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“Please come in.” She gestures inside with a wave of her hand.
I step through the threshold, and her home is not at all what I had expected. This woman is a complete nerd. A very hot nerd, at that. It’s adorable. I mean, I know she likes to read—well, that much is obvious by her chosen profession—but this is so different from what I had imagined.
Kat’s walls are covered in Call of Duty imagery and other gaming posters. There are gaming systems taking up every inch of space in her entertainment center, too. I spot a Playstation, Xbox and even an old school Nintendo gaming system. Kat has bookshelves with what has to be hundreds of books filling it to the brim. Her black leather couches stick out in the living room. They look comfortable. Her coffee table is has her laptop on top of it. She was probably working when I knocked. Her place is homey.
She isn’t even dressed like she was when I saw her at OneShot. She has on these cute skull and crossbones leggings with a tight black t-shirt. When I saw her at OneShot, she had on a big sweater and jeans. This is a completely different ensemble, and she looks fucking hot. I shift a bit in my pants because my dick agrees.
Honestly, Kat is the complete opposite of Emma. Emma was tall, blonde, and looked like a supermodel. Emma was all business. She worked in the world of marketing and always had to make sure she looked like perfection. She was also always the center of attention, which I was okay with at the time. I always wanted to support her and help in any way I could with her career.
Kat is down to earth, shy, and quiet. There is an innocence about her, too. She’s absolutely beautiful with her long black hair. Kat hides in her clothes, hides in her work, and she doesn’t seek approval from others. She doesn’t like to be the center of attention. Social situations don’t seem to be her thing. She’s a breath of fresh air.
“How are you?” I ask, looking back at her after taking in her apartment space. She folds her arms over her chest and averts her gaze. Is she ashamed of her place? Maybe she’s nervous that I’m here. I need to put her at ease. “This is a nice setup you have. Are you a gamer?”
“Um, yeah, I play when I have some free time.” She looks at the ground, shifting from one foot to the other. I can tell she’s unsure and nervous about having me here. I need to get to the point of why I visited.
“So, you’re probably wondering how I know you live here,” I lean my hip against the back of the couch, giving her a slight smile.
“Sure. That would be nice.” She bobs her head, still not looking at me.
“Well, I was leaving my apartment the other day and as I came down the stairs, I saw you locking up your own. Turns out I live in the unit right above you.” I point at the ceiling. “At first, I was going to say hello to you, but you had earbuds in and you were in your own little world. I didn’t want to interrupt.” Pausing, I let her take in that information. “I was going to say something at OneShot, but you gave off a vibe that said you didn’t really want to talk.”
“I, uh… I…” Kat shuts down. Her eyes close and her lips press together. She looks down at the floor. I could see she is trying to make sense of the situation. There’s a part of me that’s worried she’ll say nothing at all. Her head shoots up and she focuses in on me. “Look, it was nice to meet you and all, but I’m really not sure what you want from me.” Her voice pitches, probably from fear, and her face has turned deathly pale. Sheisscared.
That’s not my intention. Now I feel horrible that she’s freaked out.
“I don’t want anything. Honestly, I just moved to Vegas. I’m looking to meet new people, and I want to get to know you.” I shrug, moving my hands into my pockets to try to make myself appear as casual as possible. In reality, I’m nervous she’ll push me out and not want to talk to me again.
I just want to get to know her. No pressure, no expectations, nothing other than getting to know who Kat is. There’s a pull I feel towards her, and I need to know why. So, here I am.
“Okay. You can sit,” She points to the couch. I take that as my opening, next sliding over to take a seat. “Do you want anything to drink?” Kat asks, walking towards her kitchen.
“Water, please.” I call back to her.
Kat comes back in with two bottles of water and sets one in front of me. She sits on the couch across from me, then places her bottle on the coffee table and stares at her hands.
I relax a bit because it seems I’m at least getting somewhere with her, I just need to keep pulling her out of her shell. Kat invited me in, and she had me sit. Progress. Now I just need to get her talking.
“So you’re a book editor. Do you write books too?” I rest my elbows on my legs and my chin in my hands.
She pulls on the bottom of her shirt and looks like she’s deep in thought for an answer to that question. Kat chews her bottom lip, which makes her look sexy as hell.
“I … don’t know how to answer that.” She pulled her knees up to her chest, pursing her lips. It almost seems like that’s her way of hiding in plain sight.
“Well, you either do or you don’t. I don’t know if there’s an in-between.” I tip my head to the side. My eyebrows pull inward, I’m confused.
She sighs. “I’ve some written some stuff. I just won’t ever put it out there. Never.”
“Why?”
“When I edit a book, it’s not my work. Someone else has to worry about whether the story is good or if the characters are relatable. I just look for mistakes, problems with the plot, stuff like that, then I help fix it. With my work …” She trails off, lost in thought. I can see the blank stare, her eyes fixated on the table in front of her. I know why she doesn’t share her work.
“You’re afraid of judgement.” I answer for her.
She looks up at me, and her eyes soften. “Yes. Exactly.”
“I get it. But if you don’t try, how will you ever know if you’re good or not? I mean, wouldn’t it be worth the risk for at least one book? Maybe you’re just meant to edit, or maybe you’re a best-selling author. Who knows?”
Kat’s lip curls up in a slight smile. “If you haven’t noticed, I am not exactly comfortable in a lot of social situations. So, putting myself out there is out of the question.” She snickers.