On His Face - Tabatha Kiss Page 0,103

now...”

I remove the blue dress I picked out for tonight from its hanger. Or, I should say, the one Jenna picked out.

Navy blue from top to bottom. Long sleeves made of lace. A wide V-neck with a midi shirt and sheer hem.

And it has pockets!

“Oh, and Professor Wilson asked if I’d be a judge for the Art Fest next week, which I was kind of cool with at first, but now I’m not so sure.” I chuckle as I step into my dress and pull the back zipper up as far as I can get it. “I mean, how do you even judge art, you know what I mean?” I step out of the closet and pivot around to expose my back to Drew. “Will you zip me up?” I ask.

I hold my hair to one side and wait for him, but far too much time passes in silence.

I glance over my shoulder. Drew lingers in the doorway, looking right at me with his mouth slightly agape.

“What?” I ask, nervously checking my dress. “It’s not torn, is it?”

He doesn’t answer. He steps forward and reaches for my zipper, carefully pulling it up so it doesn’t catch any stray hairs.

I turn forward to study his pensive face. “What?” I ask again.

“Nothing,” he says. “You look beautiful.”

“No, where did you go just now?”

“I just...” He bites his bottom lip, once again getting lost in thought. “Had a vision, I guess.”

“A vision?” I ask. “Of what?”

Drew plants a soft kiss on my cheek, just beneath my eye. “I really love you,” he whispers.

It’s not an answer to the question, but I’ll take it.

I tilt my head, inviting another kiss, and his lips softly find mine. “How much do you love me?” I ask with a smirk.

He squints. “Enough to not care that I have to push this dinner reservation back again— “

I flinch, quickly hustling toward the bathroom. “Five minutes!” I say, holding up five fingers.

“Do you need Jenna?” he shouts after me.

“Yes, please!”

“Oh, sure, sure,” she says as she shuffles out of her bedroom, annoyed but secretly happy to help. “Because I don’t have places to be tonight or anything.”

Drew holds the car door open for me. I thank him with a nod and lower myself inside, taking another deep, relaxing breath as he closes it behind me. Work is over. School is out for the weekend. It’s date night. It’s time to leave all that shit behind and enjoy a night out with my beautiful boyfriend.

I flip the visor down over my head to check my make-up one more time. Perfect smokey eyes. Stunning yet subtle lips. Jenna always knows what the occasion calls for. I realize my topaz pendant has slipped beneath my neckline, so I pull it back out to keep it prominently on display where it belongs. I push my hair behind my ears to admire the topaz earrings dangling from my lobes; a gift for my twentieth birthday. I adjust the fit of the topaz bracelet on my wrist, too. Last year’s birthday gift.

Drew loves to make me dazzle on my birthday, that’s for sure.

“It’s my birthday,” I sing to myself as I shimmy a little.

Drew enters the driver’s seat. “Now, before we go,” he says as he reaches into his jacket pocket, “I’m need you to put this on.”

I stare at the black blindfold in his hand. “Really?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked you to,” he says. “And you trust me and I love you and—”

“Okay, okay.” I twist in my seat. “You tie it for me, though, I don’t want to mess up my hair.”

He chuckles, happy to oblige. As he ties it off behind my head, all light disappears. “Okay,” he says, quickly adjusting it. “Buckle up.”

I settle into place, easily strapping myself into the familiar car. The engine purrs to life and Drew backs us out of the driveway.

A right turn here, a left turn there and, just like that, I lose all track of where we are and what direction we’re headed in. Oh, well. Like he said, I love him and I trust him. I’ll go wherever he leads, without question.

I feel along my armrest and press the button to crack the window. The sounds of Chicago fill my ears, but the concrete jungle doesn’t last. Seagulls get louder. Honking horns fade among the wind and waves...

The marina.

But why?

Drew brings the car to a stop.

“What are we doing here?” I ask in the dark.

“Do you know where here is?” he asks, his