Sixth Wheel

Flirting With Popcorn

On Saturday night, Esposito barely made it out of alive- he'd forgotten how savage date night film goers were- when he nearly ran over Meredeth, who had just arrived.

"Hey you!" Her grin was quick and easy; she embraced him tightly, and he got a whiff of some vaguely European scent.

"You look... wow." He felt his mind go blank as he took her in: she was in jeans and sandals again, but the grey hoodie was gone in favor of a tight black shirt that showed off glorious breasts that would make any gay man switch teams. Before he could stutter like a stutter like a teenager he held out a ticket. "It was a lion fight but I got the last two seats."

"You wanna talk lion fight, I was reviewing Eclipse back in June and I actually saw two girls get in fisticuffs over the last two seats."

"I remember that." Unsure of what to do with his hands itching to touch her, Esposito shoved them in his pocket as they went inside. "My buddy Arnold in the 64th said it took four uniforms to separate them."

"Never anger a Twi-hard on opening night."

Esposito laughed. "Twi-hard?"

"Those really insane fans of Twilight." Meredeth scanned the candy counter, debating getting a box of Whoppers. "Like dead-heads without tie-dye t-shirts and copious amounts of sticky green."

He shook his head, stepped up to order and did a double take at the cute counter girl. "Hey! Sloan! I didn't know you worked here!"

"Hi, Javi!" Sloan's smile brightened tenfold as she recognized him from the Ryan-Honey-Milk party. "What can I get you?"

"Popcorn for the lady, Coke on ice, and..." He looked at Meredeth. "Fanta, Diet Coke, Icee?"

"A bottle of water."

"Coming right up."

When Sloan dashed away, Meredeth elbowed him in the ribs, did her female duty. "Shame on you."

"Not what you think. She's a friend of Castle's daughter Lex."

After Sloan popped back with their order, Esposito paid the tab and they found seats in the auditorium. "Castle, as in Richard Castle? The author?"

"Yeah. We're friends." He felt an uncomfortable pinch of jealousy; he figured Castle was the kind of guy Meredeth would usually go for. Hell, Castle's first wife was named Meredeth. As the lights dimmed, Esposito found comfort in the dark. He'd always been a fan of first date movie for a variety of reasons, but more that anything, he loved that he could get closer to his date without feeling like an obvious asshole and he definitely wanted to get closer to Meredeth. He leaned over, playfully sniffed at the popcorn she held with a death grip. "You gonna share that?"

"I'm rarely possessive about food but... mine."

"We'll see about that."

Esposito left it alone for the duration of the previews, but by the time the opening credits rolled, he figured she'd had long enough to be comfortable and by God so had he. Reaching in a hand for popcorn, he felt something his his left temple, followed by a giggle.

"I said mine."

"I was just trying to cop a feel."

She snorted at him; satisfied for the moment Esposito draped his arm over her shoulders, munched on over-salted popcorn and unknowingly made Meredeth's insides turn to jello. It had been a long time, longer than anyone actually knew, that she'd been on a date. More, that she'd actually found a man she was interested in going on a date with. There was no doubt Javier Esposito was a manly man but he was sweet and self-effacing , two qualities that made her think that the guy was batting for the other team. She gave him a sideways glance, studied his profile. He had goofy-looking ears, no question, but his smile was quick and he did have delicious yum-yum eyes. Who better to get her back in the game

We he reached in for more popcorn, she grabbed his hand. "You want popcorn, you should've gotten your own."

"I bought it to share." Esposito tightened his grip when she tried to unlink her hand from his. "Not so fast, missy."
He never let go the entire film, spent most of it focused on the feel of her skin; smooth and soft. By the time the end credits rolled, he'd gone through no less than eight scenarios in his inner fantasy-land about how that skin would taste on the rest of her body, each one making him equal parts aroused and embarrassed.

They left the theatre, her hand still in his, breathed in fresh air- insofar as the air in late- fall of New York City could be called 'fresh' - as they walked towards the subway station.

"I had a good time tonight."

"I did too." Meredeth said the words automatically, realized they were true after they were out of her mouth. "I'm sorry about giving you gears on... Sloan, was it?"

"Yeah, she's a photography student at Columbia. Nice kid." Esposito slowed his pace, knowing that once they hit the terminal, she'd probably want to go home, alone. Not if he could help it though or the very least, delay it. "It's still early, we could go get some coffee or something."

"Or something being..."

"Well," Esposito pondered it, thought of how Castle would handle such a quandary, "A beer, some street meat... or a nightcap at my place."

Before she had a chance to answer, his phone went off. Of course, he thought. He flipped open his phone, swithed off the date night Javi. "Esposito. Yeah...really...okay, no, I'll be there in like ten, fifteen minutes. I'm already in the Barrio. Right. Later."

He hanged up, feeling dejected as he turned back to Meredeth. "I'm sorry. I have to go. We caught a break on the case and-"

"No, no, I understand." And she did; there was no selfishness or self pity in her tone. Facing him, she brushed popcorn crumbs from the front of his shirt front. "You have to go when you get a call. I guess the ball's in my court now, huh?"

"What?"

"About our next date."

Hope glimmered like a little ray of sunshine in a sudden rainstorm. "Next date, huh?"

"Trust me, Detective, had you not gotten that call, this date wouldn't be over until tomorrow, after breakfast. You know?"

He knew exactly what she meant, which made leaving all the tougher. He brushed a hand down her arm. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

He turned to leave, then cursing himself a fool, turned back. Fuck it, he thought. Ryan can wait two minutes. Pulling Meredeth close he whispered in her ear, "I was hoping for somewhere more private for this."

Without waiting for her to say anything, Esposito tilted her chin up, kissed her lightly. Tiny electric blue shock waves raced down his spine, lodge in his stomach as he deepened the kiss, felt her kiss him back. That magnificently curved body was pressed up against his, making him groan as he pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Okay."

He gave her one last peck on the lips, dashed into the subway station. Had he had the time to glance back, he would have seen hard-headed New Yorker Meredeth rooted to the spot staring up at the sky and grinning like a fool.