AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Daphne and I find a booth in the corner, one right under a framed photo of a temple.
She orders the green curry; I order the red. So we can try both. So I have more of what she wants.
The waitress drops off a pot of tea and two small mugs. I fill both with steaming jasmine. It's not the finest tea in the world, but with this company, it might as well be.
She holds up her glass as if to toast, but she doesn't toast to anything in particular. She just waits for me to raise my glass, then she sips and swallows. "Fuck, that's hot." She presses her lips together and blows cool air over the ceramic cup.
"Should I say then it suits you?"
"Only if I fucked the wit right out of you." Her smile is equal parts sweet and dirty. "But how would that be possible? You're the one who fucked me."
There's something about her goofy, dirty joke. It's sexy and adorable at the same time. "I think we can count it as the two of us fucking each other."
"You don't want to get technical on the definition of fucking?" she asks.
"No, but we can, if you insist."
"No. I just meant, uh…" She blows air over the cup. "You were the one in the more active role."
"You played your part."
She fights a blush.
"You played it well. You're good at this."
"Thanks." Her eyes go to the wall behind me. "You too… but I'm sure you know that."
I do. This is one thing I know. Maybe the only thing I know about myself and relationships. Still, I want to hear her feedback. I want it to be good for her. "I still like to hear it."
She blows air over the drink one more time, then she takes a sip, sighs, swallows. "Do I look as awkward as I feel? I've begged so many ex-boyfriends to talk about sex, but now that we're here, I get why they were hesitant. It's odd."
"You're nervous. It's sweet."
"Sweet? Okay. I'll take that." She takes a long sip, settles into the seat, finds her words. "I didn't bring you here to have my way with you verbally."
"Damn. And I thought Thai restaurants were your kink."
"Is it the Buddha statues that do it for you?" she teases me back. "Or is it something else?"
My lips curl into a smile. "It feels domestic, doesn't it? Like we've been together a long time."
"It's not the place you take someone to impress them." Her eyes go to the watch on my left hand. "That's where I imagine you on dates. Nobu or Geoffrey's. Some place with a view of the ocean and a menu without prices."
"The watch was a gift," I say.
She nodsI knowand takes another sip of her tea. "Where do you take your dates?"
"I've taken women to Nobu."
She smilescalled it.
"Usually, I do drinks for a first date. And somewhere in LA or Malibu proper. I try not to date in Malibu Hills."
She nodsof course. "Too high a chance you'll run into someone." She takes another sip of tea. "What about the second date? Nobu time? Or maybe you save it for the third date." She waggles her brows in another gesture that's goofy and sexy as sin.
A laugh spills from my lips. "Do people still wait to have sex on exactly the third date?" Did people ever do that?
"Statistically, no, and I haven't heard anyone mention it in a while," she says. "I think Tinder put a stop to that."
