United

by A. Aubry

  Me: Goodnight, Julianna.

  I had a date with one of the most amazing girls that I had ever met in my life. Putting my phone back on its charger, I laid back in bed with my hands behind my head. There was no way that I could sleep now. Not when tomorrow had to be the best first date I could ever give the girl who deserved everything.

  Chapter Two

  I had done everything that I could think of do to in order to keep my mind off of Julianna. It didn’t help that any time that I stopped moving for more than just a few minutes, my mind went right back to the kiss that we shared. What the hell was this girl doing to me?

  I hadn’t heard from her all day and I was starting to think that maybe everything was just a dream. I really hoped that it wasn’t because the dinner reservation was made, and I put extra care into asking for a table for two away from the masses of people in the restaurant. My best clothes were out of the closet and waiting to be put on, and I still had an hour before I had to leave my apartment in order to get to our date on time. The plan was to be early, I didn’t want Julianna to be standing around waiting for me…especially because our reservation was under my last name.

  Just as I was about to start getting ready and check in with Julianna that we were still on for tonight, my phone began to ring. I picked it up with a little bit too much excitement only to see that it was my oldest brother, Cooper, calling. Cooper was like a father to me as we were growing up because we didn’t really have a father, but now was not the time for idle chit chat. I had a date I needed to get ready for.

  “Hey, Coop. What’s up?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could.

  “I have the best news, Finn!” He excitedly replied.

  I reclined back on my bed, “Okay, well don’t just leave me hanging.”

  “Amelia and I are having a boy,” he admitted happily.

  “What? I’m going to have a nephew?” I replied in complete disbelief.

  I loved my two nieces but it was about damn time that I had a nephew. My brothers weren’t really into sports like I was, so I was going to be the best uncle in the world and show him the ropes.

  I could hear Cooper laugh his signature ‘over the moon’ laugh, “Yes, you’re going to get a nephew.”

  “Well I’ll be damned, it’s about time!”

  “Thanks for the congratulations, Finn Walker,” he tried to sound authoritative.

  “I’m sorry. Congrats, Coop. It’s about damn time.”

  He chuckled and I just knew he was getting exasperated.

  “I do have news myself,” I quietly admitted.

  “Oh yeah? You get your ass traded back to Atlanta yet?” He teased.

  It was my turn for an exasperated chuckle, “No, and after last night, I don’t think I want to be traded back there.”

  “Really? What the fuck happened?”

  “I met a girl, Coop.”

  “Uh, didn’t you and Natalie like just break up last week?”

  “It doesn’t matter if we did. Coop, this girl, Julianna…she’s different man. After I saved her from falling flat on her face—"

  “She almost fell on her face in front of you?” He interrupted.

  I cleared my throat, deciding to just continue, “I felt something as I had my arm wrapped around her and looked into her eyes. She had all these quick comebacks to the things I said…damn she was sassy.”

  I laughed to myself. Julianna was sassy but this was the first time I ever found it attractive in a woman.

  “I did something I never do and went on a walk with her to get her alone, to see if what I felt between us was really there without the energy of everyone around us.”

  “And was it?” He encouraged.

  I rolled my eyes, it really fucking was, “Fuck, Coop. It was there alright. I fucking poured my heart out to this girl and I had just met her. I think she felt the same because she openly talked to me about some deep shit as well. When we kissed, it was nothing I had ever felt before.”

  “Damn, that’s deep, Finn,” Cooper said, “Are you seeing her again or are you going to be like your fucking friends and just let it go?”

  “I’m taking her out tonight and…I’m so nervous, but excited…is that normal?”

  Cooper laughed heartily into the phone. What the fuck was so funny? “Nothing about you has ever been normal, Finn.”

  I sat up and looked at my watch, still worried that Julianna was just trying to back out of our date, “Well, you helped raised me so that is all your own fucking fault.”

  “I was just trying to mold you into an honest man with what I was given,” he teased.

  “Yeah, yeah. I gotta go though, Coop. We are meeting in an hour and I have to text her to make sure we are still on. She hasn’t texted me all day and I’m a little worried she’s trying to ghost me and cancel.”

  “Well, any girl would be lucky to go on a date with you.”

  Normal fucking dad-like talk, really Cooper?

  “Okay. I love you, man. Say hi to Amelia and Sofie for me.”

  We said our goodbyes and I got up to get dressed, but not before I texted Julianna to double check that we were still on.

  Me: I’m worried, haven’t heard from you all day. Are you trying to ghost me?

  My heart stopped pounding when I saw the little three dots appear on my screen that told me she was responding. Where have you been all day, Julianna?

  Julianna: You can’t get rid of me that easily, Mr. Major League Soccer Player.

  There’s my girl. Wait…what the fuck? Why did that thought come about so easily?

  Me: I knew that line made you swoon.

  I attached two emojis to my next text, one sticking its tongue out while the other was winking.

  Julianna: Oh, you caught me. I was doing such a good job of hiding it.

  Me: Glad you admitted it. Will I still see you at 6?

  Please say yes, please say yes.

  Julianna: Yes, you will.

  Me: Good. See you soon, Julianna.

  Julianna: Likewise, Finn.

  Would I ever tire of this silly banter between the two of us? Julianna seemed so confident most of the time, but there were times when she would let her guard down and show me that she wasn’t as truly confident as she let on. After what she had been through for the last three years, I didn’t exactly blame her for putting on a good and happy front. It was my job now to show her that not all men were like her ex, that she was beautiful because she was.

  Not having much time left, I threw on my black dress slacks and white button up shirt as fast as I could. I made sure my black loafers were still in good shape before I put on my black blazer. With one last look in the mirror, I ran a hand through my hair and walked out the door. In record time, I made it to the restaurant before Julianna, luckily. I told the hostess that I would take a seat at our table, I just couldn’t stand up front and wait for her. I would nervously pace and I was not in the mood to show everyone in the restaurant how nervous I was.

  I flipped through the menu for what was probably the twentieth time since I had sat down. I was also pretty sure that my bottom lip was going to be raw by the time that Julianna showed up, my own nervous habit that was annoying as hell.

  “Mr. McAllister, your guest has arrived,” the hostess said from somewhere in front of me.

  Shifting my gaze away from my menu, I took in the sight of Julianna as she stood in front of me. She wore a black dress that fell to her knees, and just like the night before, her hair was long and wavy as it laid against her chest. The only thing that was really different was the fact that her beautiful blue eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner. It really made her eyes pop even more than they did the night before. She held onto a simple black clutch purse and, when I stood up to greet her, she was a few inches shorter than last night because of the black flats she had chosen to wear.

  I thanked the hostess for bringing her to my table and moved Julianna’s chair back so that she could sit. I helped her out of her jacket, giving myself
an excuse to touch her in some way. My fingers traced down her arms as she pulled them from the sleeves. When she turned around to face me again, I lightly put my hand on her neck and kissed her glossed lips softly. I didn’t care who saw us, everyone in the damn restaurant deserved to know that I was on a date with one of the most beautiful women in the Twin Cities.

  “You look beautiful,” I said honestly, putting her jacket on the back of her chair.

  The most beautiful shy smile crossed her lips just as a light shade of pink colored her cheeks, “Thank you. You clean up nicely.”

  I pushed her chair in for her after she sat down. Sitting back down in my seat, my eyes met Julianna’s once again and I could feel my heart skip a beat. The feeling that I was already wrapped around Julianna’s finger was hitting me hard. It didn’t help the fact that she looked absolutely stunning that I couldn’t come up with some witty comment back to hers.

  “Wow,” I found myself saying for the second time in two days.

  “What?” She giggled softly, opening her menu.

  Why weren’t any words or sentences forming in my head? Why was this fact also making me smile?

  “I just—I don’t know what to say.”

  Her eyes narrowed playfully at me, “So, this is going to be a silent first date then?”

  When her eyes moved down to the menu, I saw them widen slightly. It couldn’t have been at the wide array of food choices that were offered, so it had to be the price. Yes, Julianna, I picked a nice, fancy restaurant for our first date because I wanted to treat you right.

  I reached across the table and put my hand over hers, willing her to forget about the prices and just enjoy our dinner, “I’ll try my best to find some words to keep you entertained.”

  She gazed down at our hands and I knew she was feeling exactly what I was. The butterflies were erupting in my stomach any time that I touched her and for the first time ever, I wasn’t ashamed of that feeling. The waitress came and took our drink orders before she left to let us figure out what we were going to order. My mind was made up, I was going to get the Wild Mushroom Ravioli. It sounded delicious and you could never go wrong with a good ravioli.

  “So, what are you thinking of getting?” I looked over at Julianna who was pursing her lips as she stared at her menu.

  Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip and my attention zeroed in on that, “Um, well I was thinking about the Spaghetti Carbonara, but the Wild Mushroom Ravioli sounds really good as well…”

  She was unable to make a decision, that was very normal. The restaurant had so many options to choose from, I was amazed that I even settled on only one thing. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if we split the two dishes? The Spaghetti Carbonara sounded good, I wouldn’t mind trying that one.

  “Two great choices.” I started, deciding now that I should offer up my idea, “Here, I’ll tell you what. I was going to order the ravioli anyways, I’ll share it with you.”

  Her lips opened into a wide ‘O’ as she looked at me in awe. Apparently, that was yet another thing her ex-boyfriend didn’t do for her.

  “I’m assuming your ex didn’t share his meals with you as well?” I laughed quietly, shaking my head.

  She mirrored my movements, shaking her head as well, “The last man who shared a meal with me was my step-father when I was in elementary school.”

  Really? What kind of dating pool was she finding her previous boyfriends in?

  “Sounds like you dated a bunch of duds,” I offered as I took a drink of my water, my mouth feeling dry suddenly.

  Julianna mirrored my movements once again, “Apparently so.”

  Our waitress came back when she saw that our menus were closed. We both ordered the dishes that we chose and when the waitress returned with our meals a short while later, Julianna and I shared each of our dishes as though we had been dating for years. Julianna had told me that she moved to the cities two years ago after being offered her job at the Star Tribune, and that she didn’t really know much about the professional sports teams that were here. I took it upon myself to give her the rundown on all things Minnesota United FC and Major League Soccer.

  It was when she talked about her job and her writing that she really loosened up. She was working on a book; the topic still being decided as she was kind of hitting some writers block. It took a lot of smarts to write a book and Julianna sure had brains. When the waitress came back to our table, offering dessert, I offered to split some gelato with Julianna. I wanted to try to make the decision-making process a little easier for her. The way she smiled and nodded made my breath catch in my throat. Why did it keep doing that?

  After we finished our gelato, complete with a major brain freeze during my last bite, I paid for our meal and Julianna and I left the restaurant. I could see everyone eyeing Julianna as we walked towards the door. She was obviously one of the most beautiful girls in the room, why wouldn’t everyone stare at her? I also was hoping that they weren’t staring at me just because I played for MNUFC. We walked outside, taking a moment just outside the doors to adjust to the cold. Dinner hadn’t taken as long as I thought it would and I wasn’t exactly ready to say goodbye to Julianna just yet.

  “Do you want to come over to my place?” Julianna asked quickly, her eyes widening as she finished her sentence. Apparently, she wasn’t expecting that to come out.

  I looked at her as I turned my body towards her, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured into hanging out with me any longer than you want to.”

  Way to be smooth there, McAllister.

  She teasingly pushed my arm, “If I’m the one inviting you over, I’m not feeling pressured. We could watch a movie or just keep talking.”

  Netflix and Chill? Hell, how could I say no to this gorgeous woman?

  “Are you proposing Netflix and Chill?” I chuckled as I snaked my arm around her waist tightly.

  She smiled shyly, “Mostly Netflix, less of the chill but we will see what happens.”

  That wasn’t a no, Julianna.

  I brought my phone out of my pocket with the hand that wasn’t currently on her lower back, “Sure, what’s your address? I’ll put it in my phone and meet you there.”

  Julianna quickly gave me her address, an apartment complex in a small town which was a shorter drive than my place. It was a nice ass part of town, she must have been making good money at her job in order to afford a place over that way.

  “Park in front of my building, I park my car in the garage so I will come out to get you. My apartment can be a little confusing when trying to navigate in there,” she said softly, her eyes focusing on my lips.

  All she had to do was ask for a kiss and I would give it to her. She reached into her clutch and grabbed her car keys. Fuck, she wasn’t going to ask. I guess I would just have to steal another kiss. My mother would kill me if she knew I was going to do that because it wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do. I took Julianna’s chin in between my thumb and index finger before placing a soft, quick kiss on her lips. Her cheeks flushed as we parted, she liked that kiss after all.

  “I’ll see you at your place,” I winked and she giggled before pushing me away gently.

  Getting into my black Ford Explorer, I waited for my phone to calculate the fastest route back to her place. As soon as I pulled into the several blocks that made up her apartment community, I recognized it. Zach lived in the building across the street from hers, these were really nice apartments from what I could remember of his last party after he moved in. I pulled into my spot as Julianna walked out her front door, still looking stunning as ever. I turned off my car and climbed out, pointing my thumb in the direction of Zach’s apartment building.

  “I’m pretty sure my friend Zach lives in that building right over there.”

  I locked my car as her hand reached for mine, “Well, if our Netflix and Chill doesn’t work out, you can always go visit him.”

  Oh, I would make sure it worked out. Hold up, the chill portion was back on?


  Julianna let us into the building again and she led me through her building to the elevators. Her building was a mirror image of Zach’s, I wouldn’t get lost in it when I would leave thankfully. The doors opened and we stepped inside the elevator, Julianna pressing the 2nd floor. I wasn’t going to question why we weren’t just taking the stairs, because this gave me time to kiss her. The doors slowly closed after a few seconds and I took Julianna into my arms, kissing her as deeply as I had wanted to both inside and outside of the restaurant. Her hands tangled in my hair as she groaned against my lips. The ride was too short before we were cut off by the sound of the elevator dinging and the doors opening. Her hands took mine again as she led me out.

  “What do you feel like watching?” I asked with a smirk on my face. What do you feel like not watching?

  She looked back at me with a grin, “Hmm, I’m not sure. I don’t see you much as a Bring It On guy.”

  Yeah, definitely not one for those cheerleading movies. I mean okay there were hot cheerleaders in it but that was so…high school. They were also romantic comedies that were just begging girls to watch them. We rounded a corner and Julianna nearly stopped in her tracks.

  “Michael, what the fuck did I say about you just showing up at my apartment?” Julianna sighed heavily as her hands authoritatively went to her hips.

  The guy, who I was going to assume was Michael, stood up from the floor and looked at her. He had light brown hair, a few inches shorter than me, but looked like he worked out a lot. He also looked like a total fucking douchebag.

  “I’ve been texting and calling you all day, but you haven’t answered me. Wait, who the fuck is this guy?” Michael sized me up with his eyes.

  I moved up closer beside Julianna, this guy looked like he had a raging temper.

  “This is my friend, Finn. Finn, this is my ex, Michael.”

  He winced as she stressed that he was her ex. Serves him right to be kicked to the curb after what he did to her, after how he treated her. Even if she just called me her friend, I wasn’t put in the friendzone just yet. Not after the several kisses that we had shared thus far.