Downhill From Here

43. Your Body Close To Mine

Bowie's POV

1:37 pm

I stuffed a small spoon of rice into my mouth and sighed, watching Nathan eat from his poke bowl with chopsticks. His was filled with more vegetables than mine which I appreciated.

A small board of fruit sat in between us with ice-cold drinks from the cooler in the basket.

I was grateful that Nathan had found a spot with a bit of shade because it only seem to get hotter as the afternoon went on. My hair was already fucking done for in this humidity.

The air felt warm as a cool breeze tickled my back every couple of minutes.

After I had stopped my being so emo earlier, Nathan had explained that he had come out here in the morning to set everything up.

It was a crazy thing for me to process. He went to all this effort just for a first date. And the way he knew exactly what I would love made my heart melt.

I didn't even tell him what I liked in a poke bowl and yet he somehow knew.

I wanted to get used to this. I wanted to know what Nathan was like in the mornings right when he first woke up. Was he talkative or quiet? Was he thinking about a future with the two of us? I wanted to know what he thought about me in ways that he hadn't already expressed. Like I knew so much about him but at the same time, I felt like there was so much I didn't know. It made no sense considering we spent so much time together. I mean how much left was there to learn?

Like what the hell was his favorite color? Did he prefer the winter because he lived in Aspen? How many kids did want after Lilo?

"Do you feel like we know each other really well?" I blurted aloud. Nathan finished chewing and closed his compostable container. I had already eaten most of my food and I was already getting full so I closed mine as well.

I took a sip of my fruit punch and awaited his answer.

"Yeah, I think so." He said softly. He grabbed a grape from the bowl of fruit in between us.

"What's my favorite color?"

"Orange," he answered easily.

I blinked at him in surprise.

"Specifically sunrise orange." He wore a smug smile that made me wonder how much he'd been paying attention to the things I said randomly.

"My favorite season?"

"Fall."

"Favorite tv-show?"

"Law and Order: SVU or sometimes you like to rewatch The Walking Dead...like a lot."

I blinked at him while he took a sip of his water. Damn.

"I've never even told you those things. How did you--"

"I don't know if you're aware but you have a way of living..." He pressed his lips together in a smile and looked down at the space between us. We were sitting side by side with only a bowl of grapes separating us and a little shoulder space. "...you're just very open and everything about you is very loud."

"Loud?" I repeated with raised brows. "I don't know how I feel about that."

"It's not an insult. I mean it in the sense that everything straight to the point and I like that about you." He brushed a curl behind my ear this time, sending shivers down my spine. "Sometimes I wish I was as transparent and honest as you."

It was ironic considering how much shit I hadn't told him yet.

"I want to know more about you," I requested. "I like you a lot. You know that right?"