“Are you always so optimistic?”

“Nah. I have my fair share of ‘woe is me’ days.” He shrugs. “But I try to, ya know, keep myself cheery and all that.”

“I like that. Reminds me of my Zoe.”

“Ah, the butt-toucher.”

I laugh. “That’d be her. She’s a wild one but so much fun.”

“I could tell.” Zach chuckles as I yawn in the middle of him talking. “Two coffees weren’t enough?”

“I had a late night last night. We did a midnight showing and I was one of the closers. I took a quick nap after my last class, but I had this date with a cute nerdy guy so I had to get up.”

“Yeah? And how did that go?”

I shrug. “I’ve had better.”

“Admit it, this is the coolest date you’ve ever been on.”

“I don’t know… My first date was at a theme park. That one is hard to top.”

“A theme park? Pssh. I can rent you an entire theme park.”

“You cannot.”

He winks. “I’ll never tell.”

I roll my eyes and pull him back down the sidewalk. “Come on, Romeo. Take me home before I fall asleep and snore or something.”

Eleven

“Delia.”

Shake.

“Deeeeeelia.”

Shake.

“DELIA!”

I shoot up with alarm zinging through me. “EARTHQUAKE!”

A boisterous guffaw fills the space and I survey the area, discovering I’m inside Zach’s car.

Crap. I must have fallen asleep.

“Did I snore?” I ask.

His only response is a laugh.

“Shit. That is so not first date material.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve only had a nap today? Or that you had to work late last night? We could have rescheduled.”

I shrug. “I was excited to meet you.”

“So excited you fell asleep, right?”

“Oh hush.” I glance out the window. “Well, I guess this is me.”

“Stay there. I’ll grab your door for you.”

“Such a gentleman.”

As he exits the car, I check myself in the visor mirror, making sure I don’t look like complete shit after my snoozefest.

“Milady,” he says, opening the door and extending his hand toward me.

He helps me out, but doesn’t back up.

I’m crowded between him and his fancy car, and I can’t imagine a better place to be right now.

Zach smiles down at me, his grin almost wolfish. “Did you have a good first date, Delia?”

“It wasn’t terrible.”

“I’ll take that. Plus, you’ve already agreed to a second date with me. There’s no backing out now.”

“No, I guess not.”

We’re standing so close together that if I were to move an inch, I’d be brushing against him. I want to be brushing against him.

I take a step forward, and he doesn’t move back. In fact, Zach swoops his arms around me and pushes us back until I’m snug against his car, one hand settled on my waist and the other curved around the nape of my neck. His touch is gentle and heavy all at once.

His green eyes bore into me and I can’t pull my gaze from his. It’s so…hot. My head is swimming and my body feels like I’m standing only inches away from a roaring fire.

Though the night air is cool, I’m breaking a sweat, and I know Zach can feel it.

His lips tilt up at the corner and that fucking dimple pokes through again.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Delia.”

And then his mouth is on mine.

This kiss is everything I’ve been missing in my life.

Those fireworks I didn’t have before?

They explode into the night sky the moment Zach lays his lips to mine.

He’s gentle at first, but our soft kisses turn firm and we’re grabbing at one another like we’ll never touch again. He slides his hand around until he’s cradling my face. I press into him, into the kiss, into…whatever the hell this is.

Our tongues continue to dance to a song only they know, and I couldn’t even begin to count the minutes we stay wrapped up in one another.

Somewhere along the way, our kisses turn sweeter. We finally pull our lips apart and suck in deep breaths of air.

Zach rests his head against mine and I gently lay a palm to his chest, dying to see if his heart is beating as wildly as mine.

“Where did you come from?”

“The Midwest.”

“Huh?”

“You asked where I came from. I’m from the Midwest.”

He laughs, and I feel the sound rumble in his chest. “Rhetorical question, Delia.”

“Oh.”

I can feel him shake his head. “What am I going to do with you?” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Another rhetorical question, by the way.”

“Too bad. I had a really good answer.”

He meets my eyes and tilts his head in interest, his eyes dancing with mischief. “Yeah? And what is that?”

I wink. “Guess you’ll never know.”

“Tease.”

“Guilty,” I whisper before placing my lips on his again.

The kiss is brief this time and before I know it, Zach is escorting me up the stairs to my apartment door.

Leaning against it, I turn his way.

“I was really nervous to meet you, ya know. We were total strangers and then we bonded through weird text exchanges. I was crushing on you hard and formed this image of you inside my head. I was so scared you wouldn’t live up to it, that the fun I’ve had texting you wouldn’t translate in real life.”

Zach’s watching me intently, and I realize I’m spilling all my secrets to him, word vomiting all over the poor guy.

And I don’t give one single damn.

“But you, we…it was everything I hoped it would be.” He’s still staring at me, his eyes full of delight and a crooked grin stretched across his face. “So, uh, thanks…for everything.”

His grin grows as he steps into me, placing a gentle kiss on my mouth.

“Thank you, Delia. For not being totally lame. For laughing at my horrible jokes. For falling asleep on me. For being…well, everything I wanted you to be.”

My cheeks flush red and I lean into Zach for another kiss.

Our lips lock, and we’re falling.

Thud.

We smack to the ground and I wheeze as Zach’s weight comes crashing down on me.

“Okay, you two are cute as fuck. Want me to leave so you can bang?”

“Ow! What the hell, Zoe?” I push at Zach’s heavy form. “Get off me, I can’t breathe.”

He pushes himself up until he’s hovering over me. “Did you just call me fat?”

“What? No! Did you drink the same Kool-Aid as this freak over here”—I point to Zoe—“who decided it’d be fun to open the door so I fall right on my ass?”

Zach pretends to be offended. “Kool-Aid is the devil’s drink. It was strictly Tang in my house.”

“You are so 90s,” I complain, pushing at him.

He snickers and moves until he’s sitting beside me. I pull myself up, shooting daggers between Zoe and Zach.

“I have to say, you two sound like a cheesy teen kid show. Zoe and Zach, The Asshole Hour.”

The two fist-bump and I sigh.

“Don’t be jealous, D. We’re just cooler than you.”

“Cool my ass.”

“How is it, by the way? Your ass.”

“Her ass is great,” Zach chimes in.

Zoe laughs. “Oh, I like this one. Let’s keep him.”

“We’re not keeping anyone, especially not him.”

“You liar. You already signed on for a second date.”

“We’ll see about that,” I grumble.

“A second date already? You hussy!”

“Go away, Zoe!”

“Fine. You two go back to making out or whatever. Zach, it was great to meet you. Delia, I’ll be in my room waiting for your recap of the evening. I’m dying to know if he’s a great kisser.”

“He is,” Zach answers.

I blush.

Zoe pats his shoulder. “I can see that.”

“Zoe!”

She holds her hands up in innocence, backing down the hallway. “I’m going, I’m going!”

As soon as her bedroom door closes, I turn to Zach.

“I don’t even think it’s possible to apologize for her.”

Zach shrugs. “Don’t bother. She reminds me of Robbie. Those two would get along great.”

We sit in silence for a few moments before we finally pull ourselves off the floor.

“Before Zoe rudely interrupted us, I was going to ask if you wanted to come inside.”

“Delia, you fell asleep in my car. You need to rest.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “I am so glad you said that. I was only trying to be polite. I’m exhausted, and now my ass hurts.”

He raises his brows. “You never cease to entertain.”

“You just spoke all weird and I think you’re trying to go nerd on me. So, run along now.”

In a flash, he crosses the short distance between us, recreating the pose we held for so long outside. With one hand on my hip and the other cradling my face, Zach gently presses a kiss against my lips.