Never To Late For Love

Chapter 9

Mae

Once we reach my apartment, we are both a giggling mess. The whole trip to his house and mine we have been sharing embarrassing stories from our teen years. To say that we both made complete fools of ourselves often would be an understatement. The late '90s and early 2000s were an awkward time for us all.

"So welcome to the Palace ala Mae." I wave my hands around like I'm Vanna White on the Wheel of Fortune. This earns me a laugh. "Make yourself at home. The kitchen is through there fully stocked with popcorn. I am going to change real quick, and then I'll get the movie." I smile at him and head into my bedroom.

When I come out, I find Alex in the kitchen making popcorn and grabbing drinks from the fridge. We get everything together and head into the living room. I bring up the movie and sit back on the sofa with Alex. I grab a throw and cover our legs. We each grab our snacks and get ready.

"Now, I want you to know that this may be super gory. It is an older French Zombie movie, and I just found it." I look over and see Alex staring at me. "What?"

"You just looked cute taking all excitedly about some random zombie movie. I couldn't help but watch you." He shrugs his shoulders as he says this.

I grab some popcorn and throw it at him. His face is hilarious as he is shocked that I did that. I start laughing and look at him to see he isn't laughing. Did I do something to upset him?

"I know that you don't like being called cute, but let's not take it out on my true love ok." He is all serious as he says this.

"Your true love?" I know my face probably looks like some toddler who is trying to learn something for the first time.

"Um yeah. The popcorn duh." He starts laughing, and I can't help but laugh with him.

"You had me there for a second. I was just about to kick off the couch if you said that you loved someone other than me." I give him a smirk.

"Possessive much?" He asks.

"Maybe. You'll have to wait and find out." I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

The movie starts, and we both get engrossed in it. There are several times that we both jump. I will need to vacuum the floor tomorrow. We both keep moving closer to each other throughout the whole movie. I eventually end up leaning against him with his arm around my shoulder.

To be honest, I don't think that either of us realized we were sitting that way until we had been that way for a while. The movie ends, and we are sitting there together. I turn and look up at him and see that he is already looking down at me.

"You are very comfortable to lean against," I whisper to him.

"You are very nice to hold onto." He whispers back.

"Why are we whispering?" I ask as I lean into his ear. He does the same to me.

"I only did it because you were. I thought maybe you were scared that if you got too loud, the zombies were going to eat you." He smirks as he says this.

"Maybe I'm not scared of them, but someone else eating me," I say and pull back to look into his eyes.

"I may not eat you tonight, but I am definitely going to kiss you."

He takes his hands and grabs the sides of my face and gently pulls me in, and lays his lips over mine. The kiss is slow and firm. I let him take the lead because the man knows what he is doing. I feel myself melting into a puddle of goo, and if it wasn't for his strong hands holding my face, I may disappear.

I have no idea how long we kissed, but it felt like I could lose touch with reality with his kisses. I finally pull back to breathe and open my eyes to see him smiling softly at me. He leans his forehead against mine, and I smile widely.

"That has to have been the best first kiss ever," I say to him laughing a little.

"You aren't kidding. I may have to do that again."

With that, his lips are back on mine, and I can't help but lose myself all over again. My hands make their way into his hair, and I feel the kiss starting to get deeper and more urgent. For me, it has been a while since I have kissed someone, but it is like I never stopped. Our mouths mold together perfectly, and we both seem to know what we are doing, which is a plus.

"If we don't stop now I may not be able to." He says as he pulls back and looks me in the eye.

"Yeah, as much as I'm loving this, I don't want to take it too fast and ruin it," I say and kiss his cheek. "You have given me hope that I can be happy. I will say though, that if I don't get to bed soon, I will be a horrible person to deal with tomorrow."

"Will you be free tomorrow night?" He asks with a twinkle in his eye.

"I have plans tomorrow, sorry. Besties night." I smile at him, and he gives me a heart-stopping smile.

"Well, can I at least text you tomorrow?" I feel my face heat up a little.

I have never had a guy be so persistent in talking to me. My ex would go for days not answering my messages and would often act like he never got them. Dumbass didn't realize I could see when the message was viewed. Now that I look back at that relationship I have no clue what I was thinking.

"I do believe I could pencil in some text time for you." My smile was taking up over half my face.

He stands and stretches helping me straighten up the sofa and blankets. We walk to the door and both of us are silent, both lost in our thoughts. We stop at the door and I can't help but feel lonely with him leaving. I grab his hand and stand still just holding onto it for a few minutes. He turns and wraps me in an embrace and I feel like I am at home.

"I don't want you to go but I know that we both have work tomorrow. Not to mention it may be a little too soon." I sigh in frustration. Being a responsible adult sucks big time.

"I know you're right, but I don't want to leave either." He pulls my chin up so that I am looking into his eyes and he gives me another kiss that makes me melt into a mess. "Goodnight Mae."

He pecks my forehead and leaves. I feel engulfed in flames as my blushing is kicked up a notch. In all of the years of me being with Tanner and all the dates that I have been on, there has never been a kiss that made me feel this way.

I thought that it was just a myth that a kiss could make you feel that way. Yet here I am feeling like a young girl who just got her first kiss. I can only hope that he feels the same way, but something deep inside tells me that he does. The way his eyes light up when he is with me and those kisses are enough for me to see that he is enjoying it just as much.

I make my way to bed and feel almost too giddy to sleep. I know that I have plans with my friends tomorrow and that I should be excited to see them. I know that my excitement isn't about them, it's all Alex.

With a smile on my face that just won't quit, I finally fall asleep. I spend my night having dreams about the man who may very well change my life.