After walking her back that night, they didn't really discuss the kisses, but he did press another one to her cheek before making sure she got inside. She watched as he walked away from the apartment and towards the main road to hail a cab. His kiss left her cheek a little sticky, but she still had a goofy smile on her face when he walked through the door.
"What happened?" Kate practically pounced on her and Theodore actually pounced on her, throwing himself into the air and putting his front paws onto her thigh. Michael was nowhere to be seen but Kate had already changed into a soft pair of shorts and was sitting crosslegged on the couch, her hands clasped together.
"We got ice cream," Leigh dragged out, petting the canine on the head and walking over to the kitchen for a glass of water, "Then we might have kissed."
"What!" Kate was just barely on the side of not shouting, showing much self-control.
"It was a small one! A small kiss, and then another smaller kiss. Then he kissed me on the cheek at the door." Leigh shrugged, trying to remain cool but it was almost impossible not to be giddy when talking to Kate.
"What a gentleman!" She clapped and Michael came out of the bathroom on a cue.
"Don't go in there." He announced, sitting on the couch next to his girlfriend. Both women groaned, "How was it?"
Leigh smiled despite the promise of a stinky bathroom, "It was good. Really good."
They didn't end up hanging out the next day, or even anytime during the next two weeks. While Leigh was somewhat disappointed, she was also grateful since her summer course was ending and required a lot of her focus to finish the final research paper. Their texts continued sporadically, but since Anthony sent her a panicked text of 'I downloaded snapchat, what do I do with this', they traded ten second clips of their daily lives back and forth between text messages.
She was downtown on this particular afternoon to present her research to the class and her professor— she had spent the entire commute on her bike rehearsing and repeating her statistics and her thoughts. She continued to practice during the short walk between parking garage and the building, she spoke aloud in the empty elevator, and whispered to herself on the way into the classroom. There was a time when she didn't care about public speaking, Leigh had passed her required speech class with flying colors and never got anxious about it once. Things changed, though, when she started to go to DePaul. These classes meant something to her, either their subject matter or their contribution to her degree. Because of their significance, Leigh had started to feel the pressure. She had worked the night before until close and didn't go to bed until very late, since she had gotten off of work and then continued to polish off her presentation.
You'll do great! Break a leg?
i think that only counts for theatre. thank you anyway (:
Anthony's text helped to ground her a bit, remind her that she was overreacting for a simple presentation that consisted of content she was confident in. Leigh avoided tugging on her uncomfortable dress clothes that the professor required her students to wear on presentation days and willed herself to exude confidence.
So in she went, volunteering to go first and meeting the required time as she presented her research on the differences between how women were framed in classic Hollywood cinema and in modern day cinema. The professor, usually a tightlipped woman who avoided showing any emotion or giving any personal bias in her lectures, actually gave Leigh a handful of proud smiles during some of her observations.
When Leigh returned to her seat, she heard a couple of other students groan and knew that it meant she had overshot her original goal of passing and managed to excel. Which was good, because she spent two weeks living with her head in books to compile the research.
Sitting in her spot in the back of the classroom for the last time, Leigh listening to the other's presentations and texted Anthony, who should have had a game later, she realized.
shouldn't you be getting ready to kick marlin butt right now?
Have you seen the weather? It got rescheduled about an hour ago. I just got home.
whaaaat? i just got here.
Leigh pulled up her weather app and took a look at the radar picture.
"Shit," She mouthed silently, watching as the storm cell moved closer. Huffing out a sigh, Leigh put her things into her bag and slipped out of the classroom, opting to head home a bit early to avoid the storm. She had been so preoccupied rehearsing for her final that she didn't even notice the terrible looking clouds when she decided to take her motorcycle to class.
Are you gonna wait out the storm at school?
hell no i'm making a break for it right now.
She was out of the building in minutes, jogging over to the parking garage and glancing up at the sliver of sky she could see between the skyscrapers.
If you want, I'm closer to DePaul. My place is like, five minutes northwest.
sure, if you dont mind me hanging out for a bit.
Leigh paused, one leg over her bike while she waited for his response. Finally, it came and an address followed it up. Quickly checking it out on her navigation, she noted it was actually eight minutes away but shrugged, putting her phone in her waterproof backpack and praying that the rain held off for eight minutes.
As she sped around as many cars as possible, her legs hugging the sides of her rehabbed Yamaha XJ, the rain began to fall in thick drops, running down her domed helmet and dripping into her jacket. It hit her knees and soaked through her nice dress pants. Leigh found the closest parking spot to the address and ran up the steps, consciously knowing that running made you more wet. The rain was cold and dripping down the small of her back, making her eager to get indoors.
She was buzzed in the front gate and saw Anthony waiting for her just inside the door.
"You didn't make it in time!" He spoke as she rushed towards him, having to raise his voice over the sound of rain pelting the concrete. Leigh stepped inside the house, taking her helmet off finally and letting a shiver take over her body. "Oh god, you're soaked, come on in."
Leigh remained quiet as she shed her shoes in the hallway and observed the rowhouse from the inside. Anthony beckoned her into the front room and ran off into one of the rooms in the back of the house.
She looked around and saw how it was decorated— it was obvious what was put up and painted by his mother or a decorator, and his touches stuck out like a sore thumb. It was charming, Leigh thought, as she let her gaze flicker over the picture frames on the crowded fireplace mantle. Hanging on the walls were prints of the ocean, looking more vast and blue than Lake Michigan ever did. She wondered, briefly, if he was ever homesick for his home state of Florida. There was a miniature Miami Dolphins helmet on the coffee table that seemed so out of place and at the same time, at home.
Anthony returned with a small pile of clothes in his arms, "I can dry your clothes for you if you wanna change?"
"You are a god send." Leigh finally said, smiling through another full body shiver and accepting the soft clothes. He pointed her to a bathroom and she shuffled in, quickly shedding the wet clothes that had begun to stick to her and trading them for the ones that were still warm from the dryer. He had given her a pair of gray basketball shorts and a blue hoodie, making Leigh quietly chuckle. She didn't think Anthony really looked at what he was grabbing, but they were still comfortable in a loose frat boy kind of way. The hoodie was worn in places and obviously well loved.
She emerged from the bathroom feeling warmer and much more comfortable.
"Let me take those. Have a seat on the couch or something, make yourself at home." Anthony swooped in to take the pile of wet clothes she was holding at arm's length and going back to the laundry room in the back of the house.
Leigh shrugged and disregarded the loveseat for the overstuffed couch that sat along one wall. She sat with her legs under her, realizing with a start that there was some healthy blonde stubble on them.
Anthony returned, letting out a sigh when he saw that she had curled up on the couch. He took a look at the clothes then groaned, "I didn't even notice that I grabbed basketball shorts— if you want, I can get some sweatpants or—"
"Anthony, it's fine. Thank you so much for loaning me some dry clothes." She smiled up at him, patting the cushion next to her.
Without a thought, he accepted and sat close to her. It seemed that it had taken them up until now to remember that the last time they were together there were kisses traded and they had never actually addressed that.
"So—" He started and Leigh exhaled quickly and interrupted him.
"I've only been in this neighborhood a couple of times, actually. I got a tattoo done at the shop down on Milwaukee."
"Insight?" Anthony squinted, obviously trying to remember the name of the place he probably passed often.
"That's the one. Ever been?" Leigh asked, feeling her heart rate level out as they got into casual territory.
"Nah, I don't have any tattoos, no reason to be inside. What did you get done there? I didn't know you had ink." He had to know what Leigh was doing, but he continued the line of conversation anyway, keeping it light.
"Oh yeah, I've got ink. It's mainly hidden though." Leigh said, pulling one of her legs out from under her and lifting the side of the shorts to show him a complicated thigh piece of a dragon. "I got this done at Insight. Took about three hours but it was so worth it."
Anthony caught himself reaching out to touch it and stopped his fingers from getting closer, "Three hours? That's a long time. All at once?"
"Yeah, it was a long day. I get gross and sweaty when I get tattooed. I think I have a low pain tolerance. Have you touched a tattoo before?"
He shook his head, the tips of his ears looking a bit more pink than before. He's seen them in the clubhouse and the dugout and even some of his friends back home had them, but he's never been in the position to touch one.
"You can, if you want. You probably won't feel much though on this one. The lines are softer and it's all healed up." She shrugged, trying to feign being blase as his fingers crept closer. Finally, the pads of them lightly rested on her thigh, tracing the spine of the dragon. "If you want to feel a newer one—"
She ignored the chill that ran through her when he brushed his fingers across her thigh and shifted, pulling her arm out of the sleeve and poking her shoulder up through the wide neck hole of the hoodie. His eyes followed the movement and after holding eye contact with her for a second, landed on the part of her shoulder that she bared to him. The skin that she revealed was pink from the rain and dotted with freckles. Leigh tugged the black strap of her bra up a bit higher and took his hand from where it rested on the couch between them. He stretched his fingers out and she placed them on the heavy outline of the cephalofoil of the hammerhead shark that was exposed. Anthony was struck by the stark difference of the thick black outline and the delicate pale skin of her shoulder. His fingers lightly ran over the outline and he was surprised that he could feel it— slightly raised and rough.
"She's only about five months old, so you can still feel it a bit." Leigh explained, shrugging with the shoulder he wasn't touching.
Anthony caught himself getting closer and staring, so he sat back and removed his hand, "Why a hammerhead shark?"
"Oh!" Leigh's face brightened and she struggled to dampen her enthusiasm, "I love sharks, man, they're so cool. I have a great white tattoo as well. In my dream world, I'd be able to work with them. I'd love to raise awareness about how much we need them in our oceans and yet how little we're doing to save them."
She saw a slow smile creep across Anthony's face and raised her eyebrow at it, a nonverbal question. When he didn't respond, she verbalized it, "What's so amusing?"
"That's the first time I've seen you get really passionate about something. I can tell you're holding back. You seemed so chill and laid back but sharks are your weakness. It's just— it's cute." He explained, reaching out to tug the hoodie back over her shoulder.
Suddenly the conversation was serious again and the two lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Leigh could feel the anxiety begin to form a pit in her belly even though she was feeling overall content. Eager to get rid of the feeling and clear the air finally, she spoke first.
"So this is awkward, isn't it?"
Anthony's let out a surprised bark of laughter, "Oh god, it is."
"Were the kisses mistakes or not because I feel like that's where we should start." Leigh managed to level a look at him that was lighter than how she was feeling. She couldn't meet his eye when she asked him though, and looked down, finally seeing that he was wearing a worn looking Team Italia shirt and black sweatpants. He really was just enjoying a night at home without responsibilities.
"No, god no. Did you think they were?" He replied, his hands waving in something akin to panic.
Leigh shook her head and gave him a small smile, "Okay, so...?"
"Well, I like talking to you, even if it's in small fragments throughout the day, and you know, you're— you're really attractive-" He looked up at her when she started to chuckle, "What?"
"I'm sorry, that's just the first time someone's said I was 'attractive'."
"Not just attractive, but really attractive." He smiled at her.
"Okay, anyway, you were saying?" She urged him along, nervous all over again and remembering her conversation with Kate the night that they had met him. She was reluctant to start a relationship then and she still is now. Her life felt precarious, barely structured however hard she tried to organize it. Leigh still found herself avoiding walking at night or riding her bike without a full helmet to hide her face.
"I'd like to spend more time with you, you know? But I'm not completely ready—"
"Obviously, I agree." Leigh interrupted him again, the relief rushing out of her in a forceful exhale. Anthony gave her an anxious smile.
"But, it's worth considering, yeah?"
"Of course." She returned his small smile and they sat there, their grins growing and finally Leigh laughed first, with him following soon after.
"Does that mean I can still kiss you, though?" He asked and Leigh was amazing by how a grown man could look so shy, his thick limbs looking unrestful and nervous.
"Oh, I don't see why not." She lifted the corner of her mouth up in a smirk, still relieved and frankly, feeling good. Their relationship had a trial period— something she wished she had on her others. She could enjoy herself for awhile until Anthony realized that she carried too much baggage and moved on.
"Good," He replied, leaning forward and meeting Leigh halfway with his lips pressed against hers. She couldn't help but smile into the kiss and when he deepened it, her body gave off an involuntary shiver, causing him to pull away. "Are you still cold?"
"Not really," She said as another shiver wracked her body. He shook his head and grabbed a blanket that was draped on the far arm of the couch and situated her so she was sitting with her back to his chest and the blanket was wrapped around both of them comfortably.
"Wanna grab the remote?" Anthony asked, nodding his head towards the coffee table. Leigh leaned over and grabbed it, handing it to him and settling back in against his chest. She absentmindedly hoped the ends of her hair that had gotten wet weren't bothering him, but she was really too comfortably and content to care. The shivers had calmed down as he flipped through channels, using Leigh's unique grunts as a gauge of what she didn't want to watch. Exhaustion from the lack of sleep and the emotional rollercoaster she had just travelled on had begun to take its toll, making it difficult for her to focus on the television screen.
Finally he settled on a replay of a football game from last season, surprised when Leigh didn't make a noise that told him to keep looking. After a few quiet minutes of the game, he realized that her breathing was even and her head was heavy against his shoulder. Leigh had fallen asleep on him. Anthony didn't bother trying to stifle his grin, but blushed happily behind her.