Late Night Conversations

I put the mower away and carried the now full bag of grass to the edge of the driveway. I noticed that there were other bags out at the neighbors' houses when I was cutting the front lawn so I assumed pick up was soon. If not, Gramsy would be sure to let me know when I went inside.

I was trying not to dwell on the fact that I would have to wait until later to talk to Miranda when I saw her. She was sitting on her front porch. I got the sense that Mira was waiting for me. I started to say hello, but hesitated when it became obvious something was up. She was smiling, but it was clearly forced.

"I thought maybe you got bit by a vampire or something last night." It was sort of an attempt at humor, but it felt as uncomfortable as her smile.

"What?" I didn't even try to hide my confusion.

"You stayed inside all day." She clarified, not really helping much. "I figured if you'd turned into a vampire then it would make sense." Okay, that explained her comment, but not her attitude. "I thought your grandmother would have you out early doing chores since it was such a beautiful day."

"Gramsy took pity on me and let me sleep off my hangover." If anything, my answer made whatever was bothering her worse.

"Do you remember last night at all?" There was a flash of something in her eyes, but I couldn't quite read it. Was she hoping I'd forgotten? Maybe she regretted our conversation. Maybe Miranda had said things she didn't mean because she was drunk.

I was worried about how Miranda felt about our conversation from the night before as soon as I saw her frown at me in the backyard when I was mowing the lawn. This discussion was only making it worse. It was disappointing on a level that I can't explain. I know it's silly considering how little we knew about each other, but I felt what I felt and after last night's conversation I'd decided to accept it.

I had a choice to make. I could confront Miranda and see how she really felt or I could say I didn't remember anything and let her off the hook. The latter might have been the coward's way out, but if she really did regret what happened, then it was also a kindness. I took a deep breath and flipped a coin in my head.

"I remember you dumped Anthony for me." Yeah, maybe the cocky grin and teasing manner weren't the best approach, but it was what I did, especially when I was at a loss as to what to say.

"I did not break up with him because of you!" she retorted, but she relaxed into her first real smile. I took that as a good sign, a very good sign. "Although, I will admit that it was our conversation about him last week that made me realize some things."

"Mandy." My tone made my distaste obvious as I remembered.

"I told you not to call me that ever again."

"Don't worry, that was the last time. Besides, I wasn't calling you that." I didn't have to pull any punches now that they weren't dating any longer. "Anthony didn't know the real you at all, did he? What a dumbass!"

"And you do?" Her challenging tone didn't bother me this time because I realized my biggest fear was unfounded. Miranda hadn't hoped I'd forgotten what we said to each other. She was afraid I had, or worse, she was afraid I'd use being drunk as an excuse to back away from her. I didn't know much in this particularly moment, but I did know that wasn't going to happen.

"The important parts." I said it confidently because it was the simple truth, not because of any challenge on her part. "Of course, I expect we'll have to spend some time together learning the rest."

"How much time?" Miranda asked, her smile turning into a grin.

"As long as it takes." I wasn't just saying it. It was a promise I intended to keep to the best of my ability. Miranda could see it in my eyes and she took a step toward me.

The smart thing to do would have been to stop her, but that wasn't going to happen. Another option was to take her in my arms and just go with it. That sounded like a much better option, but I hesitated for a few reasons.

First, there was the whole pandemic thing. I'd be more than willing to take the chance if there wasn't Gramsy to think about. Plus, it was possible that I was the one who would spread it to her family. I mean, I felt fine, but with this stupid virus a lot of people got it and never noticed.

There was also the fact that we on her front porch and her father was home. I'd thought he and I had shared a moment earlier, but I could have been wrong. Plus, we could get caught by one of her little siblings.

The fact that I was overdue inside was another good reason. Gramsy would probably come looking for me any moment. That would be embarrassing in a completely different way.

"And what if you find that you don't like what you discover out about me?" Miranda drifted a little closer as she asked. My pulse picked up considerably. I could lose myself in her eyes if I let myself. Hell, if I wasn't careful, I was going to lose a lot more than that to her. Oddly, the thought didn't bother me.

"I'll learn to live with it."

Miranda took another step closer and I decided to hell with it. I was definitely going to kiss her, but then a stupid thought popped into my head and of course, I couldn't not share it. Mostly because I thought it was funny.

"Well, that's assuming you're a good kisser. I mean, you wouldn't expect me to hang around if you were a sloppy kisser, would you?" I tried to make it sound like a challenge, but honestly, the thought of her being a sloppy kisser had me fighting hard not to laugh.

"You jerk!" Miranda didn't even attempt to stop herself from laughing.

"I mean, if you really were a bad kisser, I guess we could practice a bunch until you got it right." There was no way someone with lips like Miranda's could be a bad kisser, but my mouth had started me down this path so there was no going back now.

"In your dreams," she snorted, laughing even harder. I have to a admit. I loved the sounds of her laughter. That didn't stop my disappointment when she moved back to the porch and sat down. The worst part was that I had nobody to blame except myself.

"Well, that's true," I admitted. "Pretty much every night since I saw your splayed out on the lawn my first day here."

"I was not 'splayed out', you pervert! I was playing soccer with my brothers and sister."

I knew Miranda was right, but as I looked at her, I felt the same gut punch I'd felt when I'd been spying on her from atop Gramsy's roof that first day. We'd grown close since then and shared a lot during our late-night conversations. So much so that I sometimes forgot just how hot she was. I mean it was impossible not to be aware of her beauty, but that was different.

"You remember it your way. I'll remember it mine." I couldn't stop my grin, not that I really wanted to in this situation.

The truth was that there was a good chance I would have been tongue-tied if I'd met Miranda for the first time during this visit. Her curves seriously got to me when I allowed myself to notice them. The fact that there as so much more to her than that was...well, Heaven. That's how it felt to me anyway.

"You're looking at me in that way again." Mira was no longer laughing. In fact, there was the beginning of a fire in her deep, dark her eyes than sent warmth through me to all the right places.

"I really wish I could kiss you right now." My voice was a little thick, but at least I hadn't groaned outright.

"Me too." Miranda was standing again, but instead of moving toward me, she opened the storm door. "I'd better get inside before we do something stupid."

"Yeah, maybe you ought to." I was dead serious. If she stayed out here much longer, I'd probably finally figure out how to shut up. I was sure keeping my mouth busy doing something else would be a big part of it.

**********

"Think we'll ever go out on a date?"

Almost a week had passed since we admitted how we felt for each other. Well, sort of anyway. Neither of us has used the L work yet, but we both knew. Every day that passed only made it more obvious.

Miranda and I still met up every night and had any number of conversations over the fence during the day. We spoke on the phone if the weather was bad. Miranda and I talked a lot, but unfortunately that's all we did.

"God, I hope so!" My frustration obvious and matched hers.

"Afraid you're wasting your time?" We were facing each other, but we had our chairs back from the fence so we wouldn't be tempted. "I mean, you still haven't found out if I'm a sloppy kisser or not." She was teasing me, again. She didn't bring up the 'sloppy kiss' comment all that often, but when it did it was always funny, if sometimes annoying.

"Don't remind me," I half groaned and half laughed. "I know they say, 'All good things come to those who wait', but this is ridiculous!"

"Right?" she asked, letting her frustration show. "Although, we've really only been a thing for a week now."

"A 'thing' are we?" I teased her choice of words.

"Well, what would you call it?" Miranda was watching me carefully as she asked. "Are we even dating? Does talking to each other over this stupid fence count?"

It was funny. She was one of the most confident girls I'd ever met, but she still occasionally needed to hear me tell her how important she was to me. I guess that was just human nature. It's not like I didn't need to hear she subtle and sometimes not so subtle hints about her feelings for me.

"We're definitely not dating." My comment surprising her until I added, "Dating doesn't carry the weight of what we're sharing. I'd say we're in a relationship, a committed one."

"After only one week? I mean, that's like a date or two." I knew Miranda was happy with my answer and just having some fun with me, but that didn't mean I'd accept her logic.

"You've got that backwards," I explained. "We've met every night out here for the last two weeks. Either that or we video conferenced when the weather acted up, and that's not taking into consideration how much time we spend hanging out in our yards during the day."

Miranda tried to interject somewhere in the middle, but I kept talking over her because I wasn't done making my point yet. She clearly had something she felt was important to say, but it would have to wait.

"We even got drunk together once," I added pointedly. "That's like at least fourteen dates which translates into over three months of going out." I stopped and let her voice whatever was bothering her.

"No way!" Miranda blurted out. "The first week doesn't count! I was still dating Anthony then." I gave her a look and she blushed, but she also refused to back down.

"Mira, I'm not saying you were two timing him. I mean we were only talking, but..."

"One week, which is only seven dates if things were normal," she insisted. We were ostensibly joking back and forth, but I knew this was important to her.

"Fine, but that still translates into over a month and a half of dating. Certainly, long enough to get passed dating into a serious relationship."

"Even without sharing a single kiss?" Miranda was grinning now, having as much fun with the silliness of our conversation as I was.

"Don't make me jump over this fence!" I groaned, which of course, made her grin turn into a laugh. I sighed in frustration, but only for a moment before I joined her.

"This really is crazy, isn't it?" Miranda asked once we were done.

"Definitely, but that's okay. At least we have each other." I was gratified with the reaction my words caused.

Miranda had the ability to say so much with a smile. There was her happy smile, her gotcha smile and her sad smile that came out most often when we talked about her mother who she clearly missed a lot. There was her teasing smile and the one that drove me crazy every time, her sexy smile.

She had plenty of others as well. I expect I'd seen most of them these past two weeks, but the one that got to me the most was the one she was showing me now. I referred to it as the 'I love you smile', even though we never said the words to each other.

"There is that," Miranda said as she stood slowly. "It's getting late."

"That it is," I agreed easily as I stood as well.

We both put on the masks we carried around our necks and moved to the fence for our nightly ritual. I reached over the fence and Mira's took my hand. We both squeezed, but only hard enough to let the other know that they weren't alone. Okay, maybe it was to do a bit more than that. It was a promise between us that we both hoped one day to fulfill.

Some days we'd clasp hands for only a couple of seconds. Some days it was longer. Once it dragged on for almost ten minutes because we both needed it. We would both go inside and wash up carefully afterward making sure there was almost no chance of us spreading the virus before we removed our masks and went to sleep.

It might not have been the smartest thing for us to do, but we both needed it. Frankly, most nights, just the memory of the feel of Miranda's hand in mine usually helped me drift off to sleep.

"It's a good thing we're wearing these masks." The comment slipped out as I looked into Mira's eyes.

"It's safer this way."

"In more ways than one," I groaned, shaking my head. Frankly, I thought Miranda felt the same based on the way she'd said the word 'safer', but I refused to let that stop me from finishing what I was saying. "I'm pretty sure if I was this close to you with your lips uncovered, I wouldn't be able to resist kissing you." I should have left it as that, but couldn't resist adding, "Sloppy kisser or not."

"I am not a sloppy kisser!" she snapped, letting go of my hand and laughing, but she didn't step back from the fence.

"Prove it!" I teased, only we both knew I wasn't, not really. The weird part is that Miranda moved closer at my taunt.

Her eyes were lit with a smile I hadn't seen before. It was something deeper than her sexy smile, but certainly related. There was an enticing mix of hunger, need, trust and a promise of true passion that was impossible to ignore.

"One day," she promised. "Soon."

"Now." I almost didn't recognize my own voice as I reached out with both hands and pulled Miranda's mask down. Her eyes grew big, but she didn't pull away. I gave her more than enough time as I pulled off my own mask.

Mira's perfectly shaped lips called to me, and there was nothing and no one who could stop me from claiming them as my own, not even this stupid virus. Well, no one except Miranda, but she wasn't trying to stop me. Her lips parted as I moved toward her.

The fence was only four feet tall and we hugged each other over it. The feel of Miranda in my arms, even with the fence between most of our bodies was Heaven. Still, that couldn't compare to the feel of her lips pressing against mine.

We shared only one long kiss before we separated, but it was enough. The emotions I'd been feeling ever since seeing Miranda from the roof top that first day took over a part of my soul. They locked in and became part of me in a way I couldn't explain. I'd never felt this way before and never would again. I knew that with a certainly that I'd never felt before.

The intensity of my feelings was too much so I decided the best thing to so was lighten the mood. The easiest way to do that was to say a joke about her kisses not being sloppy at all, only that's not what came out when I opened my mouth.

"Miranda, I love you, and I always will." It was more than a statement. It was a promise.

"You'd better," Mira replied, but the trust I saw in her eyes belied the concern in her warning. "Davey, I love you too. I always have."

It was obvious that we both wanted to kiss again, but we ended up stepping away from each other at the same time. We exchanged a sad smile.

"That was a mistake," Miranda added once we were far enough away from each other to chance talking again. "Not that I regret it, but we can't do it again."

"You're right, but what are the odds?" I wasn't trying to argue with her, but I couldn't see me not kissing Miranda again until this pandemic ended. "I thought kissing each other might make it easy for us to hold out. Jesus, was I wrong!"

"You think?" Mira asked, letting me see her own need for a moment before she clamped down on it. "But it's not safe."

"No one in either of our houses has left in over a week or is showing any symptoms of Covid 19. I know your mother has visited, but she stayed in the yard."

"Davey..." Mirada began, but I cut her off.

"Please, let's not argue tonight." I pleased with my eyes as well as my words. "I don't want to ruin what I'm feeling right now. Miranda, I love you and you love me. Let's focus on that for tonight. We'll talk tomorrow about how we're going to move forward." She hesitated, but only for a few seconds.

"Okay," Mira finally smiled. "I don't want to argue tonight either, but we will talk about this tomorrow, and in the daylight where we both think clearer."

We stood their looking at each other for another few moments. No, longing for each other. It was almost painful, and yet, it was also the happiest day of my life.

"You know, it would almost have been better if you were sloppy kisser." I was happy to see my twisted sense of humor had finally returned.

"Easier," Miranda retorted. "Not better."

"A fair point," I agreed, and then suddenly we were both laughing. I loved when that happened. I hoped it would continue for years to come. I figured that as long as Mira and I could laugh together, we'd be fine.

"Davey, I love you, but it's time for me to go inside. I'm supposed to be up early with Matteo. I told Papa it was time for him to sleep in."

"Good night, Miranda. I love you too." I not only loved her, but I loved the way Mira looked at me as I told her how I felt about her. "See you bright and early."

I went inside and washed my face and hands carefully. I went to my room and climbed into bed tired, but feeling amazing. Sleep took a while to come. I almost got up and grabbed the half empty bottle of tequila. I certainly had something worth celebrating and it would help me finally drift off, but I decided it was smarter to face tomorrow's conversation clear headed.

It's not like I didn't understand where Miranda was coming from, but I couldn't see me not trying to steal another kiss from her as long as both our families didn't leave home. She was ultra-concerned and I got that with her mom being a nurse and on the front lines of fighting this pandemic, but the more I thought about it, it just didn't make sense. Some risks were worth taking. The question was, how would I convince Miranda of that?

**********

It seemed like just when I was sure Gramsy would run out of chores she'd come up with something else to be done. Today was cleaning the carpet in the living room, and of course, she just happened to have a rug cleaner in the shed.

Frankly, I could almost believe that her shed was like Doctor Who's Tardis or Marry Poppins carpet bag. It was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Only, it was so cramped in there that if the door closed while I was inside, I started feeling seriously claustrophobic.

It was one of those grey days out so I understood why Gramsy picked an inside task, but that meant I only got a chance to see Miranda through the windows or when I walked out to the shed to grab something. I was nervous how she was taking our kiss last night. She did smile when she saw me. Miranda clearly wanted to talk and so did I, but it would have to wait.

Gramsy and I spread the Livingroom furniture out throughout the rest of the house. I tried to do it by myself, but she had to help with the couch. We moved that into the dining room since it was close and a straight path from the living room. My grandmother was very particularly with not just where we put the furniture, but how, so it took longer than I expected to get everything situated the way she wanted.