Our Kind of Love (14 page)

Reign

I HAVEN’T been to the
Pure
bistro since my eighteenth birthday last July, so I’m excited about going
there tonight. A local artist I follow, Allysen Callery, has been performing
for the past week. She was touring for a while and is finally able to stop in
Newport. I’d asked Nate to go with me to her first performance several nights
ago, but he said her music wasn’t his cup of tea. And of course, Claudia likes
dance.

“This is
Pure
?” says Micah, sounding
taken aback. He strolls inside the bistro next to me. As we walk up to the
hostess, he peers around and checks everything out. “It’s cool.”

“There’s always good music here. It’s probably
not like what you listen to, but it’s really nice.”

“It does sound nice,” he says, glancing at me
with a delightful grin. I’m only now seeing he has a dimple at the right corner
of his mouth. Gosh it’s sexy.

He notices me staring. I quickly look away to
hide my flushed cheeks, and then start to pick at the loops of my jeans.

The hostess leaves us to go find a table.

Allysen is already singing. Her voice is like a
calm rainfall, soothing to the soul. I wonder if this bores Micah, too, like
Nate. I wonder if he’s only pretending to like it because he feels obligated,
since I’m driving him home.

Even though I really want to listen to this
artist, I feel happier about the fact that he’s here with me. I don’t even know
why. All I know is I think of nothing else when he’s around, not about my
family having issues they don’t share with me, my inner guilt about my sister’s
death, much less about Nate. My mind is completely free right now.

And I like it.

As the hostess returns and leads us to a table
in the back, Micah takes in the folk singer, strumming effortlessly on her
guitar. She engulfs the room in this exhilarating acoustic atmosphere.

“Who is she?” he asks.

“Allysen Callery,” I reply, gushing. “She’s one
of my favorites.”

He looks at me with a knowing flare in his eyes.
“I can see why.” His words send a wintry sensation down my back.

Sitting down at the table, I ask, “What do you
mean?”

He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me and
smiles. Feeling uneasy, I drive my eyes over to Allysen to try and settle the
butterflies flying wildly in my stomach. Jeez, he stirs me up so much. It’s
wrong; I shouldn’t even be out with him if I feel this way. But I can’t help
myself. I’m a slave to my attraction it seems.

Shortly after, our waitress comes over and we
order drinks.

“What kind of music do you listen to?” I ask him
when she scampers off.

Micah relaxes back on the chair as he replies,
“Mostly eighties rock. I don’t really listen to anything mainstream.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

Just as Allysen finishes up ‘
I Had a Lover I
Thought Was My own
’, she transitions into ‘
Spare Parts
’ amidst the
applause. Micah spins away from my gaze and looks over at her, listening
intently to the words. His face is overshadowed by mystery, like the lyrics
send him back into a memory he most likely won’t share. His eyes lower to the
glass of water on the table when she reaches the part:

…whatever you got
lyin
’
around

in
the
back of a closet or on the ground

under
your
bed

I’d like to take it home with me…

I’m fascinated.

He stays adrift for a few seconds until the
waitress returns with our drinks. When his eyes glide back to me again, his
lips slightly curl into a half-smile. I want to ask what’s on his mind, but
that’s too personal. We still have to get to know each other better.  I
mean, as friends.
Friends
.
I have to embed that
hard in my head.

“So, any plans for college? What do you want to
do?” I ask instead.

Settling his drink on the table, he pauses for a
beat to consider my questions before answering, “I’m not sure college is for
me. I mean, higher education is great but, there are other things I’d like to
do right now.”

“Like what?” I prod.

He drops his eyes to my lips and lifts a brow in
his curiosity. Instead of answering me, he asks a question of his own, “Do you
love him?”

My chest tightens. Suddenly, I’m really thirsty.
I pick up my drink fast and chug half the glass, but it does nothing for me.
“Why’d you ask that?” I mutter, trying to act cool.

“It’s a simple question,” he smirks. “You either
love your boyfriend or you don’t.”

“I just…I don’t understand why you ask that all
of a sudden.”

“I don’t think you do,” he decides for himself,
sounding sure as he studies my face.

He’s right. I don’t
love
Nate. But I do
like him. That’s why it’s so hard to sleep with him because there’s a
difference between those two words. I thought by now that like would transition
into love, and into something deeper, but it hasn’t. And I wonder if it ever
will.

Argh! Why am I second-guessing my relationship because
of this guy? Damn you, Micah. And why’s he looking at me like that, like he
wants to…eat me alive.

“Uh, I have to go the restroom,” I tell him,
standing up.

He shrugs and takes another sip as I walk away.

I look into the mirror before splashing water on
my face. This was a bad idea. Coming here with Micah has made my attraction
worse. If anything it’s increased. I can’t get his eyes off my brain. They keep
haunting me.

Drying my face with a napkin, I linger for a
moment to settle my thoughts then make my way out of the restroom. When I open
the door, I notice Micah waiting by the doorway that leads back inside the
bistro.

He starts to walk down the passage towards the
back exit, gesturing for me to follow him. I do, without a second thought.

Micah pushes the door open and steps into the
warm night air. There are two girls taking a drag outside. They flick their
eyes over to us and instantly head back inside as if to give us privacy.

“What’s up?” I ask, ambling over to him as he
stares up at the starry sky.

“Ever since that day in the park, I can’t get
you off my mind,” he whispers with his back turned to me.

I search my head, but I have no idea what he’s
talking about. “You saw me in a park?” I ask, “When?”

Turning to face me, Micah steps closer backing
me up against the brick wall. He lifts his hand and places it at the side of my
head, gazing intensely into my eyes. I slope my head, as if I’m anticipating
what he’ll do next.

“My first day in Newport,” he mutters, “The
weekend before I started working for your mom, I saw you in that park by the
harbor. You were wearing a blue dress, your hair was let down like now,” He
wraps his finger around a strand as he continues, “And I remember feeling
mesmerized.”

Oh! So that’s where I’ve seen him before. “That
was you…” I trail, thinking back to the day. I only saw him briefly as I ran
off to meet Claudia, but I do remember, now that I look back.

He lightly touches my cheek. I shiver, knowing
what he wants to do and how much I secretly want it to happen. I can see it in
his eyes; he’s going to kiss me. I’m so overcome by desire that I have no room
left in my brain to consider the consequences of what’s about to take place.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers, lowering his
head. His minty breath cools my cheeks and lights a fire between my legs.

Micah drops both hands and squeezes my waist.
He’s breathing heavy as he floats his eyes all over me. With no hesitation, he
presses into me and comes close to my mouth. Being this close to him makes me
impeccably hot because I can feel a bulge in his jeans.

“Um…Micah, maybe we shouldn’t…” I say nearly out
of breath as I’m engulfed in this heat.

He gently presses his finger to my lips and
whispers, “Shhh…don’t say a word. Just close your eyes, and let it happen.”

I keep my eyes open though, holding his
captivating gaze as he moves his hand away from my lips and drives in for a
kiss, only to pull away as the door pushes open abruptly and some people step
outside to smoke.

They smile at us shrewdly. Having my senses snap
back to me, I move from Micah and scurry inside the bistro.

When he comes in shortly, Allysen is wrapping up
her segment with my favorite song, ‘
See the Sea
’. It’s funny how the
lyrics sound different, now that I’m sitting across from a guy I almost kissed.

…I guess we two are not a pair

Though I’d like to be

If only to be safe in that I’d met my match

My pretty dream is very real…

…even if you are just a passing thing

Those lines pretty much sums up what I’m feeling.
Oh, what am I going to do?

We don’t say anything after that, only slip out
of the bistro right after Allysen finishes. I drive him home, as I probably
should have done to begin with because I wouldn’t be feeling this uneasy now.
I’m so silly. I was the one talking about setting things clear and maintaining
nothing but a friendship, and look what I almost let happen, for a third damn
time.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Micah delays in the
seat, catches his breath, and then looks over at me. “You know, you didn’t
answer my question.”

“Why is it so important for you to know?”

“Maybe you really don’t,” he concludes. “That’s
why it’s so hard to say it.”

I swallow hard and turn away from his stare as I
lie, “Yes. I do love Nate. We have a great relationship and who knows, we might
be together even after we finish college. That’s why…what almost happened…” I
carry my eyes back to him. “It can’t happen again.”

His eyes suddenly grow dark. His expression is
intense, brooding. He hurries to compose himself and chuckles a bit, saying, “I
was just messing with you again. Gosh, you’re so easy to fool. Don’t look so
worried. I wasn’t really going to kiss you.”

Hearing him say that hurts. Not to mention he
curls his mouth into a sly grin like it’s really nothing and turns to open the
door. He shuts it after getting out, but before leaving, Micah bends down at
the window. “By the way, you’re not a very good liar.”

I scoff, “I’m not lying.”

“Yeah, you are. If you loved him, you wouldn’t
be deliberating it so much. You would easily answer yes. That’s why you would
have let me kissed you.”

He steps away from the door and walks in front
of the car, treading over to the house. Before going inside, he looks back and
adds, “And you know what else? Anyone can see the truth in your eyes.”

“What truth?” I call out.

“That you’re not so sure about your
relationship, no matter how you try to convince yourself
its
perfect.”

He steps inside before I can say anything to
protest. Micah reads me so easily. It’s strange, when we’ve only known each
other for a few days now.  He’s already deciphered so much about me. But
you know
what,
he’s not a very good liar either.
Because from the disappointed look in his eyes, I can tell Micah really was
going to kiss me tonight.

The one person I don’t want to face right now is
sprawled out on my bed when I reach home. Claudia sits up with her back pushed
against the wall as I closed the door and place my phone and keys on the
dresser.

“Where’ve you been?” she probes. “You got off
work almost two hours ago. Did you hang out with Nate?”

I kick off my flats and plop down on the chair,
telling her half the truth. “No, mother,” I chuckle. “Actually I went to
Pure
with Micah, since I’d been dying to listen to Allysen Callery and I thought
he’d enjoy her music, too.”