Gray by Shaw Hart

Nine

Gray

Nora groansas she stumbles into the kitchen the next morning. I grin, taking in her tousled hair and wrinkled pajamas.

“‘Morning,” I say sunnily and she groans at me as she takes a seat at the kitchen counter and rests her head on her arms.

“I made pancakes,” I try again and she reaches a hand out.

I hand her one and watch as she slowly eats it.

“I’m never drinking again.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that before.”

“I mean it this time.”

“I’m sure that you do. Here,” I say as I pass her another pancake.

Moose and Marley are sitting by my feet and I rip a pancake in half, tossing it to them.

“I’ve got to work tomorrow night so I’ll have to miss taco Tuesday, but I was thinking that maybe we could do it tonight instead.”

“Sure,” Nora says, swallowing her last bite of pancake.

“Or, I thought that we could go out somewhere nicer. Maybe more romantic.”

Nora’s head snaps up and she studies me.

“Uh, sure.”

That’s not exactly the reaction that I was hoping for but maybe she’s still just hungover. I had come up with the genius idea to ask her out last night after she told me that she loved me. It wasn’t exactly clear if she meant as more than a friend so I thought I should ask her out but be a little vague about it too. Kind of test the waters.

“I’ve got to get to work. Let me know if you need anything,” I say, rounding the counter and brushing a kiss against the top of her head.

I’ve done it a hundred times over the past twenty years so it should feel natural but we both seem to tense at the contact.

I head to work but I can barely concentrate all day. It feels like my life is on a precipice. Either tonight goes well, and I get my happily ever after. Or it goes terribly wrong, and I lose everything that matters to me.

My shift comes to an end right at five. I usually have Mondays off unless one of my clients insists on it. I only had to come in to do a back piece today. It took most of the day but it came out badass.

Nora is at home working when I walk in the door and she seems surprised to see me. That means that she got lost in her work and lost track of time. My dream of a romantic date is seeming less likely by the second.

“Hey, are you hungry?” I ask her and she bites her lip.

“Yeah, but I have another half an hour left here. Can we just walk the dogs and grab tacos at that place on the corner?”

“Sure,” I tell her as I head back to my room to take a shower and get changed.

She’s just finishing up with work when I come back out and I hook Moose and Marley up as Nora tugs her shoes on.

“How was your day?” she asks and I tell her about the back piece that I did today as we stroll with the puppies toward the taco place.

“What about you?” I ask as we stop to let them sniff something.

“I got caught up with a programming project for that micromanaging client.”

“Are you done working for him then?”

“Yeah, I hope so anyway. He’s been such a headache.”

She fills me in on an exciting project that she has up next and even though I barely understand all of the technology lingo, it’s still nice to sit and listen to her talk about something that she loves so much.

“Want me to hold the dogs or run in and grab the food?”

“Food,” Nora says, grabbing Moose’s leash.

I chuckle and head inside, grabbing our usual. The sun is just starting to set when we turn around and head back to our place. We take turns juggling leashes and tacos and I laugh as I watch Nora try to eat queso and walk Marley at the same time.

We take our time walking back home, both enjoying being with each other and the warm weather. The food is gone by the time we get home and I reach over, taking Nora’s hand in mine.

“This was nice.”

“Yeah, it was,” Nora says with a smile.

She squeezes my hand and I grin. This right here. If I could just have this every day for the rest of my life then I would die a happy man.

My heart is beating so fast that it feels like everyone we pass should be able to hear it. It’s now or never. Either I make my move now or I have to let this crush, this obsession go, and be okay with us just being friends.

I slow to a stop, tugging on Nora’s hand until she turns to face me. She looks up at me and her eyes sparkle in the fading sun. She’s the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen in my life and I know that it’s now or never.

“Nora,” I whisper and I see her breath catch as I move closer to her.

She licks her lips, just like she did in the hotel room after the funeral the night that we almost kissed. My heart starts to race as every cell in my body urges me closer to her.

The puppies are busy sniffing a nearby tree and I move closer to her, bending down until our lips are a breath away. Nora’s eyes flutter closed and I close the remaining distance, my lips touching hers for the first time.

They’re so soft against my own and I moan, kissing her more firmly. Our lips lock together like they were made to and I wrap my free hand around her waist, pulling her flush against my body.

Nora’s hand is tangled in my hair, holding me to her as if I would try to get away and I lick along the seam of her lips. She opens for me right away and I waste no time slipping my tongue inside and exploring every inch of her.

Her tongue tangles with mine in an erotic dance and we both move closer until we’re plastered together. I wonder if she can feel how hard I am, my erection digging into her stomach. Or maybe she can feel the intensity coming off of me in waves.

The dogs start to bark but it barely filters into my subconscious as I continue to make out with Nora. It isn’t until they tug on the leash, chasing after some squirrel that the spell is broken.

We pull apart then, both of us wide-eyed and breathing hard as we try to get the puppies and our racing hearts under control.

“Fucking finally,” Nora says and I can’t help but laugh.

She laughs too as I drag her and the puppies up the stairs and into our place.