Chapter 14

14

TANNER

“Okay, so how do I look?” I do a little spin in the lobby of the Student Union. Humans and monsters meander about, hopefully not paying me any mind. I feel a little silly, but I’m desperate for input.

“You’re interrupting our movie night,” Owen states while munching popcorn.

I roll my eyes—I shouldn’t have expected Owen to be some fashion guru. Rachel and Shonda walk through the main entrance and stop, gaping at me in awe.

“Tanner!” Shonda nearly squeals.

“You look great,” Rachel adds.

“Really?” I spin around again and look down. I’m wearing a vertically-striped orange button-down over tight ripped blue jeans. I sniff my pits. “Do I smell okay?”

“You smell fine, but can we go to the movie now?” Owen asks, still munching away.

Shonda dismissively waves him off. “You look and smell terrific.”

“You don’t think it’s too much?”

“It’s never too much to impress on a first date,” Rachel remarks.

“Aw, I’m so excited for you!” Shonda leans in to hug me.

“Don’t get my hopes up too high now.” I laugh nervously, but yes, the hopes are way high. This is Kovi, we’re talking about. The boy I used to play with as kids is all grown up, and he’s sweet, generous, and sexy. Sure, he hurt me by accident, but I’m moving past that.

“You tell us everything tomorrow,” Shonda implores.

“Yes, Kovi will totally be impressed, but the X-Men movie awaits us,” Owen says impatiently.

“You’re living your own romance novel tonight, man.” Rachel winks at me.

“Good luck!” Shonda crosses her fingers and grins while Owen ushers them into the Student Union classroom. On weekend nights, the school hosts movies on campus, but tonight, I have other plans.

I pat down my hair, but before I head out, Owen reappears in front of me.

“Uh…”

“You should know,” he says in a hushed tone. “Just because monsters have different genetics than us doesn’t mean you can’t catch sexually transmitted diseases. Prophylaxis is highly advised.” He shoves his glasses up. I’m not sure why I assumed this nerd didn’t know what sex was.

I look around, and the girls are nowhere in sight. “I…bought some this morning.” I pat my pocket where I’m keeping a packet of lube and condoms just in case we speed past all four bases.

Owen grins then we pound fists. “Then enjoy, Tanner.”

With that, my three closest human friends are gone, and I’m off to pick up my date.

After I text Kovi, it takes all but three minutes before he’s striding out his door. He’s out of breath from apparently running, but seeing him takes my own breath away. He’s wearing a loose-fitting black short-sleeved button-down with a tight gray tank top underneath. The top complements his skin-tight dark green trousers, and I nearly gasp in arousal.

He is one sexy dryad. And I am one lucky dude.

“Hey.” He gives me a wave, and I wave back.

“Um, hey.” Real smooth, Tanner. I want to look cool, but I also want to play it cool. We briskly walk off campus to the parking lots while nervous energy thrums through me. This is my first formal date ever, but Kovi doesn’t need to know that. He looks so handsome, so sexy, and he actually agreed to date me.

I don’t say much by the time we make it to my car. I open the passenger door and he smiles with such sincerity it takes my breath away. “Such a gentleman. Thank you.” He ducks his head in, and I close the door behind him.

When I get into my seat, I look over to my right. I’m a nervous wreck, but Kovi looks like he’s trying hard not to break down. He’s equal parts endearing and attractive, and I recall how soft his lips were.

Eh, screw it. I lean across the gear shift and pull on his shirt collar. He looks down at my mouth and slowly meets me halfway. We kiss, a gentle, subtle dance of lips on one another, and my heartbeat picks up. It might be too soon to say, but I think my heart beats for you, Kovi Sampath .

We pull back and share a grin. “Wow,” he says breathlessly.

“I…probably should have saved that for the end of the first date.”

He laughs. “I’m not complaining.” He puts his hand on my knee, and I swear, I get hard instantly. “We’re going about this whole dating thing out of order anyway. Since we’ve already kissed.”

“Many times.” I wink at him, and he chortles. “Dinner?” Kovi nods and removes his hand, and I shift into drive.

Dinner is perfect, if I do say so myself. The Thai restaurant I chose is affordable with ample, flavorful servings. Kovi and I don’t stop talking the entire time. He regales me about the hijinks of his monster roommates, and I tell him my weirdest construction worker stories. We share laughs, and I could talk to him for hours. Any awkwardness from before has all but dissipated; it’s like hanging out with my oldest friend. In many ways, my friendship with Kovi is old and new, and I’m hoping this is the start to the next chapter of our relationship.

My first date is, thus far, equal parts romantic and fun.

After our meal, I take him to our next date destination and park in the lot under a streetlamp.

“The Natural History Museum?”

“Yup,” I reply with a grin.

“I didn’t realize you were so into history.”

I approach him as we walk past the other parked cars in the darkness. “I actually grew to like this place because I did a construction gig here.”

“Really?” He laces his fingers with mine and my heart wants to burst.

“Yeah, I helped with the foundation of the planetarium wing. It’s sick.”

We make our way up a dozen marble front steps. The structure is an older building with stone columns flanking the entrance. The relatively new wing expanding out the west side seems out of place, but I know that the Creelin Natural History Museum has much to offer.

“I don’t know anything about space,” he says.

I freeze before I get to the ticket booth. It dawns on me that this might be too nerdy or offbeat, and I cringe. “Sorry. Maybe we could go do something else, and—”

“No, no, I like it!” Kovi raises his hands in surrender. “I want this!”

“Really?” I relax my back.

“Yeah.” He bumps his shoulders into mine and grins. “As long as you’re with me, I’m sure I’ll have a good time.”

Hearing his words, I know I’m cherry red on my cheeks.

Twenty minutes later, we wander through the halls and head to my target. The planetarium is showing an exhibit about monsters in honor of Halloween. The show is about to begin, and hardly any patrons are around. Kovi and I take a seat in the black leather chairs and allow them to recline as the lights dim.

The round ceiling changes color as digital projections fly across the screen. The announcer’s booming voice echoes through the miniature planetarium.

“Where did the Halloween Wave come from? The Organization for Monster Enhancement has been searching for these answers for decades. Just like monsters vary throughout Earth, so do the constellations…”

He goes on to narrate about the cosmos and how they relate to modern-day monster species. As we watch, I feel Kovi’s smooth hand take mine again. When I turn to look at him, he isn’t even eyeing me, choosing to instead watch the planetarium show. The glow of the satellites on his dark skin paints him in a heavenly light, literally. My heart flutters at the sight.

Every moment I spend with Kovi only makes me crave him more.

After the exhibit show and strolling through the museum, we call it a night. “I feel so educated, so cultured!” Kovi says, and I guffaw. We’ve been holding hands on and off all evening, and his skin keeps sending sparks across my skin.

I once again open the door for him and then get in the driver’s seat. Before I can start it, he puts his hand over mine on the gear shift. “Kovi…”

I don’t even know who lunged for whom first. It’s all a blur as we reach for each other, his mouth on mine, my hands around his shoulders. He smells like the forest; I think he’s cast a dryad spell on me, because I could breathe him in forever. We kiss and kiss, and I want this date to finish the best way possible. But I need to be a gentleman and let this sexy monster take the lead.

I pull back and take a deep breath. I stroke his cheek and we both grin. “Has this been a good date?”

“The best.” He turns and gazes around at the dark of the night. “The night is still young, Mr. McGregor.”

I gulp and my eyes flick to his swollen lips. He rubs the back of my neck, and the stirrings of arousal course through me. “That it is, Mr. Sampath. What would you…?”

He snickers and rolls his eyes. “If I ask you to come back to my dorm with me so we can be private, will you say no?” He bites his lip with a wicked grin, and all my blood has shunted from my brain downward.

I quickly pull back and shift into reverse. “We gotta go,” I mutter, and Kovi laughs. I peel out of the parking lot, in a rush to get to the second half of our date.