him up. When I broke the kiss, he stood there, his eyes closed and a soft grin on his face.
“I’m never going to get tired of that,” he said.
“Good, because I doubt I could ever get tired of doing it.”
And it was true. Tammy was right when she said that I didn’t fall easily, but I had fallen for Kyle, and I never wanted to stop. He was sweet and funny and sincere. He put me at ease in a way no one before him had. Once I’d stopped obsessing over the fact that he was a guy and just let myself be in the moment, the panic ebbed away.
An image flashed into my head. Me coming into the house and finding Kyle in the kitchen, an apron that he found online that tickled him so much that he had to have it tied around his waist. He was making some vegan thing, and it smelled delicious. He glanced over and gave me a smile that sent my heart into the stratosphere.
Would Kyle ever share my dream? Was he too much of a city boy to leave it and spend life in the quiet of the country? It was too early in our relationship to think that far out, but if Kyle was going to be with me—or if I was going to be with him—then we had to find out if our dreams matched or figure out a way forward, because it would hurt like hell to fall so hard for him, only to have to walk away.
Then don’t walk away. Stay with him.
The thought of staying in the city, with the crushing number of people, gave me pause. I hated it here. Hated there was no room to stretch, to breathe. I wanted a tract of land of my own, with the closest neighbors being a fair distance away, not close enough that they could hear when you farted. And sure, maybe it was a pipe dream. But it was mine, free and clear.
Then what about Kyle?
That was the sticking point for me. I was used to being alone. The few long-term relationships I had always died with a whimper, and though it hurt, I’d walked off to lick my wounds and gotten better for it. This thing with Kyle? I had a feeling that this one would hurt more than any of the rest, because he had wormed his way into my heart already.
And I wanted him to stay there.
“Did you want a ride? I can drop you off at your appointment, then pick you up on the way back. And if the doctor okays it, I’ll take you to the bar.”
“Oh? What are you going to be doing?”
“I need to hit the laundromat, because there are way too many clothes to do in the small machines downstairs.”
He cracked a smile. “You’re not going to come into the bar, right?”
I held up a hand. “I swear, I will not step foot in the bar unless someone calls me.”
“Then, yes, I’d love a ride.” He nodded to the plates. “Let me put these down, and I’ll be ready. Say, ten minutes?”
“Sure, that sounds great. It’ll give me time to hunt down Waldo.”
Kyle grinned. “Oh, that’s easy.” He pursed his lips and whistled. I was about to tell him that would never work, when a moment later, Waldo popped his head around the corner, then sauntered over to Kyle. He bent and scooped Waldo into his arms, then handed him to me, a shit-eating grin on his face. “One kitty.”
I gawped as he turned and strode out of the apartment, his head held high and a snicker trailing behind him.
I really needed to keep Kyle in my life. To keep track of Waldo, if nothing else.
Kyle
The first thing I did when I got to the apartment was rinse the plates, then place them in the dishwasher. I was flush with what I’d done. I had actually kissed Toby, and he kissed me back. No, it was more than that. He claimed my mouth. Other guys try to maul your mouth or don’t have a clue what they were doing. Toby was confident, sure of himself. That was fucking hot.
“How was breakfast?”
