The Key Between Us Pt 05

*loosely based on a true story*

Sunday took far too long to arrive. Friday evening dragged on forever, especially when he never got a text from Kayla like he was expecting. He hoped she wasn't ghosting him on purpose. Saturday felt like it moved slower than an annoying driver hogging the passing lane. Hayden's heart raced thinking of Kayla and the fears and excitement of seeing her again. In some ways she reminded him of Vicki; both were confident, beautiful women who enjoyed teasing him. But to be blunt, Kayla had a cute factor that he just didn't see in Vicki, whereas Vicki had a strong, almost domineering vibe that Kayla didn't seem to have. Something about Kayla made him feel alive and full of energy, like a little puppy. Vicki on the other hand had a relaxing, comforting presence that made him know everything was under control.

Sometime around noon on Saturday he got a friend request on Facebook from someone named Kayla Czarneski. Somehow, now knowing her last name made him feel like he knew her better. He accepted the friend request and looked through her photos and posts. Apparently she had been heavily involved in indoor rock climbing a couple years ago; perhaps she still was, and just didn't post it on social media anymore. Lots of pictures of pretty scenery. A photo of her wearing a "I voted" sticker. A few mirror selfies of her wearing cute outfits. The overall impression was someone with a pleasant, down-to-earth vibe.

Her sending a friend request was reassuring that she hadn't forgotten him or, worse, was intentionally avoiding him. He did worry that failing to send the promised text was a red flag, but tried not to spend too much time thinking on that. Overthinking would only stress him out and accomplish nothing.

It wasn't until close to supper time that it occurred to him that he hadn't even thought about his caged penis since meeting Kayla. It had apparently become a normal part of his life, but hardly a mundane thing either. Even if he had kind of forgotten about it, the thought of it now still made him feel excited and rushed.

He wondered about the logistics of making it work if things with Kayla moved towards sex. Should he get the key from Vicki now, before he met up with her on Sunday? Then he shook those thoughts away; he barely knew her, they simply weren't going to be having sex. He was almost ashamed of himself for thinking they would. She deserved to be thought of better than that.

Finally Sunday arrived. He drove to the riverwalk, and suddenly realized he wasn't sure where to go. There were two parking lots, one on the north end and one on the south end, not to mention street parking not too far away that a lot of people used. They hadn't agreed on where to meet.

Then he got a call from an unknown number, and when he answered it he heard Kayla's voice.

"Hey," she said, "I'm at the pavilion by the bigger parking lot."

Hayden smiled, somehow endeared that she didn't know the points on the map. "Sounds good. I'll drive over there now."

Hayden pulled into the north parking lot and could see her stretching as he parked his car. She was wearing her pink sports bra again, with fun blue-white tie dye shorts. Her hair wasn't in a ponytail like last time, instead in two braids; he believed they were called french braids, but he wasn't entirely sure. Either way, she looked really cute.

He hopped out of his car and waved as he approached her. That was when she saw him, and she waved back with a big grin. She let him come to her so she could keep scratching, which really flattered her sensuality a bit. For the too-many-times-to-count-th time, he was glad he couldn't get an erection.

"Hey," she said, "how's your weekend going?"

"Fine," he said nonchalantly. "Been looking forward to today."

"Sorry I never texted you," she said. "Just got really busy and it kept slipping my mind."

"No worries, you're good," Hayden said. Although getting a list of her favorite indie authors would have been nice, he mostly cared about getting her number, which he had now.

He started his stretching routine, and said, "You got any plans after this?"

"Not really," she said. "Maybe something relaxing."

"I saw your friend request," he said. "Your last name, is that Norwegian or something?"

"Polish, actually," she said. "Cool story, my mom's family moved here after World War Two, and my dad's grandparents came here to escape the communist dictatorship."

"No way, that's cool," Hayden said He wasn't a huge fan of history, but he knew enough to appreciate the significance of that.

Silently declaring that the stretching was done, Kayla began walking down the riverwalk. "Your pace or my pace?"

"Depends if you want to talk or not while we run," Hayden said. "Not sure I'll have much spare breath if we're doing yours."

"Let's do yours then," she said with a smile that made Hayden smile back.

So she wanted to talk. That was a good sign. She wanted interaction.

As they walked past his car, Hayden gestured towards it passively and said, "You mind if I take my shirt off?"

"Uh, sure," she said, shrugging.

Suddenly Hayden's stomach dropped. That hesitation, what did it mean? Did she find it weird or inappropriate? Or just an awkward beta move that he had asked? Maybe he should have shown some confidence and just done it without seeking permission.

Feeling anxious now, he pulled his shirt off clumsily and tossed it into the passenger seat, before continuing on with Kayla. He thought he caught her looking at his chest for just a second, but maybe not. He was fairly confident in his body; it was a thin but fit build with a mostly flat belly. Hopefully she liked it.

As they sped up into a light jog, Hayden wanted to get a conversation going so she couldn't spend too much time thinking about how awkward he was. "So, uh, you want to tell me about those authors now, so you don't have to worry about remembering to text me later?"

"Yeah," she said. "'Knightly Fall' by Max Powell is really good. He's basically a kid from Utah. Wrote it when he was only seventeen, but it's really good. Explores the idea of a collapsing civilization and what the individual can do to make the most of living in such a rough time."

Hayden laughed. "Seems appropriate, given the gas prices recently."

She smiled, apparently not too amused by his humor but polite enough to acknowledge the attempt. "Lindsey Kowak is another good one if you like warm, omfort stories."

"I'll have to check her out," Hayden said, and in a panic clarified, "Check out her work, I mean. I'm not going to check HER out, because that would be weird."

She gave a toothy grin. "Why would that be weird?"

"Oh, well, you know," he struggled, "because I don't know her. And I don't want you to think I go around checking out women I don't know--or women I do know. Women in general. You know?"

"Well, she's in her seventies, so I doubt you'll be interested," she laughed.

Hayden's cheeks were red now. Why did he keep making a fool of himself? How did people have conversations without putting their feet in their mouths? Kayla didn't seem to mind, but he still wished he could be more suave and charismatic with her.

She gave a lot of names and books accompanying them, most of which he forgot as soon as she moved on to the next one. Mostly he just enjoyed hearing her talk. Once she got going, she kept going; she'd listen if he had something to say, but she definitely loved talking about her favorite subject.

They made it to the end of the riverwalk and turned around for a second lap. Hayden felt great and full of energy, and wondered about jogging the route again. By the time they made it back to his car it would have been a 5K, which was close to his limit; but today he felt like he could easily go further.

"One more lap?" Kayla asked as they neared their starting point.

"Yes, please," he said.

They turned around once more, and continued talking. The conversation flowed naturally, mostly thanks to Kayla's ability to just keep going and going. Hayden grinned as somehow the topic changed to a time when she and some friends went searching for Aurora Borealis for several hours in the middle of the night. She seemed to be someone who loved adventure, but in a very innocent sort of way.

"I'm sorry," he gasped after a while, "can we slow down? I'm out of breath."

"Certainly," she said, and gave him a quick pat on the back. "Good job pushing yourself."

He smiled, not proud of how much he enjoyed that little touch. "Listen. Would you --and please feel free to say no, I don't want to pressure you or anything--would you be interested in going out sometime?"

"Going out sometime?" she echoed.

"Yeah, like, the two of us go out and have fun," he said. "I'm not sure what kind of food you like, but there are some great local restaurants around. We could get supper and find something to do."

Her face went a little serious, and she looked ahead. "I just want things to be clear. Are you asking me out on a date?"

Hayden nearly froze. She really just came out with the D word like that. "Do you want it to be a date?"

Her mouth opened immediately, but it took a second for any words to come out. "I just want your intentions to be clear. Do you just want to be friends, or do you want to go on a date?"

Hayden thought for a moment. "Date" was definitely the more honest answer, but he feared saying so would be too forward and scare her away. His mind raced through ideas of how to twist the wording to get the best of both worlds, but decided that wouldn't be fair to her.

"Fine," he said, "yeah, I'm asking you out on a date."

Her lips curled, possibly a smile or a grimace. Before Hayden could guess though, she said, "I'd love to go on a date with you."

Before Hayden realized it, he was reaching out to grab her. He managed to stop himself before he actually pulled her in for a hug, but his arms were now hovering over her and she had her hands up to instinctively push him away.

They stood like that for several minutes before he said, "Would you believe me if I said I was trying to swat a mosquito?"

"Nope," she said, and grinned. "You can step back now, please."

"Sorry," he said, sheepishly moving away. "I don't know what happened."

Kayla looked back towards where they had parked, which was just a minute away if they jogged. "I'm gonna go now. But you have my number, so feel free to call or text me and we can make plans."

She left before he could say anything. He just stood there and watched her go. He kicked a light post, furious at himself for scaring her and making her run. How could he have lost control over that? She said yes, and he immediately thought he could smother her? What was wrong with him?

But then, she did mention making plans. Apparently he had not scared her so much that she had changed her mind about going out with him.

With a small amount of hope left, he kept going.

It was time to talk to Vicki, he decided.