*Hello all. Thanks to all who have read, voted, and commented on the first chapter of Bouncing Back. I appreciate the feedback and hope people like the new part!*
Barney's was not a bar, but it wasn't quite a coffee shop. It looked like a bar, and served not great coffee. But it was cheap, and the management didn't mind if you hung out for hours as long as you ordered a few cups. It made it easy to study, to hang out, or to ogle a new friend in a dark corner as she teased me. They did have food, which made it (somehow) between bar food and cafe food. Their one saving grace was that whoever was making the food knew how to make a soft pretzel. A really good one.
The latter was currently pulling on the front of her tight t-shirt, exposing more of her cleavage and bra to me as I tried to talk to her. She grinned when I misspoke, or got distracted, but let me off easy most of the night. We did talk, even in the din, about our classes, and our home life. We danced around relationship discussions, and I think both of us were afraid the other was still in a relationship. Neither of us were, but I knew I wondered how she was not already with someone else. As we sat, we ordered more coffee, and I felt myself beginning to become used to the smile on her face as she listened to me. She told me amazing stories about her family, and her trips at the lake (describing her favorite bikini in a bit too much detail, including the time the water was too cold). Not all of them were laced with innuendo, but I definitely remembered those.
We were interrupted by a waitress asking if we wanted food. As we glanced at our phones, both our eyes went wide.
"I guess it is dinner time," Carmen told me, her brown eyes still wide with surprise.
"It looks like it." Somehow we'd lost track of three hours. We ordered a couple of sandwiches, and ate in relative silence. It seemed our earlier activities had left us very hungry. I couldn't help but grin a few times as I thought back to seeing them for the first time, her aggressive teases turning into a sneaky reveal. I found myself wishing I were a better artist, as visualizing the moment had come easily in that case.
"Are we eating here? You seem lost in some soft, pillowy clouds, Mark," Carmen's voice pulled me right out of the memory. The waitress was giving me a baleful stare, but Carmen was fighting back a laugh.
"Uh, yeah." Carmen nodded sagely.
"Spoken totally like someone who wasn't caught staring at my boobs," Carmen said, and another flush went through my face. The waitress continued to glare at me, narrowing my eyes, but I saw her eyes flicker to Carmen's soft, smooth flesh, highlighted slightly as she pushed them into the table. We both ordered, and I made sure to grab a pretzel. "Oh, cool. Are the pretzels good?"
"They really are," I said, glancing at Carmen's brown eyes. I found myself staring at them the entire night.
"He's right. Hottest item in the place, night in and night out," the waitress said. I did glance at her. She was older than we were, but my guess was still a student. Maybe even a graduate student. I looked back at Carmen and thought I whispered what I said next.
"Not tonight it, isn't." The waitress didn't hear me, but Carmen did. Her eyes caught mine and I swear for the first time I saw her blush.
"We'll take two," Carmen announced, looking up at the waitress. This time she gave her chest a little shake. The waitress's eyes locked onto Carmen's cleavage, and Carmen let her breasts shake and wobble. The waitress stood obviously longer than she should have before saying "Sounds great. If you need anything else, uh, let me know." Then she was gone.
Carmen looked over to me and smiled. "You're not the only one," she whispered. I tried to defend myself, and she shook her head. "One, I was doing it to get you going," she said. "You're doing so much better than most guys I know, and certainly any I've dated. Strong start, Mark." She leaned back a bit, and I saw her tits fall slightly off the table. Carmen couldn't hold back a giggle. "Even that?" she asked, letting a laugh bubble up. "Two," she continued. "I get more stares from girls than guys. She was doing that women solidarity thing in glaring at you, and I love it. But she made you feel bad."
"Well, you did point it out," I offered. Carmen laughed.
"Yeah, she totally noticed you looking, dude. Nice try." I laughed and saw her hand drift onto the table. I grabbed it and we both took a deep breath.
"That shouldn't be as... stimulating as it is," Carmen said. I nodded.
"I know what you mean," I told her. She reached back with her other hand and pulled her long hair behind her right ear.
"About this afternoon," she began. I looked worried, but let her continue, in no small part because I didn't want to make things worse. "I'm not normally that intensely.. into someone. I've never sort of skipped the dating step. No random hookups or anything like that. And.. I kinda... well, I wanted to make sure you knew that I'm not normally like that." I nodded.
"I know what you mean," I told her, trying to be assuring. I felt her grip me tighter. "I've never felt anything like it..."
"I do give a mean blowjob," she said, laughing. She pulled her hair back again. I smiled.
"You do, but I meant just being with you. Never that fast, and not that intense." Carmen nodded. I saw a bit of worry in her face, I couldn't place how, but her body was just screaming concern or worry, maybe even fear. It's hard to read the face of someone you met that day, no matter how intense things get.
"I hope you're okay if I slow things down a bit?" Carmen asked. I could tell that she knew it was a big ask. "I mean, I think we're good together, but I really don't know you. I just feel like I do. And I don't regret a thing from earlier, but I wanted to let you know that it surprised me a bit, that's all. And I'd like to actually go on another date, rather than becoming a booty call." I gripped her hand and took a deep breath.
"I get it. I'm really okay with it, too. We'll slow it down. I hope you'll let me walk you home?" Carmen nodded. "Good," I said. "And I hope you know that if I ever go too far, do too much... you can let me know." She smiled.
"I really don't think that will be the problem, unless you've got some twisted, perverted fantasies in that pleasantly shaped head of yours." I kind of glanced away, and Carmen grinned. "Oh, those are going to be fun to unlock," she said. She leaned back suddenly, shaking her head. I too, had felt the energy surge between us again. "But not tonight," she said. I agreed, letting my hand rest atop hers. The waitress appeared with our food, including two piping hot, golden brown, doughy piles of bliss. We thanked the waitress, who left without much comment, and we both enjoyed the soft pretzel, crunchy and almost burning salt, and a bit of some mustard.
We had both devoured them in a few minutes. "Carb-loading?" Carmen asked, licking her fingers clean of the oil and salt. "I like it. Keep the energy level up." I groaned a bit as she teased me, but let my eyes watch her enjoy the pretzel. "Damn. I love a good pretzel. Of all the places," she said.
"I know, right," I said. "Those were always my weaknesses at the mall or the fair." Carmen nodded. We talked about pretzels, that turned into fair conversations and stories. I learned she had a little sister and an older brother, that her parents were amicably divorced in the same city, and that she lived with a roommate in an apartment off campus. She talked about my two younger sisters, twins born as a surprise to my mom and dad, who were pretty happily married in my hometown.
"We're sorry guys," a new waiter stepped up. He was about my height, slim, and looked like he had seen and done it all when it came to kicking hangers on out of a coffee shop. He also looked like he didn't get paid enough to care about any excuses we made. I paid the bill and left a generous tip. He thanked us without smiling, and we stepped out into the night air.
As it was still summer, it was pleasant, and I asked again to walk her home.
"Girls like me don't go for the nice guys," she said. She slipped her arm into mine and we walked home.
"Oh yeah?" I asked.
"Definitely. I was really hoping you'd just grunt when I asked questions, and look at my tits all night." I chuckled. "In basketball, shooting 50 percent is pretty good you know," she added. I looked at her with a disbelieving stare, and saw her face tighten into a grin and smile full of mischief. I pulled my arm out of hers and wrapped it around her shoulder. I felt a sigh, and she pulled into me. It was one of the most comforting things I had ever felt.
As we walked, we stayed pretty quiet. "So what deep, dark secret am I going to need to know to tell you we can't be together?" she asked suddenly. Her eyes found mine and I looked at her.
