Emily isn't on Bumble long this time before finding a match she can click with. After some steamy text conversations with Devin, they're ready to meet, and Emily is nervous yet excited. She sits in the coffee shop in her baby blue dress, playing with her green putty as she drinks her pink drink. They had been cuter than she was expecting; they were 6'4 but had a gentleness to them in their voice. They're blonde and blue-eyed, assigned male at birth with big hands that she has imagined wrapped around her throat more than once. They dressed nice, too, in skinny jeans and a button-down mushroom shirt. They're 10 years older than her ripe 22, with more kink experience than her brief college submissive dalliances.
"You do have pretty eyes," is the first thing they say to her.
She buys them a chai latte while they use the bathroom, and then they're off to the beach. They walk along the shore, dipping their feet in the cold water. Then, they sit on the warm rocks while the waves breathe in and out, seagulls flying up above. It's evening so the beach is mostly empty. It's chilly, so she huddles up to them for warmth as they wrap an arm around her shoulder.
There is a moment of silence between them after talking for so long, about music, politics, their parents, and everything in-between. As she analyzes their eyes and mouth, she decides to be bold. She pulls away a little so that there is space between them. "I kind of want to kiss you," she blurts out.
"So why don't you kiss me about it?" they shoot back.
"Can I kiss you real fast then pull away? So I can recover?" It's weird, but she's had a guy trap her into a longer-than-wanted kiss before.