Addiction

33

The floor looked like a checker board and the walls were covered in frames of newspaper clippings, awards, and black and white family photos. It was quaint and not at all where I had expected to end up. But it was perfect.

"This is your favorite pizza place?"

"Yes. Grab us a seat." He walked up to the counter in the back while I sat down at a table for two by the window. I wasn't sure what I expected. There was still so much I didn't know about him. But he was trying.

"This place doesn't really seem like you," I said as he sat down across from me.

"What do you mean?"

"You tend to be kind of extravagant."

"Not always. I used to come here to eat all the time."

"What was your favorite part about living here?" I put my hand in the center of the table. He immediately grabbed it.

"There's always something to do."

"So you've been pretty bored in a college town?"

"Hardly. You're very entertaining." He flashed me a smile. He was so handsome. I noticed a few women in the restaurant staring at him.

"You know that women stare at you everywhere we go, right?"

"Is that so? I haven't noticed."

"You must have noticed. Everyone drools over you. I mean, look at you."

"I'm too busy looking at you."

I felt myself blushing. "You're out of my league."

"You're out of your mind."

I bit my lip. "Why me?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you wanted to date a student..."

"I didn't want to date a student." He lifted up my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Are you asking why I'm attracted to you? Or why I love your personality?"

"Both I guess."

"You don't have much self confidence. It's rather curious."

"Why would I? No one's ever looked at me the way that you're looking at me right now."

"I know you don't see it. But you are always the most beautiful girl in the room. I enjoy that you don't see it. It's intriguing how naive you are. You're very alluring."

"Alluring?" I laughed. Alluring was how I'd describe him. It's not how I'd describe myself.

"Yes. I find you unbelievably sexy." He stared into my eyes. "Every inch of you."

I could feel my face flush.

"Did you want more intimate details? Because I could go on for days describing the blue of your eyes with the small flecks of green in the sunshine. Or the freckles on your shoulders. Or that birthmark on the inside of your ankle. Or how your ass jiggles just the right amount when you walk. Or how your breasts fit perfectly in my hands. Or how you get a cute little wrinkle in your forehead when you frown at me. Or how it makes me feel when you bite your lip when you look at me. Or the intoxicating smell of you. And the taste of you." He swallowed hard. "And the way you're looking at me right now...it's sexy as hell."

I gulped.

"So if you refuse to see how beautiful you are, you'll just have to accept the fact that I'm attracted to you. And for things that aren't physical." He paused and kissed my knuckles again. "I love that you're down to earth. I love that you're shy. It's refreshing that you don't seem to want to be the center of attention everywhere we go. I like that you just want to be beside me instead, captivating me alone. I love that you're open to second chances and quick to forgive. Yet you're extremely stubborn as well, and I love how that challenges me. I love how intelligent you are. I love that you like experiencing new things. And I love that you're a hopeless romantic, or else we wouldn't be sitting here right now."

I stared at him. I knew my face was bright red. No one had ever said things like that to me before. He did know every inch of me. He wasn't lying. "I'm a hopeless romantic because I chose you? Why is that hopeless?"

"I told you that I wasn't good for you, yet here you are. Besides, you had plenty of other options."

"I didn't."

"Tyler and Brendan?"

"I was always going to come back to you. I can't stop thinking about you. I can't and I won't."

"See...hopeless romantic."

"I don't like that phrase. It makes it sound like we're doomed."

"I think we've already been through the hardest things."

"I hope so."

His lowered his eyebrows slightly as he looked at me. "So really, the question is why did you choose me?"

"You're joking, right?"

"I'm curious."

"It seems as though you have plenty of self confidence."

"Is that one of the things you like?"

"Yes. I like that you always seem so sure of what you want. Even if what you want scares you."

He put his other hand on top of mine, so that mine was sandwiched between his. He wanted to hear why I loved him. He needed validation too.

"You know how good looking you are. You're classically tall, dark, and handsome. When I see you I get butterflies in my stomach. And when you touch me I get chills." I suddenly felt nervous. "I've never been so attracted to someone in my life.

"That's how I feel about you."

I laughed.

"Penny. I do."

I looked into his eyes. He was being sincere. I wanted him to know how I felt too. I wasn't done telling him what I loved about him. "You're also dark and brooding and mysterious. But when you let me in, when I get to see glimpses of the real you, I fall harder and harder. Like the juice box thing."

"You like that my parents didn't let me drink apple juice out of a box?"

"No, I like that you told me that. You're cute."

His eyebrows lowered again. "I'm not cute."

"Yes you are. You're being adorable right now."

He smiled at me.

"And I love that you're..." I looked down at his hands on mine, "...domineering."

He laughed. "You mean in bed?"

I shook my head. "Yes, in bed. But in everything else too. I'm indecisive. I'm so bad at choosing things."

"You chose me."

"I did. But you saw all the stupid stuff I did along the way," I said.

"Which was my fault."

"No. It was because I'm a mess."

He smiled at me. "Do you know what I am currently enjoying most of all?"

"About me?"

"Yes about you."

I gulped. He was giving me that hungry look. The look that made me want him. I crossed my legs under the table. "What are you enjoying most?"

"How insatiable you are."

"Insatiable? How so? By wanting to spend time with you?"

"In bed, mostly."

Oh my God. "I don't think that's true."

He laughed. "If I wanted to, I could have you coming in the bathroom before our pizza arrived."