Stray Hearts // Charlie Gillespie

17

Lauren almost choked on her drink when I told her about the almost kiss. "Okay, what happened after that?" Jasper asked.

We were all on our break at work, so I was telling them about last night. "Hunter came in and we ended up going to Charlie's apartment."

I still can't believe that it almost happened. I'm a little bummed but also happy that it almost happened.

"And why didn't it happen last night when you were alone?" Lauren asked trying to figure it out.

"It didn't feel right then." I explain. I then had a question. "How did your first kiss with Nolan and Lilli go?" I've kissed people before.

But it was always nothing too serious. Charlie's different though.

With all those other guys, I never felt the way I did for them as I do Charlie.

"Well, with Lilli it was after our second date. I walked her up to her front porch and kissed her there." Jasper explained to me.

"Nolan kissed me at a party so it wasn't too romantic. But we both liked each other so we started dating from there." Lauren explained.

I lean back in the chair as I think about it. I just hope the chance come again. As we sit there, I hear loud music playing from the parking lot.

I look over to see Charlie holding a boom box. Owen and Jeremy were behind him dancing and hyping him up.

I look at my two friends with a confused look as they shrug towards me.

I stand up as they follow me outside. "Taylor Aspen Porter." Charlie said over top the music.

He handed the boom box over to Jeremy as he walked over to me.

"Will you do the honor of going on a date tomorrow night?" I heard Lauren squeal behind me as I smiled.

"With who?" I joke looking around. I heard Jasper groan as I didn't take it serious. "Me, you goof." Charlie chuckled.

But I could tell he was nervous. "Of course I'll go with you." His face beamed as he wrapped his arms around me.

I did the same, feeling safe. They all started cat calling us, making us pull away.

He looked down at me and bit his lip. "I'll message you the details." He winked and started to walk away.

I turn to my two friends who were smiling widely at me. "You're going on a date!" Jasper yelled excitedly.

"Please let me help you figure out what to wear." Lauren begged as I nodded. "I'll be there for protective support." I laughed at Jasper.

The next few hours leading into tomorrow was a little nerve racking. But now Lauren and Jasper were over trying to help me.

"He said it was gonna be casual." I tell Lauren as she looks through my closet. Jasper was sitting on my bed, eating some food.

I saw Lauren beam as she pulled out an outfit. It was pretty good. I went to the bathroom to change.

It was a black crop top and a green cardigan. I put on fishnet stockings and washed out jeans with holes in them.

I put on Doc Martens as I walked out the bathroom. "How does this look?" I ask giving the two a fashion show.

They smiled as Jasper looked over at me. "You look hot." He complimented. I smiled as Lauren told me to sit.

She was going to do my hair. And I trusted her with it since she's going to a hair and beauty school.

She left my bangs out and pulled the top part up. It wasn't much but there's not much to do with my type of hair.

My hair is naturally curly because of having Colombian and Dominican Republic in my blood. I did my makeup, but I didn't put too much on.

The door bell rang causing me to look at them. All my nerves started to overpower me. "I can't do it, why did I say yes?" I panic.

Jasper runs over to me to calm me down. "Yes you can, I believe in you. It's just like hanging out with him any other time." He was right.

I take a deep breath going over to the door. I open it to see Charlie standing there. And man did he look good.

He has on Adidas shoes with khaki pants. He had on a black and white stripped shirt with a beanie. He had flowers in his hand for me.

They were tulips and super pretty. "They're super gorgeous. Thank you Char." I take the flowers from him and smell them.

"I'll put them up for you." Lauren told me as she took them from me. "You ready?" He asked as I nodded my head.

I step off onto the porch. "No hands and her curfew is at eleven." Jasper joked. Charlie nodded as he grabbed my hand and laced our fingers.

"I'll make sure she's home at ten thirty." Charlie joked a long with him. He grimaced while crossing his arms.

"Now you're just brown nosing me." I laughed as we got into the car. I watched Charlie as we drove away.

He looked really attractive when he drives. "So, where are you taking me?" I ask, trying to get it out of him.

He shook his head as he drove. "I'm not telling you." He smiled. He took his right hand off the steering wheel and laced our fingers.

After a twenty minute drive, we ended up at Santa Monica pier.

It was already starting to get dark so the lights were starting to turn on.

"I haven't been here in years." I say looking at it. When he pulls into a parking spot, I start to unbuckle.

He gets out of the car, and then walks around the car. He opens my door, right when I'm about to.

"What a gentleman." I joke as he helps me out. "Only the best." He smiled.

We walk to the pier, hand in hand. I can't believe I'm actually on a date. And it's with a guy I really like.

"You look really nice by the way." He looked down at me and smiled.

"Thanks, you don't look bad yourself." I smile over at him. We walk past one of the booths where you can win a stuffed animal.

I look at it to see a giant corn on the cob. I gasp as I hit Charlie's chest. He looked at me strangely.

"Look at the corn." I point to him making him look at it. He smirked at me as he dragged me towards it.

"What are you doing?" I ask laughing. "I'm getting you the corn." We got to the booth, and he paid five dollars to play.

I watched him as he made the basketball in the hoop all three times. He actually won me the corn.

"Thank you." I tell him as we start walking again. My right hand was laced with his, and my left arm was holding the corn.

"Anything for you." He cheekily smiled. There weren't many people here which was surprising for a Saturday night.

We rode a few rides, which was really fun. As we walked, I swear I heard thunder.

I looked at Charlie as he looked at me. "Was that thunder?" He asked stopping in his tracks.

And before I knew it, it started pouring on us. I was starting to get soaked as we stood there. I laughed as I looked up.

It was pouring, but it didn't bother me. I looked at Charlie as he looked at me. He came over to me and placed his hands on my cheeks.

He leaned in, crashing his mouth onto mine. I was in shock at first, but I ended up kissing him back.

I dropped the corn and wrapped my arms around his neck as we kissed in sync.

It was purely magical. I could feel the electricity run through my body as I kissed him. We pulled away for air, but kept out foreheads on each other.

I'm so happy I went to that singles club.