Got Myself a Date

Nathanial rolled over, shirtless, sleep-rumpled, and so sexy. I thought for sure I was dreaming. "You're up early." He mumbled, his eyes searching my face.

I sat up and sent Koda scrambling over the covers from the bottom of the bed to shower me with puppy kisses (the puppy bed didn’t last long and this had turned into our morning ritual). I ignored Nathanial for a second to pick up my puppy for some snuggles, I have priorities after all. In the process I noticed my lack of clothing. All I was wearing was underwear that was so small it barely warranted the name, and a skimpy tank top. I snuggled back under the covers, cuddling Koda to my chest.

"How much do you remember from last night?" Nathanial asked, brushing a stray strand of hair away from my face.

I had no idea how to act. I didn’t know if we had had sex (I hoped we didn’t if I didn't remember anything), I don’t know why he was here, or how he got here, and I was still confused as to why he hadn't called me. "Apparently not very much. Why and how are you here?"

He grinned and looked much more carefree than he usually does.  "I called you, and you ordered me to come out if I ever wanted to have a chance to be 'your boyfriend'." He air-quoted that and I groaned, thank you drunk-Skye! So embarrassing. "You told me where you were and hung up. I headed over, you were mad at me, but happy at the same time. Very confusing." He winked and I couldn't help but giggle (seriously, I'm not sixteen). "I met some of your friends, that I think are all spread out over the house and still asleep. Cody picked us all up and we came here for another drink."

"Cody?"

"My driver." Nathanial clarified.

"Ah, I see. Did…did you put me to bed?" I asked, suddenly finding Koda's ears very interesting and looking anywhere but at the gorgeous man in bed next to me.

"Nope. You changed into whatever you're wearing in your bathroom, told me to undress, put your dog between us in the bed, and passed right out. Your friend Katie is actually sleeping on the floor right there and refused to sleep in the bed but wouldn't leave the room." Sure enough, Katie was curled up in a pile of blankets on the floor by the window still sound asleep.

I laughed, it must have been so awkward for him. What a random night. "Well, I'm sorry about the drunken inconvenience last night."

"You saved me from a night of work and starring out the window thinking about you."

I looked up at him. "Yeah, right. You promised me a call and that never happened. Well, until last night anyways."

Nathanial ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure how to go about this."

"Um, you pick up the phone, dial my number and call me?"

He kicked me under the covers. "I know that part. I haven't dated a lot, so I'm a little awkward in this aspect."

"Well, I'm the master of awkward so I wouldn't even worry about it. Just call me when you say you want to get to know me. I was starting to think I had just imagined your visit the other night." I felt shy all of a sudden. "If you're not sure about this anymore…"

"No." He firmly cut me off. "Let's set a date right now. I want to do this, I want to get to know you better. Saturday, 6 o'clock, I'm coming to pick you up."

"Sounds good to me." My late night and drinks were catching up to me. "Want to go back to sleep for a bit longer?"

"Guessing your hangover is kicking in?" Nathanial reached over to pet Koda who seemed to enjoy it. "Pretty good little guard dog."

"Yeah, he's usually not that friendly with strangers. I just got him a couple weeks ago from the shelter and he seems to be adjusting well." I rolled over so my back was to Nathanial. Koda climbed over me and snuggled up again. "Feel free to be the big spoon."

Nathanial chuckled and scooted closer, his arm snaking firmly around my midsection. I could feel the cotton of his boxers against my butt and so appreciated that despite his billions he wore normal-guy underwear. I cuddled into him, briefly wondered if I was still drunk to be this okay with having a virtual stranger in my bed, and promptly fell asleep.

I woke up a few hours later alone in bed. Clearly this all must have been a very vivid dream. Katie was still asleep in her pile of blankets. My headache had worn off considerably, but I felt like I needed to chug 100 bottles of water. Throwing back the blankets, I got out of bed, pulled on a random, hopefully clean, pair of shorts, and tiptoed around Katie and downstairs. I let Koda out first to do his business, and got some water for myself. Katie's friend Hannah was asleep on the couch with no blankets (glad to see I could be such a good host once I started drinking). I covered her with a blanket before calling Koda back inside and heading back upstairs. Jess' door was open so I peaked inside to see her sitting up in bed.

"Morning, sunshine."

She covered her eyes with one hand and flipped me off with the other. "Why are you so happy and not hung over?"

"I'm dying on the inside but you look worse than I feel." I sat down on the bed and handed her my bottle of water.

She gratefully accepted the bottle of water. "Is Nathanial still here? I vaguely remember sitting in a car with him."

So he really had been here. "He's not here anymore, but we talked this morning, and unless I was too drunk for this conversation too, we have a date next weekend."

Jess face lit up. "Really? That’s so exciting. I'm so happy for you!"

We talked for a while longer before I went back to lay in bed a little longer and do my routine, morning Facebook and Instagram creep session (you do it to). I picked my phone off my nightstand, and underneath it was a note.

Saturday, 6:00pm and what must be Nathanial's phone number.

I couldn't wait for Saturday!