Just One Kiss, Part 3
Her classes ended at three o'clock on Friday, giving Keri ample time to primp and beautify herself before the proverbial bewitching hour. The preparation efforts were frenetic, as she tried on a dozen different outfits, emptying her closet and piling the discarded garments in a gigantic pile on her bed. In the mound of clothes were a leather dress, jeans, slacks, dresses, bras, and skimpy panties.
At four-thirty, Keri had run through the pile again, this time leaving the rejected choices in a lopsided lump on the floor at the foot of her bed. After tossing it aside several times, she decided on a red and white patterned dress that showed a hint of cleavage and lots of her legs without looking slutty. She paired it with red pumps and a white shawl that also served to keep her from getting cold.
With her wardrobe choice settled Keri started circling her long blonde hair, sprucing up her nails, and applying just the right amount of makeup. Looking at her phone for the time, she discovered that less than twenty minutes remained before Chris would arrive to pick her up. As she descended the stairs from the upper level, her heels made a rhythmic clacking sound on the hard surface.
As Keri leaned against the light pole just off the street, she started rifling through FaceBook to catch up on what her network of friends was doing. Some made her shake her head in disbelief, while other photographic antics made her laugh heartily. Since Carmen appeared on her friends' list, a close-up photo of her at the last party popped up, instantly making her stop.
The image of her Latina friend was a close-up shot, giving a high-resolution view of the hair cascading off her shoulders, a bright smile, and her cleavage. Within a brief second, the vivid memory of that first kiss and the intense making out later flooded her conscious mind, giving her butterflies. The way their interaction stimulated all of Keri's senses amplified the feeling, from the scent of the other girl's hair and breath to the sweet taste of her lips, to the warm way her body pressed into her own. Without even realizing it, Keri had stopped breathing as the feelings overwhelmed her. Dismissing it as a one-time thing, she broke her reverie as Chris pulled up in a dark blue Ford Focus, which was not elegant but not bad-looking either.
"Hey there, beautiful, you want to keep me company?" Chris joked, breaking into a smile that made her insides turn to mush. '
Damn, he is fine looking, I am lucky to get a chance like this. Plus he is genuinely a sweet guy
," she said to herself.
"Maybe, but I have started seeing someone, care to change my mind?" Keri said, winking and flirting. Her conservative personality usually precluded that kind of behavior, but the way she felt comfortable with him made it seem less awkward.
Chris chuckled, knowing that this was a little out of character for her, but he liked her response to his teasing. "How about a movie and a nice dinner at a great place!" he said, getting out to open her door. Since he was distracted, he had failed to put the car in park and it started to roll away, making him jump back in. Yanking the lever into park, the car screeched and gyrated from the sudden stop, making him curse under his breath. Keri, by contrast, found it amusing and even endearing but held her laughter so as not to embarrass him.
"Let's try this again," he said, trying to hide his embarrassment. Walking to the passenger side of the vehicle, he opened the door and invited her to get in.
Keri knew that he was trying to impress her, but that made the whole gesture all the more endearing. "Thank you," she said, now reverting to her native shyness a bit. She slipped into the comfortable seat and buckled up right after, and Chris got back into the car right after.
"Ok, we have a couple choices for the movie, there is a new superhero flick out, but I know that's kind of a guy thing, but there are a couple more things we could go for. Worst case, we can decide when we get there, you get to pick."
Keri had to fight the urge to let him pick purely because she liked the idea of being an active participant in things, but felt like it would be a good gesture in response. He was going out of his way to be sweet and accommodating, and she could tell it was genuine and not a ploy to get in her panties. "I appreciate that, but let's see what might be fun for the both of us when we get there. Comedy is a safe bet most of the time," she replied with a smile.
The two of them were surprised when the theater was lightly populated, wondering where the rest of the people were, and then Keri remembered that there was a Taylor Swift concert at the stadium that night. "No loss, she's entertaining but I still don't think she can sing that well," she said when she explained the reason for the emptiness.
The two of them ended up deciding on a slapstick comedy movie that had gotten good reviews, which kept the both of them laughing pretty consistently through the whole thing. Chris fished around for her hand twenty minutes into the film, and Keri liked the gentle but firm grip that he had on her hand. Not too tight and not like a dead fish, which, as the fairy tale went, was
just right
. He managed to sneak a kiss on her cheek and twice on her lips later, neither of which was aggressive nor unwelcome. So far, their date had unfolded perfectly, which pleased them both.
Dinner was great too, he had selected a moderately priced seafood restaurant that had great biscuits. Keri loved bread but had to remind herself not to binge on them and not have any room for the actual meal. Their conversations were engaging, pleasant, and even fun, and it surprised her how easily they fell into a rhythm of playful and comfortable banter.
Both Chris and Keri were flying high on good feelings when they got back into the car, so it came as no surprise when he leaned in to kiss her. As his lips found hers, she breathed in and returned the kiss with equal energy, though it was still gentle for each of them. Keri scooted closer and cooed as she felt lips caressing, a kiss strong enough to feel his masculinity but reserved enough not to make her feel devoured.
After a few minutes of deep making out, Keri pulled back just to catch her breath and calm herself, not because of any lack of enjoyment on her part. Chris at first took it as a signal that he had come on too strong, immediately saying, "Hey, sorry if that was too much, you just are so sexy," he said, giving her an out.
Keri put one hand on his chest and inched her face forward a bit. "No, no, it's perfectly fine, I am loving this, I just had to catch my breath, my heart is pounding!" she replied, smiling. '
Wow, that was pretty nice, he is a good kisser
, she thought, pleased with it. The kissing had enough hunger to be satisfying without being too much, but her subconscious mind subtly compared it to the ones with Carmen.
Chris dropped her back off at the dorm about twenty minutes later, with concrete plans for going out again the following week. Keri shuffled up the stairs to her floor and unlocked her room, which she was fortunate enough to have to herself. While not a slob, she undressed, dropping each item on the floor, leaving a trail from the door to her dresser. Reaching inside, she grabbed a long nightshirt with a nondescript anime girl on it, holding a single rose in her hands, and slipped it over her head.
Sighing, Keri grabbed her phone, remembering that she had switched the sound off to prevent getting in trouble during the movie. She ignored the email notifications and text messages but saw that a couple of Facebook messages were vying for her attention. Curious, she pressed on the icon and saw a half-dozen from several of her friends, including two from Carmen. What could she be asking me about?
The messages were brief but playful. '
Hey how did your big date go? Have fun?
', it read.
