Winter [Completed]

TWENTY SIX

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December 28th
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"Chemistry is you touching my arm and it setting fire to my mind."

—Nayyirah Waheed

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Kelly POV

I pout at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, before smirking playfully and finally smiling. Just as I suspected, there's lipstick on my teeth. Running my hand under the water briefly, I wipe the lipstick off my teeth and straighten my knee-length dress. I feel awkward all dressed up like this, and I can't remember for the life of me the last time I wore a pair of heels taller than three inches.

I take a deep breath before opening the door and walking back into the restaurant. I spot him immediately. Dressed up in that baby blue button up that hugs his biceps in just the right way. He doesn't notice me approaching him, and for that I'm thankful. It gives me more time to admire him unabashedly. I bite my lower lip. Jordan is one handsome man.

Lipstick, teeth! I cringe as I wipe my teeth once more, hoping that none of my lipstick transferred to them.

"Hey." He smiles at me as I approach our table.

I take my fingers out my mouth and flash him a closed mouthed smile, embarrassment clearly painted on my face. I know he saw that.

Smirking, Jordan places the check on the table and stands. "Ready?"

Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I nod slowly.

I've been nervous around him the entire dinner and I just know I've made a fool of myself. When Jordan said he wanted to meet up, I had no idea that would entail a fancy dinner and me wearing a dress. I figured we'd go to some fast food joint or Foxy's like we normally do, but this was definitely a pleasant surprise.

The only problem is that he hasn't mentioned what happened between us once. We've only engaged in small talk and he's asked me a handful of questions about my situation with Imani and Ethan. I can't figure out what the point of all of this is, if we're not even going to talk about us at all... if you could even call us an 'us'.

Jordan rests his palm on the small of my back as he guides me out the restaurant and  my skin burns in the best way. Suddenly, I'm glad I decided to go with my backless dress. Despite the tension I feel between the two of us, neither one of us speaks. As we walk silently to his car, I'm left wondering if he's feeling just as confused as I am in this moment.

When we get to the car, Jordan walks me to my side. I reach for the door handle and Jordan stops me, placing his hand on mine before looking up at me to gauge my reaction. I try my best to suppress my gasp when he takes my hand completely in his, interlocking our fingers.

"Kelly," he starts, glancing at our linked hands with intrigue. "I wanted to thank you for coming out with me tonight."

His thumb swipes over my hand and the butterflies in my stomach begin to flutter. "No problem," I mutter shakily, "I always have a good time with you."

At this he smiles softly, pulling my hand, and in turn, me closer to him. "Look, I um, I know I said I wanted to meet you in person to check up on you, and I did..." He licks his full lips before continuing. "...but I also wanted to talk about us..."