Unlikely Places

Chapter 29 Playing With Fire

"Come on, boy" I said to Cissero as I turned back around to head home.

Archer and Percy were back from their honeymoon and the guys were coming over tonight. It had been planned at the wedding. I knew they wanted to check in and I especially knew they wanted the latest on Pierce.

I was surprised I hadn't heard a peep out of any of them this week, and I had a feeling that was all in thanks to Archer. I doubted they would maintain that continued silence tonight, though.

Nope, tonight I was pretty sure I was fair game.

My mind drifted back to last night. That wasn't a surprise. It was where my mind had pretty much been since being dropped off. Pierce and dinner. Pierce at his home sharing his darkest memory. Pierce kissing me. My mind would often get stuck there and I replayed our first kiss over and over again at least a hundred times. My first kiss period.

It had been... nice. Very, very nice.

I knew that seemed like an underwhelming description but it absolutely wasn't to me. For me, someone who had never imagined kissing anyone at all, it exceeded all of my expectations and then some. Being able to even be that close had been a revelation of how much he was coming to mean to me.

The warmth of his lips, the feel of his hands, the mental realization that Pierce's lips on mine, none of these things had felt threatening to me. They had only felt good.

I had been nervous though and I knew I hadn't participated in the kissing so much as I had let him kiss me, but it hadn't made me like it any less and it hadn't seemed to put Pierce off either.

If anything, it had made me more curious.

Our second kiss even more so.

That kiss had been distinctly different. It had been sweet. At first. Then it had deepened a bit at the end and for a split second I had felt his restraint that I had not sensed in our first kiss. The kiss goodnight had been more than nice. The sweetness had turned to heat but it had ended too soon for me to fully grasp what I was starting to feel. Now I couldn't get it out of my mind.

Neither could I stop wondering when I would have the chance to kiss him again.

I felt the silly smile spread on my face again as I walked up the path to my front door. It had been flitting off and on throughout the morning. I knew it was all because of Pierce. Not just because of the kiss but because of the time we had shared as well.

He had been attentive, humorous, generous, understanding, and even self-mocking. He had freely taken gibes at himself with a humor that I couldn't help but find adorable. For someone who had seemed so uptight, he had completely shown an insight into himself that had set me at ease more than anything else he had done.

He knew his weaknesses as well as he knew his strengths. He laughed about himself when he needed to and asked that I join in. For a person like myself, who felt so flawed in so many ways, it had meant a great deal to me. The fact that he didn't see me as flawed meant even more.

His patience along with the effort that he had shown towards me and my anxiety was amazing to me. He clearly wanted to understand better so that he could help. He hadn't laughed or scoffed or been intolerant. His acceptance of my anxiety as a simple characteristic of me instead of a burdening flaw had been a profoundly poignant moment for me in the midst of our date. I didn't think he had a clue as to how much.

I glanced at my cell to check the time and rushed Cissero into the house when I saw the guys would be here in about an hour. I still needed to shower and straighten up a bit. Cissero had been particularly busy this morning and his toys were strown everywhere. He even had the audacity to look quite pleased at the mess he had made.