Settle For A Slowdown, Tag: Devin

continued from here.

Warning bells were going off in his head right about now. They were apparently trying to keep distance and take things slow, but he was kissing her and staying at her house all the time. He didn't know if it was just because it was too hard to take it slow when you'd gone so fast before, or if he was a total horndog. He didn't think it was the latter, to be honest. It wasn't always that he wanted to rip her clothes off or anything like that. He just wanted to hold and kiss her. Be close to her. But that negated boundaries. And he didn't want to stop, but they needed to slow down at this. He turned the truck off and turned to her in the cab.

"Devin, do you ever worry that we're moving too fast? I mean we're kissing and getting intense with that and then I'm staying the night. We're not sleeping together, obviously, but...I want to do this right." He finally explained. He wasn't some fumbling teenager trying to romance her into a first kiss anymore.

"And it's hard sitting here, with the windows fogging up and the rain making it impossible for anyone to see us, for me not to come over there and kiss you right now." He admitted, though he wasn't being literal about it being hard, as some minds might make it.

The speed at which they were moving at, well Devin wasn't sure what exactly that was supposed to be at. Did she replay that night in his hotel room in her head? She'd be lying if she said it didn't pop into her mind every once and awhile, but crossing that line again... well it wasn't something she was going to push for but let happen naturally.

She blushed at his confession that he wanted to kiss her right now. Honestly she wouldn't have stopped him if he tried. He made her feel not just beautiful but gorgeous when he did things like that, when he showed he wanted her. But then that wasn't really answering his question. "I don't know... I'm not even sure where the lines should be drawn half the time." It wasn't as if she had ever felt he had gone too far when things got intense. One of them always pulled away, but maybe he was worried there would be a time when they wouldn't.

"I want this to be right too, Brice... I just... I don't know." Running a hand through her hair she looked at her lap rather than look at him. She just didn't know what to say. "I do know that it doesn't feel wrong. I mean, if it's making you uncomfortable..." She let the phrase end there. They could stop, go back to a no touching policy, or a seeing each other only between certain hours.

"It's not that it makes me uncomfortable. It's just that I don't feel like I'm being fair to you." Suddenly he had an idea though. Like in that movie the 40-year old virgin. They decided they weren't going to have sex until after a certain amount of dates. Maybe they could try that? "Okay I have an idea. And don't laugh if you realize where this comes from." He said, turning in the seat and taking her hands so she was completely focused on him.

"We keep hands off, well as best we can, but we definitely keep the clothes on, for at least...twenty dates." Yeah, twenty sounded good. "So another 18 dates. Then and only then can we think of crossing that line." He thought that sounded extremely fair. Well, like a long wait too but he could deal with that. Hell, they could go through 18 dates in two weeks, right? Well okay his math was off. But point was it could be another month tops. Maybe.

"And then we can get even more technical." He didn't care how gay this sounded. It meant that when it was time for them to be intimate, there would be no regrets. "Can't kiss more than 30 seconds. Hands can't go below the waist. Cause let's face it Devin...you turn me on. You have to know that." He said honestly, looking her in the eyes. "And you stimulate my brain and my stomach." He added to make a slight joke of the situation.

She had no idea where he was going with the conversation. How was he being unfair to her? If anyone had been unfair this whole time it was her. And really, Devin should have been letting him set the boundaries. But it was easy to fall back into the familiar. As she said before, it just felt right, almost against nature not to. "Okay?"

Her head lifted from her lap to look at him when he took her hands. Worrying her bottom lip, she tilted her head to show that she was listening. She had never had a policy like that before. But then again, Devin had never needed it. The first time they had gone out there were false starts that always ended with Devin saying she wasn't ready. Then one day she just knew that she was. The last guys she dated, well it was more feeling like that was the next step to the relationship and even then it had been months. At his plan though she gave a small crooked smile. That's really all? It was like the worries from before seemed to flutter away.

When he said she turned him on, well a blush settled on her cheeks. "So... cuddling and kissing for less than 30 seconds are still on the table until we are ready sometime after date 20?" She emphasized the we feeling like he should know that until she did feel ready, even after that time, she wasn't going to do something she would regret. "I think I can live with that." It wasn't like her libido was firing on all cylinders every moment.

"How about I stimulate that stomach some more with a good dinner and your brain with bad tv?" How could he refuse such an offer of good food and innocent snuggling on a couch?

As if on cue, his stomach started growling, their picnic long digested. "They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and I think you found my weakness. Listen to it...it's serenading you." He joked, as if his stomach was actually singing her a song. It sounded more like it was barking at her, to be honest. "With the way I eat though, I'm sure I'll be sporting a beer gut in the future. What's your opinion on those?" He joked, as if their future was already set in stone and they'd be together when that day came.

"So I think there are some brownies left...and you promised good, fresh, made from scratch food in your nice kitchen. That sounds like a good plan to me. And since I subjected you to some rotten horror flick, the movie will be your choice. Take your best shot, even if it's some sappy chick flick." He thought that was very generous. What man was willing to watch a chick flick just to spend time with someone who wasn't trying to get in their pants? Yeah, he knew he was a keeper.

The rain had let up to just a slight drizzle and he took that as his chance to get out, run to her door, and pull her up to the porch. He didn't have a key or anything so he had to wait for her to drag them out but at least it was dry under the roof of the porch. "Hurry Devin. Hunger gets what hunger wants." He said, quoting that commercial that always cracked him up. If she didn't hurry, a hand might come out of his stomach and strangle her or something. That was a scary thought.

He was able to get a small laugh out of her, that was a bit louder when his stomach did indeed make a grumbling sound. Yeah, he was definitely Matt's father. Four hours without eating and he was wasting away. "And here I thought it was my personality when it really was my casseroles." Then he was talking about a beer gut and she snorted. With the way he looked right now, she doubted he'd be sporting one of those. He seemed to follow the phrase that like a fine wine, he'd only get better with age. "Just means there will be more of you to love," she teased back.

Just to not be too horrible, Devin wouldn't pick out the Notebook. She'd save that one for at least date 15. For now it would be something a bit more light hearted that had the romance for her and the comedy for him. Getting dragged to the porch, she was fishing out her keys as he prodded her to go faster. Looking up from her bag, keys looped through her finger Devin quickly kissed him short and sweet to get him to stop. "Good things come to those who wait," she reminded him before tapping the tip of his nose with her finger. And she was able to keep it under the thirty seconds.

Opening the door, she threw her items where they usually belonged and thought about what exactly she could do for dinner. She was sure she could get something going. "Anything you are in the mood for? If you want to relive college I think I have a package of ramen somewhere." Wasn't that what someone was supposed to live on in college? There was always chicken and rice, something that she always made sure there were ingredients for. "I could also use some help," she mentioned when she really didn't need it. Maybe she'd have him open a can but really, she just wanted his company until it was time for their second movie.

Getting a diet coke for herself, Devin was inspecting the refrigerator. "You know this could technically count as a different date," she joked. Their original date was just the picnic but it seemed all their dates were expanding to be longer.

"You know I'll eat anything you put in front of me." He told her as he followed her into the kitchen. "And I'm an excellent taste tester. And I'm an expert at opening stubborn jars." He suggested to her, sitting down at the table to watch her as she looked through the cabinets. "I trust your judgement so pick something out. The quicker, the better." He said, flashing her a dimpled grin.

He rubbed his chin, the wheels turning in his head. "It could, I suppose. But then that might be cheating. Only one date a day counts. Gotta be fair, Devin." He said though he was mainly being playful. Besides, he figured that actual dates were planned somewhat and this was spontaneous. And at one date a day, that was only about another three weeks before they could take another step. Three weeks would fly by in no time.

"So tell me, what movie am I in store for? Gone With The Wind? Titanic?" He wouldn't be surprised if she picked a super long movie just so they could spend more time together. He wouldn't really complain, though. If it were up to him, they'd watch the entire Lord of The Rings trilogy right now.

Pulling out a can of cream of chicken soup and one of cream of mushroom, there was nothing like a skillet and remembering this quick recipe. It was a dinner she used to cook for herself when Matt was a baby and time wasn't really something she had. Now Devin made sure the ingredients were on hand in case she got home from work late. It was supposed to feed four, but she doubted they would be having any leftovers. Putting the cans of soup in front of him, she slid the can opener as well. "A can is like a jar," she teased.

Getting out the chicken from the fridge (she was going to cook it up tonight anyway) and a skillet, Devin thought about what movie they should watch again. It wasn't like Brice needed an excuse to stay as long as he wanted. She wondered if perhaps he'd leave right after it was over or not. Placing the chicken in the skillet, Devin opened up another cupboard to get the spices and to see where the rice was. Of course, it ended up being on the top shelf. Connor must have put it up there.

"I just got a new DVD that's supposed to be good... has pretty girls in it and Ryan Reynolds so you know it is going to be funny." Hands on her hips, Devin was trying to think of how to get it. Grabbing one of the chairs from the kitchen she could use it to step up on the counter and grab the bag. Hopefully she wouldn't end up breaking her neck in the process.

Without even thinking, he came up behind her and reached for the rice she couldn't reach, negating any reason at all for her to have pulled out the chair. It was like he could sense what she was going for. "Sounds good." Though to be honest, he was pretty sure he was about to watch a chick flick. Oh the things he'd suffer. He proudly took his task of opening the jars, thinking that she should get one of those automatic can openers. Maybe he'd sneak one into the kitchen while she was using the bathroom or something.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. He scarfed down everything she put in front of him and then they sat on the couch and watched the movie he'd picked out. It was funny but definitely a chick flick. But it all worked out in the end because they ended up falling asleep on the couch until Matt got home and then he had to play a round of video games with him until he did the respectful thing and said goodnight, going back to Connor's with an extra pep in his step.