was with in the past were douche bags. I can’t think of a single one who ever held my hand, offered me pain medication, cooked me breakfast or wanted to watch cheesy disaster movies on the couch.”
“Appalling,” he said in mock shock.
“I know, isn’t it?”
He picked up her hand and kissed it. “I’m glad you’ve seen the error of your ways.”
She smiled and leaned back against the headrest. Damn but she could really fall hard for this guy. Her teammate. Someone she had no business entering a relationship with. It could fuck up all sorts of things. Or it could end up being the start of something truly wonderful.
Oh, to have a crystal ball.
It was completely dark by the time he pulled into his driveway. The porch light glowed warmly, illuminating the homey feel of his house.
Welcome home, it seemed to say.
Cole cut the engine and hopped out, hurrying around to her side as she opened her own door. He reached in to take her hand and helped her out.
Still holding her hand, he shut her door and then headed toward the porch, matching his step to her awkward, slower one. She leaned on him a little harder when she navigated the steps but was pleased with the progress she was making.
He flipped on the lights as they entered the house, and he took her to the couch first, insisting she sit back. He lifted each foot in turn and slid her tennis shoes off, tossing them to the side. Then he dragged the ottoman from its position in front of the armchair over to the couch so she could prop her leg up.
“All comfy?” he asked.
“I couldn’t be any more comfortable,” she replied.
“I’ll just go get us something to drink and throw a bag of popcorn in the microwave and then we’ll crank up the end-of-the-world movies.”
“Awesome!”
She watched as he walked away and continued staring when he disappeared from sight. She was falling so hard for him and she was awash in the giddy sensations of a new relationship. When everything was new and fresh and every little thing was exciting. When each touch was a thrill and you savored even the briefest contact.
They’d already had sex, for God’s sake, but this was completely different. It was as if that one night they’d shared together was a lifetime ago and erased from the equation. They were starting brand-new, as if they’d just met, only the ease in which they got along hinted at a long-standing friendship that was charting new territory.
He returned five minutes later with a bowl of popcorn and two cans of cola. He handed her a drink and the popcorn and then went to the television to retrieve the remote.
As he settled onto the couch beside her, he turned on the TV and started flipping through the menu of movies they could watch.
“So what’ll it be? The world taken over by aliens or the world engulfed by a giant tsunami?”
“Definitely the aliens. Can’t kill a tsunami. The alien movie will have lots of gratuitous violence.”
“Excellent choice. Aliens it is.”
He leaned back, putting his arm over her head and then down around her shoulders. He pulled her close, and she was happy to snuggle into his side. The popcorn was sitting on his lap within easy reach, and she munched idly as the movie began.
“You realize how unrealistic this is,” P.J. said, an hour into the movie.
“I would have never guessed,” Cole said dryly.
“Well come on. Put KGI up against the aliens. We’d take them out in two seconds flat. These aren’t even scary aliens. Why do they keep fighting them hand to hand? Just throw a fucking grenade and take out the lot of them.”
Cole laughed. “You have a point, but then there’d be no action and no conflict, thus no movie.”
“Speaking of like dudsville for an alien movie, remember that Mel Gibson movie with the aliens and there’s all this tension and hoopla over the alien invasion and he and his kids survive the night and then they hear on the radio the next day that some tribe in Africa discovered a way to kill them all and boom it was over? Talk about total letdown.”
“Well, if I remember right, the aliens weren’t really the point of that movie,” Cole said.
“Yeah, well, they should have been. It was more interesting than the hokey come-to-Jesus moment the guy supposedly had.”
Cole laughed and shook his head.
“I don’t want to have to think during a movie,” P.J. said.