Pleasurable Expectations

t w e n t y - o n e

Dinner rolled around the next night, the rest of my day having passed uneventfully. I stood in front of the full-body mirror hooked over the top of my bathroom door. I pulled up the medium blue hem of my jeans, them resting just above my bellybutton. I pivoted my lower half in the middle, the blue of my jeans transitioning into a lighter shade at the hem.

I heard the familiar chime of my text tone from across the room, it pulling my attention from myself. I moved and picked it up from the table beside my bed, Jeremiah's contact name present and telling me that he's five minutes away. My eyes widened momentarily as I realized I had to speed up the process.

I scurried back to the mirror, pulling on the suede combat boots I had picked out for myself. Once those were tugged and laced up, I grabbed the tan wool Burberry coat I had gotten for my birthday a few years ago. I glanced back into the mirror and adjusted the blush-colored turtleneck that was snug against my neck.

My phone sounded once more. I crossed the room again, another message from Jeremiah reading that he was now outside. I cursed to myself as I rushed around the room to gather all my essential items into my little black circular shoulder bag. I stepped into my bathroom for a moment to grab my lip gloss from the counter. I took a beat to apply an ample amount before sticking that in my bag and heading out the door.

The brisk January air slithered up my sleeves, causing goosebumps to form on my skin. I smacked my lips together as I locked up my door and treaded carefully on the icy pathway to Jeremiah's car. I was rubbing my hands together to try to gather some warmth, as I had forgotten my gloves... Again. You would think I would have learned this lesson from yesterday.

I heard the car doors unlock as I reached for the door handle. I pulled it open and was immediately tempted by the warmth radiating from inside. There was no hesitation from me as I hurried into my seat with a muted thud, the sound absorbed by the material.

"Ahh, warmth." I hummed as I closed the door and shut my eyes, relishing in the feeling of the heat sweeping my body from my head to my toes.

"Hello to you, too, Baby," Jeremiah sounded from the driver's seat.

"Aww," I responded with the exaggerated pout of my bottom lip. "I'm sorry, Baby. Hi." I drew out my greeting as I placed a hand on his cheek.

He recoiled and took my hand into his. "You're freezing!" He wrapped his hands around mine, the coolness felt in my fingertips dissolving slightly. He left a space between his thumbs and his palms, a hole in which he blew into in an attempt to warm me up. "Any better?" Only his eyes settled on my face as his hands rolled mine, a chaste kiss following on my knuckles.

"Much better," I affirmed with a curt head nod. "Thank you, J."

I leaned in and puckered my lips for a kiss. To my pleasure, I was greeted with a short succession of kisses, a few more following on my knuckles once again, before he held my hand in his as we pulled off.

As we neared the half-hour mark, I rested my elbow on the window control jutting out from the car door, my cheek resting on top of the fist I was making. "I didn't realize you lived this far from me."

Jeremiah's eyes stayed glued to the road as he responded, "It's only thirty minutes." A nonchalant shrug accompanied his words.

"Still, I would've been giving you gas money or something," I said with a shrug of my own. "All those miles start adding up."

"For the first part of our relationship, it wasn't my miles adding up." His eyes bounced to me as a toothy smile graced his face.

"Very true." I nodded in agreeance, my lip corners quirking downwards as they pursed. "Whatever happened to all the flashiness?" I leaned back in my seat and let my head loll, it swinging so I could look at Jeremiah.