By Caitlin Loggins
It had been two weeks since they met at the bar and exchanged phone numbers and Caitlin was sitting at her desk writing an article for her work when her phone started ringing.
Turning it over, she saw that the caller ID read “Nick” so she closed her office door to get some privacy before answering the phone.
“Hey you, what have you been up to?”
“Not much, how about yourself?”
“I’ve just been working pretty much nonstop. In fact, that’s what I was doing when you called. More like staring at a blank screen but I was working.” she said with a chuckle.
“Same here, I was doing some paperwork and decided to take a break to call and ask if you were busy Friday night.”
“As far as I know I’m not, why?”
“Well, we have a show Friday night at the bar where we first met and I thought maybe you’d like to go out for dinner with me before the show.”
“Sure, that sounds good Nick. What time were you planning on going?”
“How does five-thirty sound?”
“That works.”
“It’s a date then, see you Friday night, Bye.”
“Bye.”
After getting off the phone with him she reopened her office door and as she walked back to her desk her eyes landed on the file box haphazardly tossed in the corner of the room with the sleeve of a hockey jersey hanging over the edge of it.
She walked over to the box and picked up the jersey, holding it close to her and remembering the night that led her to meet Nick.
She and her boyfriend at the time, Colton, had gotten into an argument earlier that day about him hanging out with his teammates more than with her and they had both agreed that they should spend some time apart.
So after angrily tossing all of the things that reminded her of him into said box including the jersey that he had given her after the first one of his games that she had gone to, she headed out to the local bar to listen to the band that was playing that night.
When she got there she chose the table closest to the stage and as the band came out onto the stage she saw him. All nearly six feet of him with the bluest eyes she had ever seen and a perfect smile framed by a well-groomed dark brown, almost black beard.
During the band’s first set, the two of them made eye contact and smiled at each other a few times then during their break he came over to where she was sitting and sat down on the empty barstool next to her.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“I’m Nick, how about you?”
“Caitlin.”
“Nice to meet you Nick.”
“You too, I’ve never seen you at any of our shows before. Is this your first time seeing us?”
“It is, I came here to forget about my boyfriend. We fought earlier today and decided we should spend some time apart. I wanted him to go out with me this Saturday night but every time I ask him to do something with me he always has plans with his teammates.”
“I’m sorry about your boyfriend, but I’m glad you’re here, stay after the show and I’ll treat you to dinner if that’s okay with you? Look, I’m not trying to make you cheat on him or anything like that, just consider it two friends having a meal together.”
“Sure, that sounds nice.”
“Well, I’d better get back up on stage, I’ll see you after the show.”
“See you after the show.”
The two of them exchanged a smile then he went back on stage to get ready for the band’s next set.
After each of the band’s next three sets, Nick came back over to her table to sit with her, and at the end of the show, he went over to her and told her that he was going to go change and he would meet her inside the bar as they were out on the patio. So when he left to go change she went and sat down at a table to wait for him.
While she was waiting for him, she pulled out her phone and saw that she had a message from Colton.
“Hey Caitlin, I’m sorry about what happened earlier, can we talk?”
Instead of replying, she angrily deleted his message and turned off her phone, and as she was waiting for it to finish turning off where she could put it back in her bag Nick walked up to the table dressed in a black t-shirt and pair of jeans.
“Hey there handsome, you look nice.”
“Thanks, was that your boyfriend? I saw you turning off your phone when I walked over here.”
“Yeah, he sent me a text asking to talk but I deleted it.”
“If you ever feel like I’m coming between you and your boyfriend just say the word and I’ll leave you alone. I don’t want to ruin what you guys have.”
“You’re not doing anything wrong, meeting you was the best thing that’s happened to me today, plus I’m not sure right now if there’s even anything between me and Colton anymore.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that, so do you want to stay here or go somewhere else for dinner?”
“Here is fine.”
The two of them ordered burgers and fries and spent the next hour talking and getting to know one another. She told him all about the fight she had with Colton and he told her;
“If every time you ask him to hang out he says he’s busy then maybe he’s not the right guy for you.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to think that. I fell for him because of his good looks and charming personality but maybe we’re not right for each other. By the way, you’re pretty darn good-looking yourself.” she said, reaching across the table to take his hand. “Those eyes of yours are as blue as the ocean, your smile could light up this whole bar and I’ve been imagining how it would feel to kiss you with that beard since I first laid eyes on you about four hours ago. Too much too soon?” She said, blushing after thinking about what she had just said to him.
“No, because I’ve been thinking this whole time what it would feel like to kiss you too.”
“Well what do you say we find out then?” she said, leaning across the table to kiss him.
After they separated, she looked in his eyes, took both of his hands in hers, and said to him.
“Wow Nick, you are an amazing kisser.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
After some awkward silence between them, they both agreed that they probably shouldn’t have kissed but then Nick said what they were both thinking.
“So would you be interested in going out with me again if things don’t work out between you and your boyfriend?”
“Sure, I’ll talk to him probably sometime tomorrow and I’ll let you know what happens. Could I get your phone number?”
“Definitely! Give me just a sec and I’ll text it to you… there, done. Now text me yours.”
After exchanging numbers, they said goodnight and parted ways with both of them not knowing if they would ever see each other again.
The next morning, she woke up to a sweet good morning text from Nick.
“Good morning beautiful, I enjoyed meeting you and getting to hang out with you last night and can’t wait to see you again.”
She replied to him. “Morning handsome, I can’t wait to see you again either.” then got up to start her day.
As she was in her office preparing for her workday Colton called her and tried to apologize but she told him that she had met someone else last night at the bar and didn’t know if he was the right guy for her anymore.
After trying unsuccessfully to work, she finally gave up and called Nick to see if he was busy.
“I’m at work right now but text me your address and I’ll come over when I get off.”
She texted him her address along with a photo of her house then a little after four he pulled into her driveway, walked up to her front door, and knocked.
Once she answered the door he pulled out the bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her
“Thank you so much for these, Nick they’re beautiful! Let me go put them in a vase and then we’ll get going.”
“Going? Where?”
“I thought that we could maybe just go for a drive through the country or we could go to the lake, the park, or wherever you want to go.”
“The park sounds like fun, let’s go.”
As soon as she stepped out of her front door she shivered. “Why didn’t you tell me it was so cold out here?! I’m going back in to grab my coat!”
“I figured you knew.”
“How was I supposed to know with the way you’re dressed?” she said, pointing out his flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and ripped jeans with cowboy boots.
“I have an extra jacket in my truck, let me go grab it.”
A moment later, he returned carrying a camouflage jacket and placed it over her shoulders. “I know it’s probably not your style and probably two or three sizes too big but it’ll keep you warm.”
“It’s perfect, and it smells like you,” she said, slipping it on and breathing in the citrusy scent of his cologne.
“Better now?”
“Much, thank you for the jacket.”
“You’re welcome, ready to go?”
“Whenever you are.”
On their way to the park, they stopped at a cozy little coffee shop and ordered hot chocolates to go, then the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the park talking about anything and everything to get to know each other better while sipping on their delicious hot chocolate.
After getting home from their date, Caitlin confirmed what she had known since the night at the bar. That while she thought she loved Colton, Nick was actually the man that she wanted to be with, and that in just a couple of days the sexy cowboy that she met at the bar had stolen her heart.
© 2022 Caitlin Loggins.
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