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not beta'd

storyline - Countdown

prompts - conversation, fall, loop

We spend evenings together, taking turns preparing dinner. Sometimes we watch movies, other times we simply watch the snow. He says I make his house warmer, and while that's corny, the sentiment is sweet. I feel the same way when he is at mine.

He has this thing for good wine, so every time we meet he introduces me to a new one. I've always enjoyed wine, but my knowledge about it is admittedly elementary. I tease him, calling him a wine snob, and he smiles, knowing I tend to follow my jabs with kisses.

It's easy being with him, which I love. It's not even that we have everything in common, because we don't. I mean, there are some things we both like – sushi, sweets, quiet nights at home – but that's where it ends. (And while we both like wine, I have a preference for white while he always goes for red. Even then, it depends on what we're eating.)

I love watching sports, having grown up with a football junkie for a father. He likes being a participant, and going solo: skiing and hiking.

He likes classical, I much prefer jazz. He likes concerts in parks; I like jam sessions in smoky lounges.

I grew up going to the tiny church in our tiny town with my parents; he has serious questions for God and doubts about organized religion. Even when I explain to him my views on religion being a separate entity than spirituality, he entertains my "theories" with a faint smile and a cock of his head. He listens, but he doesn't quite agree with it all.

And yet, perhaps because when it comes down to it we're both rather mellow people, none of these things rock the boat all that much. It could be that our relationship is new, but it could also be that we do in fact "match" in ways un-seeable by the eye or even unknowable by the mind.

Maybe because, through the course of discourse, we are learning not just about each other but about the world itself through different eyes. I'd rather be with someone from whom I'm different (but get along with) than be with some just like me who bores me.

Anyway, I'm crazy about him. I know I will end up at the park listening to a symphony one afternoon, just as I know he will end up at a football game with me, guzzling beer and eating hot dogs.

We fascinate each other.

Three weeks in to January we have dinner with Rose, Alice and their dates. It is a long, lazy affair at a tapas place. The conversation meanders endlessly… the food is fantastic. Rose's date is dull, albeit intelligent, and Alice's date is funny, albeit ignorant. It's awesome.

Edward and I make eye contact on more than one occasion, and I love that we're seemingly on the same page, reacting to the same things going on around the table.

At home, we kiss at the doorway. The snow continues to fall outside; it has been coming down without respite for days now. Weather reports predict that it will only continue.

"No work tomorrow," I murmur, brushing my cheek against his.

"Nope." He tightens his grip on me.

"Come inside," I say, but it is not all I am saying.

He nods, giving me space so that I can find my keys and unlock the door.

At first, the routine is the same: lights and heat on, coats and shoes off. But then I take him to my room and lie down with him, seeking his warmth and solidity.

We haven't touched one another intimately before now, not besides kisses and over-the-clothing passes. Now we start and we don't stop, on the same page, yes, the way we've been all night.

Underneath heavy blankets we find each other, open and naked. He kisses me and kisses me and I return it for all I've got, and we kiss and press and touch until I'm ready. The best feeling is when he's finally in me, relief and wanting tangled into one.

We make love more than once, waking up in the dark still hot, still needing. The night runs on the sweetest loop, nothing changing but the position of light outside and the position of our bodies inside.