Then, she threw a cherry at me.
Fuck yeah.
This was exactly the reaction I was hoping for. She was so caught up in the ridiculousness of this situation, she’d forgotten to obsess about her anxiety, and it was no longer building up.
“Jake, you are nuts, you know that?”
“Oh! Speaking of nuts…” I reached into the bottom of my backpack for something I’d forgotten to put out. “You need to sample my nuts, Nina. Try these.”
I’d fully intended to embarrass her, and it had worked. God, it was so easy. “Why are you blushing?” I asked.
“I don’t want to taste your nuts, thanks.” She smiled.
She was playing along. What a rush. Now that I knew she appreciated sexual innuendos, I’d have to make a note to throw some more at her. It would be worth it just to see her cheeks light up into that beautiful shade of pink. I had to shake my dirty mind from wondering what other beautiful shades of pink hid beneath her clothes.
I handed her the container of chocolate-covered nuts, and we continued to just enjoy the music together.
“So, Nina, what’s been your favorite part about today so far?”
“Hmm…let’s see. There were lots,” she said facetiously. “But I think number one goes to…pissing my pants a little when you popped the cork, causing me to actually believe for a moment that the elevator had exploded into a ball of fire. Thanks for that.”
“That’s what I’m here for, Kodak moments like that.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Nina?”
“Yeah?”
“Next time, I’ll pack some spare underwear in the back pack for you.”
Just like that, another chocolate-covered Bing cherry flew at my face.
I was feeling a little buzzed, and it made me want to flirt with her. “You’re lucky you’re cute when you’re losing oxygen.”
She didn’t respond.
Then, she started to laugh when Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealer’s Wheel came on.
“You like that, huh?” I asked.
“You’re crazy…but you know what? I’m not panicking anymore, so there is something to this.”
I winked at her. “Good girl.” I realized I’d said it in an overtly sexual way that made her blush again.
We stopped talking for a bit and just lay in silence as the music played. Nina closed her eyes, and I decided to do the same. It hit me how exhausting the day had been. I had no clue what time it even was although it didn’t matter, because this was exactly where I wanted to be. I was in no rush to go back to reality.
My eyes opened at one point, and hers were still closed. This time, it wasn’t out of fear. She looked almost peaceful, and I gave myself a mental pat on the back. It was the first time I could really stare at her without her knowing. Nina was more naturally beautiful than the handful of women I’d been with in recent years. With smooth, milky skin, she didn’t need an ounce of makeup. I had the urge to reach over and tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.
I shut my eyes, and this time when I opened them, I caught her staring at me. She looked away immediately. I closed my eyes again and opened them ever so slightly, just enough to see her but make her think I couldn’t and observed her looking over at me the entire time.
What she really thought of me was a mystery. I felt like she was physically attracted to me, but I wondered if I scared her a little.
I snapped my eyes open suddenly. As anticipated, she whipped her head away from me.
I decided to mess with her. “Have you had your fill?”
“Excuse me?”
“Should I put this stuff away?”
A look of relief washed over her face when she realized I wasn’t referring to her ogling me. “Oh…yeah…um…yes.”
Just as I was done putting the food away, my own nerves kicked in when a song I’d originally debated not adding to the playlist came on. I’d been specifically looking for songs about elevators last night when a tune called Stuck in the Elevator came up in my search. Whereas all the other songs I’d picked were meant to be funny, this one was slow, serious and almost hypnotizing. The words conveyed what I couldn’t have known last night but exactly what I was feeling right now: that somehow being here with her in this moment felt meant to be.
With my back against the wall, I shut my eyes again and wondered if she was getting the meaning of the song.
Her soft voice startled me. “Who sings this?”
“It’s a song I found online called Stuck in the Elevator by Edie Brickell. You like it?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Good.”
“You’re still insane, though,” she said quietly.
I opened my eyes to find her mouth spread into the most beautiful smile she’d given me yet. It should have felt good, but instead, it triggered a feeling of dreadful longing inside my gut.
I had a crush on her—like a fucking kid. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like this. Forced to grow up too fast, my teenage years before Ivy were all a blur. I definitely couldn’t recall feeling anything remotely similar before. If I were that teenager, life would be simple and nothing would be holding me back from pursuing her. Instead, I was a twenty-four-year-old legally married man playing a dangerous game with my heart. Getting closer to her, knowing that we couldn’t ever really be together was a bad idea.
Two voices in my head seemed to be competing with each other as the song continued to play.