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“Listen.” I set my burger down on the plate. “You think this doesn’t happen to other people, Leah? We all have our issues. There will be a ton of students just like you starting university next year, and they’ll be frightened because it’ll be the first time they’re away from home, and they’ll have to be independent and learn to take care of themselves.”
She didn’t argue, she just ate, looking absent, thoughtful. “Why is it you used to paint, Axel? When you were a student?”
“You still haven’t figured it out?” I tensed up.
“No, I don’t get it. You…you had talent.”
“But that’s it. That was the problem. It still is the problem.”
“Explain, please.”
I bent toward her. “The day you understand me, you’ll see yourself better.”
She blew out a breath, irritated, and I wanted to laugh. I waited patiently while she finished her dinner, and then we passed by a packed bar that served gigantic drinks. It was late, but the idea of getting in the car and putting an end to the day didn’t please me. So I didn’t think twice; I just walked in like she was a regular girl and not Leah. We sat down at two stools by the bar. I ordered a beer, since I was going to drive, and told her to pick a cocktail. She chose one with strawberry and a bit of lime.
The lights were soft on the dance floor, and the blue LED bulbs at the bar didn’t shine on the people dancing.
I took a sip of my beer and licked my lips. I looked at her until she started to blush.
“What’s up?” she asked, embarrassed.
“I was thinking…”
“About what? Surprise me.”
“About you. Me. Our differences.”
“I think we’ve got more in common that you believe,” Leah whispered.
“Could be. But we understand the world in different ways. You look at a cloudy sky and see a storm. I look at a cloudy sky, and for me it’s clear.”
Leah swallowed. I could see her throat moving. “So which of the two is better?”
“Funny enough, neither, I guess.”
She laughed and two dimples appeared. I wanted to bite them. I took a long sip of beer, because it was that or succumb to temptation, to lust…
“Dance with me?” she asked.
“Are you serious?”
“Why not? I don’t bite.”
You don’t, but I do.
Leah extended a hand and I accepted. We got lost on the dance floor, surrounded by strangers. It was a strange sensation. No one there knew who either of us was, and the anonymity made it seem like nothing mattered.
Leaving a proper distance between us, I slid my hands down her waist to her hips. A slow song came on, one I would often remember when I thought of her years later, “The Night We Met.” It almost hurt me caressing her with my gaze alone. It wasn’t enough anymore.
“Axel, just give me this moment.” Leah wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in close. I held her against my body, moving slowly, almost still in the middle of the dance floor, feeling her breath tickle my neck and her hands weave through my hair.
I lowered my head slightly and kissed her ear, almost on the lobe, then slowly followed her jawline to her cheek. I closed my eyes, feeling the softness of her skin, how good she smelled, the heat of her breath, how perfect that embrace, that moment, everything was.
I was about to kiss her. I was. Fuck the world.
When I brushed against her lips, I knew it would be a disaster, but also the best disaster of my life.
I held the back of her neck before pressing my lips into hers. It was a real kiss. No doubts, no stepping backward, just my tongue sinking into her mouth and looking for hers, my teeth trapping her lip, my hands rising to her cheeks as if I was afraid she’d pull back. I savored every touch, every second, and that taste of strawberry.
