“...and that’s why my friend decided to bail on me…” Claire finished her story.

Huh?

Woah, it seemed like I blanked out long enough to miss most of what she had said.

I looked at my date, who was hugging my arm all the way until now, and, seemingly, had no intention whatsoever to release her embrace on said appendage. Not that I wanted her to, not going to lie.

My gaze landed on the valley between two sizable peaks, the softness of which I had been enjoying so far. Yeah, as far as I was concerned, Counter Girl could continue holding my limb hostage for as long as she fancied.

The only real downside was the hit the last vestiges of my dwindling self-control were taking. The worst part, I had nothing really to switch my focus onto.

“Claire,” I called out. “I’m sorry, but could you repeat that?”

The young woman in question shook her head and let out a sigh.

“Yeah, I noticed that you were blanking out.” I heard her response.

“Ugh, was I really that obvious?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“You weren’t acting in your usual way, so, um, it was pretty easy to notice,” Claire explained.

“Really? What gave me away?” Her words piqued my interest.

The Counter Girl fell silent, even breaking eye contact with me. Hm, was she angry at me or something?

“Well...” she sighed. “You hadn’t even kissed me yet…”

Oh. Yeah. Not angry. Definitely not.

“So,” I tried my worst to bring our conversation back to the initial topic. “Mind repeating that story that I blanked out on earlier?”

“Which one?” My conversation partner stumped me with that question.

Oh, did I miss more than one? Damn, I must’ve spaced even more than I thought initially then.

“The one about your friend,” I decided on taking the safer option.

Claire gave me a side glance and smiled wryly, but started her story anew.

“There is this musical that my friend and I have wanted to see since forever, yet, whenever the troupe wasn’t touring, either one of us always just so happened to be too busy,” the Counter Girl started her explanation.

Hm, so our date venue was a musical? Not the worst thing that could happen… I shuddered, remembering the time someone dragged me to the opera. That was a complete nightmare.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“... and, so, they finally decided to finish their tour and give the last round of performances before putting it on the shelf for good. My friend somehow found the tickets, and good tickets at that!” My date continued, sounding excited while telling me that.

I felt like I somehow missed a part of the story again, but it didn’t seem like a big issue for now, since I could follow along.

“Only she managed to fall ill at the last possible moment. Maybe all that stress from her job finally caught up to her. She has complained a lot lately about how busy she was all the time. I even had to find myself a new gym partner.” A shy glance over here. Cute. “And that’s why I, um, invited you. You know, not wanting to waste a ticket and everything…”

“Oh, and here I thought that you had ulterior motives right from the beginning, like last week’s ‘group outing’,” I joked, trying to distract myself.

“Well…” Claire drew, turning her face the other way. “I thought about doing so, but my friend has been in a slump since last weekend, and, um…”

The ending of her phrase was inaudible. Only now I noticed that even her ears were crimson from how hard the Counter Girl was currently blushing.

On the other hand, her nape looked so very enticing right about now…

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to calm the rattling beast. Holy mother of fuck, was she doing this deliberately?

“Um, Tian, are you feeling fine?” Claire asked, the tone of her voice full of concern.

The Counter Girl turned her face back and was staring at me. Her gaze looked me up and down, as if trying to find what was amiss.

“You don’t need to push yourself so hard for my sake. We can just cancel the outing…” She continued.

“Claire,” I interrupted her. “Do you still remember the kitchen incident?”

“Eh?” The abrupt change of topic confused Claire. “Um, yes?”

“I am completely and utterly beyond the point of slipping again,” I continued.

“Oh?” The confusion in her gaze grew even more apparent.

“To be frank, I am currently hanging barely by a thread of my leftover sanity, holding back the desire to continue from the moment Olivia interrupted us back then.” Ah, I could see the animal grin reflecting in those brown eyes.

“Oh…” The realization finally bloomed in those brown eyes of hers.

“So, the only reason I haven't kissed you yet, is because I wouldn’t be able to stop myself with only that.” I finished my words.

Well, the cat was out of the bag, and I could only wait to see what Claire would decide.

“Um, can we at least wait until after the musical, then?” The Counter Girl asked something quite unexpected. “I really looked forward to seeing this performance, so, um, well…”

Hello, Chaos, my old friend. A silly thought flashed inside my brain.

“Just to be sure we are on the same page here.” I decided to clarify things a bit. “You heard my words about barely holding myself back, and you still want to continue? All the way?”

I looked straight into her eyes, and Claire met my gaze head on.

“Yes.” The completely crimson Counter Girl responded.

A myriad of questions swarmed through my buzzing consciousness. Out of all those whys, hows, and whats, right now, there was only one that I needed to ask.

“Claire,” I called out once more. “Do you want a kiss?”

Counter Girl rolled her eyes and, for the first time, kissed me on her own. The second one followed shortly after. Then the third. And a few more afterward.

Judging by the way Claire leaned forward, seeking the continuation, I wasn’t the only one lost inside the moment.