The Beginning of Us (153 page)

“Hey, beautiful,” Brandon said as he caught his first glimpse of me coming out of the locker room. “Wow, you’re breathtaking.”

“Thank you, you’re not too bad yourself.” I was blushing.

He placed his hand on the small of my back, sending a shiver of excitement down my spine. We walked out of the gym toward the parking lot and he directed me to his silver 
Range Rover Sport
  parked in one of the two “Reserved” parking spots right outside the front doors. Being very chivalrous, Brandon came around and opened the passenger side door. While he walked around to the driver’s side, I took in the sleek all black leather interior with chrome accents. It felt very masculine to me.

 “Cold? Would you like me to turn on the seat warmers?” Brandon asked as he slid into the car.

“What? Your car has butt warmers?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Yes, we do live in the Bay Area.”

There was no argument there. San Francisco seemed to have more foggy days than sunny days. There were maybe a few weeks out of the summer months that were perfect, not too warm and not too hot. The nights were always chilly though. 

“I would love my butt warmed!” I said with a big grin on my face. After all, I was in a dress.

“I’ll have to remember that.” 

“Where are we going for dinner?” I asked, smiling at his comment as he pulled out of the lot. Michael Buble's song 
Home
 was playing quietly in the background.

“Do you like seafood? I was thinking we could go to Scoma’s in Sausalito.”

“I love seafood. That sounds perfect.” 

There was a Scoma's that was only a few minutes from the gym. I figured Brandon wanted as much time with me as I wanted with him. As we made our way out of San Francisco towards Sausalito, Brandon reached over and laced his fingers with mine, gently stroking his thumb over the back of my hand. The Golden Gate Bridge was lit up with golden lights as the sun was setting behind clouds that started to roll in. 

“Did you guys have fun in Vegas?” I asked.

“Let’s just say Vegas was…unforgettable,” he said with a huge grin that made me blush. “I’ve never been a huge fan of 50 Cent before, but I have to say I’m a new believer.” My face was fully beet red as I concentrated furiously on the dashboard in front of me.  “But how did you know it was me?”

I turned toward him with my face still beet red. “Ryan and I have been friends forever. The look she gave me said it all.”

“Well I was considering myself lucky I didn’t get a knee in the groin. But when I saw you dancing there, all sexy and confident, I couldn’t stop myself.”  

“I wouldn't dance with just anyone like 
that
.” He was making me feel warm all the way down to the tips of my toes as I just sat there grinning like an idiot. I couldn’t help it.  

“So did you and Ryan have fun the rest of your trip?”

“Yeah, much needed girl time. She’s getting over her ex and it’s still pretty recent. How much money did you end up winning at the poker table?”

“After I took 
your
 money, I then took Stan for two thousand. After that, we called it a night since it was just Jason, Becca and myself left at the table...so I walked away with about four grand.”

“
Damn
 that's a lot.”

“Yep, not too bad. Jason made me buy them an early breakfast before we headed for bed though.”

After the twenty minute drive, we pulled into downtown Sausalito driving past the restaurant to find parking. Almost to the end of Bridgeway where Scoma’s was located on a small pier, we found an open spot. 

Brandon and I got out of his car and started to walk toward the restaurant. He reached down and grabbed my hand again, which made me smile. It had been a long time since I had been on a first date. I was so nervous that I had butterflies in my stomach.

Scoma’s is built on a little pier over the San Francisco Bay. Brandon had reserved a table by the window for us. Even though it was a cloudy evening and looked like it could rain at any time, the view was beautiful. I ordered the Scallops Parmigano and Brandon ordered the Sesame Ahi Tuna and a bottle of the 
2011 Groth Sauvignon Blanc
 from a local winery in Napa.

“So, how long have you lived in San Francisco?” Brandon asked after the waiter had taken our order. 

 “Ryan and I moved here right after college… so it’s been about five years. What about you?”

“Jason, Becca and I moved here from Austin about a year and a half ago. We all went to 
Texas A&M
.”

“What was your Major?”

“Well, I received a full ride scholarship for football, but I was injured my sophomore year and wasn’t able to continue with my goal of a career in professional football. I never played again. I concentrated more on my academics and Jason and I graduated with Bachelor Degrees in Business Administration.” 

“Wow, how were you injured?”

“Um, it’s a long story; I’ll save it for another time.”

“Okay, well, what made all three of you move out here?”

“After college, Jason and I opened a gym in Austin, and it was so successful that we decided to open one in Houston, where I’m from. Then we opened a third in Denver when an opportunity arose for us to buy a gym that was going out of business. After that, we were ready for a change of scenery and we wanted to get out of the humidity. We wanted to open a gym on the west coast, so we decided to move out here to San Francisco.  It’s much easier to concentrate on getting a business up and running when you live in the same town. It was more difficult when we were managing Houston and Denver and living in Austin.”

“I've always wanted to go to Texas. I would like to someday see the Alamo.”

“Maybe I can take you sometime,” he said smiling, making me blush.

“Sounds like fun.”

The waiter returned and expertly poured our glasses of wine and left warm bread on the table with butter. I felt my stomach growl as I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch time.

“You know, when I first saw you at the gym, I wanted to talk to you. I even managed to get close to you while you ran on the treadmill, but I couldn’t get my courage up to talk to you. Plus, I was still kind of seeing someone at the time, and it wouldn’t have been fair to you or her.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have the balls, either.” 
Shit, did that just come out of my mouth?
 We both laughed.

“Christy, the girl I was seeing, and I didn’t have anything in common. She became extremely lazy over the few months we dated, quit her job because she was bored, questioned my every move, every phone call and text and hated Jason. Apparently, Jason wasn’t too fond of her either. 

“I finally ended it with Christy a week before Vegas. Again, I wanted to talk to you, but I figured it was too soon. Then I saw you at the airport, which caught me off guard. Before I could walk over to you, you were gone. When I saw you and Ryan at Lavo that night, I knew I just had to talk to you. Except after we danced, I could barely get two words out of my mouth,” Brandon said with a chuckle. 

I was surprised at that.  He seemed so cool, calm and collected–so self-assured and confident. I could hardly speak after we danced and had needed two shots of tequila to calm my nerves. 

“I’m sorry I left like that. I just had to get back to my room and…you know, take a cold shower.” Brandon’s face flushed slightly, so I could only imagine that my own face must have been bright red at that moment.  

“I was really happy I ended it with Christy before Vegas—it was a long time coming. Thankfully, I got to know you a little better in Vegas and here we are.”

“I’m happy, too. One more night with no new information for Ryan and I think she would have been to the gym on Monday to kick your ass for not making a move!” 

The waiter returned with our entrees as the sun set fully behind darkened clouds. Looking across the bay, I saw slight flickers of lights from the small town of Belvedere. Over the course of dinner we talked about hobbies, likes, dislikes, favorite movies, etc.—everything you would ask on a first date. I found out that he liked to go mountain bike riding with his friends, hated broccoli, his favorite food was barbeque ribs and his favorite movie of all time was 
Tommy Boy
 with Chris Farley. 

He loved sports; his favorite baseball team was our local team, the 
San Francisco Giants
, favorite hockey team was also our local team, the 
San Jose Sharks,
 and his favorite football team was the 
Dallas Cowboys
. I wasn’t sure I was ready to tell him about Trav
Ass
, so I quickly told him that I had just gotten out of a two year relationship and didn’t elaborate further than that.  He didn’t press me for more information, but continued to listen attentively as I went on to tell him that I loved all the sports teams he mentioned except for the football team. I was a 
San Francisco Forty Niners
 fan. 

Brandon had an extra ticket for Friday’s Giants game and we made plans for me to go with him, Jason and Becca. I was giddy again; thrilled that he seemed to want to spend more time with me. I had missed the feeling of new relationship butterflies in my stomach and I loved how I could sit here for hours and talk with Brandon. It was odd how comfortable I already felt with him.

Thinking back to my first date with Trav
Ass
, it had been rather awkward. Even though I was instantly attracted to him, the conversation didn't flow like it did with Brandon. There was a lot of dead silence. With Brandon, no such problem existed—our conversation flowed as though we had known each other for years.

All too soon though it started to get late and Brandon had an early meeting the next morning. We were about to leave the restaurant when we noticed that a downpour of rain had just started. Neither one of us had brought an umbrella. Come to think of it, the weather man did say it was going to rain this evening, but they were never right…except this time.

“Want to make a break for it, or do you want me to go get the car?” 

Not wanting to seem too much like a girl, I said, “Let’s make a break for it; a little water won’t hurt.”

Brandon smiled, took my hand, and we were out the door running. Drenched with rain, we finally made it to the car. Brandon opened my door first and then he ran around the front of the car and got in himself. 

“Whoa, it is really coming down! I have a few gym towels in here somewhere,” he said as he reached in the backseat to find them. He handed me a towel and turned the car on, then turned the heater and “butt warmers” on. I was starting to shiver from being wet and cold.

I was drying myself off when Brandon reached over to help me. “Here, this one is dry,” he said as he started to dry my left leg with the dry towel in his hands. His touch sparked a desire deep in my stomach. I grabbed his hand to stop him from drying my leg and looked into his eyes, our faces close together. I leaned over and kissed him lightly.

I started to pull away after realizing what I had done. Brandon dropped the towel he was using to dry my leg, grabbed the back of my head and kissed me harder. With our mouths still locked and tongues exploring each other's mouth, I pushed him back and climbed over the center console to straddle him. My back pressed uncomfortably against the steering wheel, but I barely noticed. I cupped my hands on his shaved cheeks while his hands ran up and down my smooth legs. My skin tingled from his touch. I could feel the wetness from his rain-dampened jeans on my bare skin under my dress.

His stiff erection pressed into my left thigh. Flashes of us dancing filled my head and I moaned. He moved his warm hands farther up my legs and cupped my ass under my dress, only the thin material of my panties separating his fingers from my skin. Breaking our mouths free, I trailed my lips down his jaw until they reached his neck. His skin was a bit salty as I licked lightly over his rapidly beating pulse, all the while rubbing myself harder against his bulging cock. I had never been so forward before in my life. Brandon just had that effect on me. He was by far the best kisser I’d ever had and it was as if my body craved him—I just couldn’t get enough.

From my backside, I felt his fingers slip into my panties. My pulse jumped and sped up as I paused my kiss, the anticipation almost as exciting as I knew his touch would be. His fingers lightly caressed me, toying with my sensitive outer-lips and I moaned again. “Fuck, you’re so wet.” Brandon whispered into my ear, his breath warm against my skin. 

“Well, we did just run through the rain,” I said breathlessly.

“That's not what I meant,” he said with a smile, then took my lips again. His mouth was hot and his tongue dueled with mine as his tongue mimicked the motion of his fingers on the sensitized skin of my pussy. My stomach clenched with excitement.

Straightening my spine, I tilted my head back as Brandon grabbed a fistful of my hair with his left hand, tilting my head back even further. He ran light kisses over my neck while adjusting his hand to insert two fingers in my pussy.