Page 35 of Fierce-Ivan
“That all sounds wonderful,” he said. “Do you want me to put the lasagna in now?”
“Yep,” she said. “We can eat in an hour to ninety minutes. I figured I’ll be here until midnight and we don’t have to rush.”
He noticed the bag on her shoulder and realized it wasn’t going to be overnight clothes then. He should have figured as much. It was only the second date. She’d have to get home to her mother he was guessing too.
“What’s in the bag?” he asked. Might as well find out.
“Entertainment,” she said. She opened it up and pulled out Farkle, Mancala, and Scrabble. “You said you liked games and didn’t get to play them much. I do too.”
“We did talk about that.” It was one of their longer conversations. That she enjoyed board games and found very few other people did. No one he dated did. To him there was something about the interaction that you had with that person that was a better form of entertainment he enjoyed.
Call him nerdy—as his brother often did—but he liked to say he was old school.
Board games and no cell phones. That was him. Not many others though.
“I’ve got Battleship here from when I was a kid. Don’t know why I do. I think when my mother was packing my room up years ago she threw all the board games in there. Sorry might be in there too, along with Checkers, Chess, and Chinese Checkers. I’ve got a few decks of cards to go with it.”
“Then we’ve got a night full of things to do and not get bored,” she said all excited.
Guess that was what they were doing rather than getting naked. Again, he wasn’t sure why his mind was going there when he didn’t expect it.
Maybe it had to do with the fact she had on a pair of dark jeans that seemed stretchy and fitted to her body. She was thinner than he realized, but she wasn’t skinny. Her sweater was a dark purple and hugged her well. Even if it was plain. Solid color, crew neck, he didn’t care. She looked great.
“You look nice,” he said.
“Thanks. My mother bought me these clothes for Christmas. She always says I never get things that fit me. I don’t know. I like to be comfortable. I thought these jeans would be tight, but they are comfortable.”
“They look great on you.”
When the oven beeped, she took the covered dish and slid it in, then emptied the rest of the box and left the food on his island.
“Thanks. I’m plain with my clothes. These are plain too, but my mother was trying to prove a point to me that simple can still fit and look good. She’s right.”
“I’m not much of a shopper. I tend to buy the same things all the time,” he said.
His mother would pick out clothes for his birthday at times and if he liked it he’d find more like that and buy them in whatever color they had and then not shop again for a while.
“Me too. I don’t think I look bad, but I never look like other women my age. Or so they tell me at work.”
“Be who you are,” he said. “I am. I don’t care what other people think.”
“I know,” she said. “I try. It’s hard. Girls can be so mean.”
“There are so many boys in my family I never really look at it from the woman’s side. Ella never seemed to have a problem. My cousin Faith, Liam’s sister, she’s smart. Works in a lab. She could be considered a nerd and she has embraced it. She has the ‘I don’t give a crap’ attitude too. People know that about her and she’s happy that way.”
Faith did dress more fashionably, but she was nerdy in her conversations and friends. She spent more time talking with Mason, Ivan and Jessica at functions when the rest of the family thought the four of them were boring after a few hours. But no one ever made them feel bad about it. Everyone tried.
He also knew in life that wasn’t the same for everyone though.
“Good for her. I wish I was more like that. I think I am now, but I wasn’t in school.”
“Can I get you a drink?” he asked. He didn’t know where his manners were. “I’ve got wine.”
“I’d love a glass.”
He pulled the bottle out of the fridge. He’d listened too when she’d said what she liked last time.
He poured them both a glass. He liked beer. It was hard not to in his family, but he was adaptable.