Rhys: I’ll be there to pick you up after work.
Me: And how exactly do you know where I work?
I’m only half expecting a reply since it’s already 10:30 and I get off work at 11, but I’m surprised when a new message comes in less than a minute later.
Rhys: I googled the name of the home.
Me: What about my car?
Rhys: Leave it. I’ll drive you back in the morning.
A warm buzz settles over my skin at his words, the fatigue I was feeling minutes ago disappearing.
Me: What makes you think I want to go anywhere with you at 11 at night?
I planned on moving my car from the driveway in the back of the home to a spot on the street in the front, so that there’s space for the morning staff to park, but I’m not about to let him know I’m that easy. I’m not afraid to admit that he’s got my interest piqued either.
Rhys: Cohen.
I have to stifle a moan behind my hand and fake a cough to make sure I’ve covered the noise effectively. When I glance up at my coworkers sitting at the dining room table, neither of them are paying attention to me so I turn back to my phone. I can pretty well hear him growling my name, like he’s done numerous times before on the phone and over video messenger. It’s been six months since I’ve heard his voice. I cross my legs and squeeze my thighs to try and stem the ache that the image of my name rolling off of his tongue has elicited.
Rhys: I’m outside. Get that sexy ass out here.
As soon as the text comes in saying that he’s waiting outside, I jump up from the couch ignoring the questioning looks from my coworkers and quickly finish my charting on the computer before grabbing my jacket and purse, waving goodbye while heading down the hallway to the garage and out the backdoor. I see a white pickup parked and idling at the end of the line of parked cars. I wave and then shoot off a text to let him know that I’m going to move my car real quick.
After moving my car to the front of the house, butterflies start taking flight in my stomach as the realization that I’m about to meet Rhys for the first time dawns on me. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for the better part of a year, but now that it’s here I’m not entirely sure if I want to go through with it. What if none of the easy conversation we seem to have extends to when we’re together in person? What if it turns out he’s really not the person he seemed in the text messages and phone calls? It’s one thing to start and foster a relationship with someone online, it’s entirely another thing to move that relationship into real life. After a few deep breaths and convincing myself that if it turns out to be awkward and not at all what I imagined, I don’t have to call or text him back after tonight, I step out of the car and set the alarm before heading back to the waiting pickup truck.
As soon as I’m seated in the passenger seat with the door closed, Rhys grins and leans over with his arm outstretched like he’s going for a hug. I lean in, not expecting him to cup the back of my head and pull me in for a kiss. His lips are warm and surprisingly soft when they land on mine. I melt into him when he teases my lips open with his tongue and really starts kissing me. His taste is addictive, like a chocolate mint.
“Hi,” he breathes when he lets me go and we come up for air.
“Hi.” I grin, still leaning halfway over the center console.
Rhys smiles and gently rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. He leans in for another kiss, this one not as long as the first and then straightens up in his seat, telling me to buckle up and I do. He refuses to tell me where we’re going for the entire drive, but from the roads he takes, I can tell that we’re headed up to East Kelowna. When we leave the city limits, he pulls over to the side of the road and hands me a blind fold. I eye the black fabric skeptically and then look over at him. He just grins back.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Are you sure you’re not a serial killer?” I ask, trying and failing to keep the teasing tone out of my voice.
The light from the streetlamp shining into the dark of the cab, makes him look intimidating, like a vampire stalking his prey. Except, this prey won’t be running. At least not away from him. The way he’s looking at me right now, I would run towards him and let him do whatever he wants with me.
“Put on the blindfold, Cohen,” he drawls, his voice low and doing delicious things to the spot between my legs.
When I have the blindfold secured over my eyes and I’m assuming after he makes sure I can’t see shit, the truck begins to move again. But it’s not long before we’re turning right, and I hear the tires driving over gravel. It’s still warm out so Rhys had the windows rolled down when he picked me up from work. I can hear crickets in the distance and is that a stream?
After several more minutes, Rhys turns the truck again and then… backs it up? My interest was piqued before but I’m even more curious now. Where are we? And what could he possibly have planned for our date at 11:30 at night.
Chapter 4
Rhys
After parking the truck, I tell Cohen to hang tight, and then jump out. I jog around back to lower the tailgate and plug the lights into the generator my dad brought out here less than an hour ago. Using the lights to guide my way, I rearrange the pillows and blankets I had stashed in the bed of the truck earlier and then grab the food from the cooler my dad had also brought here. I arrange the various meats, cheese, fruit, savoury bread, and olives on the plate like my mom had shown me earlier. I had no idea what a charcuterie board was except that it was Cohen’s favourite so I enlisted my mom and sister’s help in putting together a board for Cohen for tonight.
When I have everything set up and the movie cued, I head around to the other side of the truck and open Cohen’s door, taking her hand in mine and directing her to step on the running board first before hopping down.
“Where are we?” she asks, her head tipping to the side at the sound of the crickets and frogs.
“You’ll see.” I take her hand and direct her to the back of the truck before manoeuvring her in front of me. I position us just to the side of the truck so that when she takes off the blindfold, she can see everything. I sweep her blonde hair off her shoulders and lean in to whisper in her ear. “Remove the blindfold.”
Cohen shivers but leans back into me and I automatically fold my arms around her waist as her hands lift to remove the covering.
“Oh my god, Rhys!” she gasps, taking in the big screen and then looking over at the bed of the truck lined in white Christmas lights, with blankets and pillows in the middle.
“I know how much you were looking forward to our date tonight. It’s not the fancy date we had planned, but I still wanted to do something for you.”
Cohen turns in my arms and wraps her arms around my neck. It’s dark but the lights give off enough light for me to see the way she’s grinning up at me as she leans up on her tip toes and kisses me. “No, it’s not. It’s even better.”
I press her closer with one hand on the small of her back and my other around the back of her neck as I kiss her again. This one more heated than the peck she gave me earlier. Reluctantly, I pull back ending the kiss. I didn’t bring her out here so that I could get into her pants. I mean, if that happens then it’ll be a bonus but now that we’re together in the same city, I wanted to give her the date I’ve been promising her for several months. The date I’ve been looking forward to, too. The original plan was to take her to one of the wineries that had just opened up again and was practicing social distancing in their seating, but then I had gotten the text from Cohen saying she had been called in to work. I knew she was probably going to be exhausted by the time her shift ended, but I was also a selfish asshole and wanted to see her. To touch her and finally get to kiss her after a year of talking online and over the phone.