Starting With You

21. We have the rest of forever.

Jensen

ONCE WE PULL UP TO THE RESTAURANT TEDDY glances out the window with wide eyes. "Giovani's?" she squeals.

I shrug. "Sutton suggested it."

Giovani's is an Italian restaurant in Maybury, about a half an hour away from Lake Hope. It sits right along the shore of a lake giving it a fancier feel than your average Italian restaurant. The price tag limits how often people tend to patronize the establishment.

After our botched first date, I decided Sutton's original idea of bringing Teddy here didn't sound so bad. Not that I admitted that to my sister. I wasn't about to ignite a series of texts in the group chat again.

I lead my girlfriend into the restaurant with a possessive hand on her lower back and I give the hostess my name. We're seated almost immediately at a table overlooking the lake. The moon's reflection sparkles in the water, and I tally another plus in Date #2's column.

"This is a little weird, right?" Teddy asks once the waiter takes our order. She's fingering the condensation on her water glass.

"Which part? That we're on a date together? Or that the date is fancy?" I question her, taking her fidgety hand into mine over the table. I caress my thumb over her palm, noting it's a bit clammy.

"Both maybe?" she phrases it as a question, then shrugs.

She's silent as she looks out at the water, thinking. "Actually, no." She turns back to me. "It's not weird for either of those reasons. Maybe weird isn't the right word. It's more surreal. Like I want to pinch myself to make sure it's real, you know?" Her eyes twinkle as they peer into mine.

I wish there wasn't a table separating us because I really want to kiss her. Instead, I bring her hand up to my mouth, placing a soft kiss on the back of her wrist. "You feel that, right?" When she nods, I kiss her palm. "And that?" She nods again. "You don't need to pinch yourself, baby. It's real."

Our sweet moment is interrupted when the waiter drops our drinks off with a basket of bread. Teddy snatches a buttery slice of bread and breaks off a big chunk in her mouth. I laugh, shaking my head. "You're really living up to your nickname right now, Chipmunk."

She chucks the bread at me and pretends offense. "You can take me to a fancy restaurant, but you can't expect me to be all prim and proper."

"Would never dream of it," I say, popping the remainder of her bread into my mouth. "I happen to like my Chipmunk as is."

Dinner goes by smoothly, my mental tally of Date #1 versus Date #2 continuing to add points to the latter's column. Once I pay the bill, I escort my date out of the restaurant, pausing outside the passenger side of my truck.

Teddy straightens the collar of my shirt, smoothing her hands down my chest. "That was really nice, Jensen. Thank you." She raises onto her tiptoes and lightly brushes her lips over mine. "Although I still maintain that the first date didn't need a do-over. This is just our second date."

I open the door and help her into the truck, leaning in to steal another kiss. "You can get used to it because I plan on spoiling the shit out of you."

Before I can back away, she rakes her fingers through my hair, pulling me back in for a deeper kiss. Her tongue swipes across my lips and I instantly let her in, but I allow her to lead the kiss. Her style of kissing has quickly become my favorite addiction. When she pulls away, I nip at her bottom lip and then smooth my tongue over the sting.

"Ready?" I ask before closing the door.

The drive back is mostly quiet. She fiddles with the radio a bit before giving up and settling into the seat. I reach over the center console to take her hand and she smiles at me.