-Melissa-
I growled in annoyance at the incessant pounding on my apartment door. I tried to ignore it but apparently whoever it was decided to keep at it until I answered, or they beat a damn hole in it.
I heaved it open quickly and snapped, "What?"
Standing in my hallway was my best friend Davis. He looked like he had seen a ghost with his hand was poised to knock again.
"Mel, you are NOT going to believe what the fuck just happened to me," he said as he pushed his way into my apartment.
I rolled my eyes. Sometimes Davis was a bit more of a drama queen then those mean bitches from high school. I've known Davis since freshman year in college. He was a big shot lacrosse player and an accounting major. We met when I was rushing a sorority.
Well I suppose met is a loose word. One of my hazing events required us to run naked across the lacrosse field during practice. I turned to check on one of my girlfriends running behind me and ended up running right into Davis.
He made a cheesy joke about buying him dinner first then took off his jersey for me to cover up. When he tracked me down the next day, I thought he was going to ask me out. But the actual date invite never happened.
I suppose I could have asked him myself but by the time I realized he wasn't going to ask me we were really good friends. I didn't have many of those, so I decided not to chance it.
Now here we are ten years later.
Davis started to pace and sighed as he ran his hand through his sandy hair.
"If I EVER tell you I'm taking a girl out from that stupid app again," he said, "stop me!"
He pushed the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows showing off those strong forearms effectively distracting me from commenting. He took my silence as an opening to continue.
"Her name was Bethany," He began, "sounds sweet and simple right? NOPE! nu uh no way! She was fucking psychotic Mel."
As he continues, he starts talking with his hands. It's a trait I've always teased him about but found really adorable.
"So, I get there right and she's already waiting. I think, sweet! I like a punctual chick. She looks just like her picture again, another bonus. We get to talking about work and order drinks. I tell her a little about me until the waiter comes back."
"Hey, um Dave," I try to interrupt.
"Now, this is where it gets a little odd," he said them paused to make sure I was paying attention. "She asked the waiter to bring her a plate of water. A PLATE OF WATER. The waiter looks at me and I shrug my shoulders. He leaves and she starts talking about her.
"She's a yoga instructor, which I already knew, But then she started talking about auras and chakra's like what the fuck!"
"Davis," I tried again.
"Oh! that's not even the best of it. Melissa this woman took every single one of my pictures off of my profile. She photoshopped us on vacations! SHE TOOK OUR PICTURES AND MORPHED THEM INTO FREAKY BABIES! Like if we were to get down and dirty and have children they would look like demonic freak shows!"
A throat clearing behind him stopped his feet. Davis spun around to face the interruption.
Calvin Lowell fidgeted by my living room couch. He was from the I.T. department at my work and we had been out on a few dates.
"Should I um," he pushed his glasses up his nose. "Should I go?"
Davis spun back around to look at me. He pointed behind him with his thumb and asked, "Who's the nerd?"
I sighed and shook my head before answering, "Dave, I told you about Calvin."
"That loser from your job?" He asked confused, "I thought you broke up with him."
My eyes bulged out in shock before I closed them and pinched the bridge of my nose. With a deep breath I reopened them and glared at my best friend.
"Not yet," I hissed quietly.
"Oh, shit," he fake gasped, "my bad."
Before I could say anything Davis turned back around and walked over to Calvin.
"Davis," I said with an edge oof warning.
He slapped his strong hand onto Calvin's thin shoulder and sighed, "Sorry bud. You're just not doing it for her."
Davis started pulling Calvin towards the door, "For what it's worth you got a lot further than the last guy she dated. Unfortunately, Melissa just doesn't know what she wants. Have a nice evening. I'd give ya a mint or something, but I booked it out of my date so fast I didn't even get to eat dinner. So, I ate my last tic-tac on the way here."
Calvin looked at me confused. All I could do was mouth, "I'm sorry," as Davis shoved him out the door.
Davis closed the door in my date's? ex's? face then rubbed his hands together like he was wiping them clean.
I can't believe he did that. Then again, I honestly can. Calvin isn't the first guy Davis has run off. I haven't had a relationship last more than six months without Davis having something to do with the dude's departure.
He was proud when he ran them off. Hell, there are a few that left on their own accord stating the same thing Davis just had. That I didn't know what I wanted.
That wasn't true. I knew exactly what I wanted. He was 6'2", medium build, Brown eyes, and the bestest friend a girl could ask for. I was so screwed. Davis will forever be the standard I hold men up to. All because I don't have the lady balls to say something to him. Then again, he hasn't made a move on me either.
"Davis Matthew Roberts," I huffed.
"Ohhh," he smirked, "all three names. I must be in trouble."
I fought back a smile, "I can't believe you did that... AGAIN!"
"Eh," he shrugged, "that guy wasn't your speed. I bet he was still a virgin."
"Davis!" I gasped.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, bit his lip, and hummed.
I quirked an eyebrow in question.
Davis chuckled and shook him head, "nothing."
I rolled my eyes and walked over to the couch to clean up the glass of wine Calvin had been drinking from leaving mine on the table. Lord knows I was going to need it.
"He was drinking wine!" Davis barked.
"Not every man dislikes wine, Davey," I said as I dumped the liquid down the sink. After a quick rinse I put the glass into the strainer. Without bothering to ask I turned around and grabbed a beer from the fridge and topped the top.
When I came back into the living room Davis was relaxing on the couch flipping through the movie channels. I handed him his beer, snatched up my glass, and sat down beside him.
"Well," he said after a healthy swallow. "I've had a date from hell and you now don't have plans. What do you want to do?"
I sighed into my wine, "order pizza?"
"I can do that," he said as he dropped the remote and pulled his phone from his pocket.
I sat back and let him do his thing. We've order pizza enough times that he already knows the order by heart without asking me. Nights alone with him were nice. I never felt uncomfortable or uneasy in his company.
"So," he said as he tossed his phone down on the table. "While we wait on that, what do you say we finally admit to each other that this whole dating other people thing isn't working. That what we really want has been cuddling up next to us for the better part of ten years, or ya know pick out a movie."
I choked on the sip of wine I had just taken. Did he really just...
"What?" I gasped.
"Movie," he said pointing to the menu on the T.V.
I put my glass down and shook my head, "no. Not that."
"OH!" he exclaimed and placed his beer on the coffee table. "You mean this."
Before I had time to comprehend what he meant, Davis reached out and wrapped a hand behind the back of my neck and pulled me foreword. His lips slammed into mine and I forgot how to breath.
I had dreamt of this moment for years and now that it was here, I was terrified. Davis' other hand came up and cupped my cheek. His thumb stroked my jaw gently as his tongue probed my lips for entrance to which I granted.
He deepened the kiss as I kissed him back. I was so lost in the moment I hadn't felt his hand move to my hips until he gripped them and pulled me into his lap.
I giggled at the move and I felt him smile against my lips. Davis groaned when I threaded my fingers into the hair on the back of his head. I whimpered quietly as he pulled away.
"Hey, now," he said quietly, "I'm not going anywhere."
I slid my hands down to rest on his chest and sighed happily, "What brought this on?"
"Honestly?"
I nodded my head, scared yet hopeful of his answer.
"In all of my thirty-one years," he began while lifting a hand to tuck some of my blonde strands behind my ear. "I've never connected with someone like I have with you. And I'm not just talking about when you smashed into me butt ass naked. When I saw you in my jersey you took my breath away."
I groaned with embarrassment.
Davis chuckled, "I love you, Melissa. While I was on that date tonight, when that psycho showed me those pictures. All I could think about is what our kids would look like. What our life would be like if we would just stop lying to ourselves."
"Are we happy?" I asked.
"Blissfully."
"I love you, too," I smiled.
"I know," he winked.
I slapped his chest and laughed making him chuckle.
"I've pussied out of asking you to be with me so many times because I was terrified of losing your friendship," he explained.
"Me too," I agreed, "WHen you didn't ask me out in college, I just assumed I wasn't your type."
"Yeah, about that," he chucked. "Your dorm mate was my ex from high school and I didn't really want it to be weird if we dated. By the time sophomore year came around I was deep in the friendzone."
"Oooohhh, well that explains a lot."
My freshman roommate in the sorority house had made snide remarks about Davis. I always ignored them though and hadn't bothered to ask her because she didn't like me much either. Now I know why.
"So, were doing this?" I asked quietly.
Davis reached up and cupped my face, "Yeah. We're doing this."