"I'm not going to try and get into your pants," He inserted a key into the door and turned to give me a panty-melting wink. "Though, I do like how you think having sex with me will cause you that much joy. Now, come on, it’s about to rain!”
I rolled my eyes wide, trying to suppress the smile that was trying to reach the surface along with a slight blush. Hopping out of the car I scampered over to the door right before the first drops hit the ground.
He held open the door for me to walk through.
I stared back at the heavy drops that pitter-pattered against the ground. “How did you know it was about to rain?”
“One of my many talents,” he smiled.
The inside of the house was, well, homey. The floor was white tile, and from where I stood in this little hallway entrance, I could see that it opened to a living room with two cushy looking couches in an L shape, one of which was facing a wide flat screen atop a black stand. Colors of black, white, and beige popped out at me. Looking around, I noticed that there were oriental knickknacks and decor everywhere. An old looking dagger sat on a pedestal atop a table in the entryway. The table in front of the TV was black and had intricate designs like many of the classic Asian paintings I'd seen in books. In fact, several paintings like that were hung up on the walls, and next to the TV stand stood a small terracotta warrior.
"Is one of your parents Asian?” I asked, somewhat puzzled by the decor.
"No, my mom just loves oriental stuff," he gestured around to all the decor. "this is all her doing."
He dropped his keys into a bowl that sat next to the dagger and placed a hand gently on my shoulder.
I looked up at him. His face was lit up with even more excitement than when we were at the lake. He turned his head, looking out towards the living room and with his free hand tapped his fingers against the wall.
I scrunched my eyebrows, thoroughly confused as to what was going on. I pulled my eyes away from him to look around.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eyes and followed it. A small white ball poked its head out from a hallway up ahead. My eyes grew wide as the small white ball came further out into my view.
"BUNNY!!!!" I exclaimed, squealing like a little girl who was just given a pony for Christmas.
The bunny froze, standing stark still as its upright white ears swiveled around to find the danger, its nose twitching. I silenced my squeals not wanting to scare the most adorable thing I had ever seen.
"Come here Rocket. We've got company,” Jason said, patting his knee I assumed to get its attention.
At the sound of Jason's voice, the bunny looked directly at us, its blue eyes wide. Jason whistled, tapping his fingers against the wall again. The bunny broke from its frozen state, his back feet thumped hard against the ground before he hopped excitedly towards us. Jason scooped him up off the ground and turned to me.
"Atalanta, meet Rocket. Rocket, meet Atalanta," He said as he scratched the top of the rabbit’s head.
I don't think any amount of will could contain my smile at that moment. Jason had been right, elation was a good word for what I was feeling. I was bouncing up and down with excitement, my hands curled into fists waving back and forth in front of me.
"Oh my God, you have a bunny!"
"Yes, I do,” He chuckled.
"Aaand why did you not introduce us sooner?"
"Because I thought this would make a good second date."
I couldn’t contain myself any more. With my hands out I asked, “Can I hold him?"
"Sure. If he squirms, just hold him like a baby. He likes that."
Jason shifted the rabbit in his arms and held him out to me. He squirmed at first, uncomfortable with the new position but he didn't look scared as I gently took him.
He was so small, no bigger than a bowling ball and covered in bright white fur from head to toe. Well, not completely head to toe. The fluffy pads of his feet which sported some wicked claws were tinted yellow. When he snuggled into me, I just about died.
"I want you to know you're not getting him back," I stated matter-of-factly.
"I figured as much,” he laughed. "which is why I thought it would be a good idea to watch a movie while you held him."
We moved further into the house, opening more of it up to me. I could see the stairs that I presumed led to the second floor, down the hall that Rocket came out of. The kitchen, which was right next to the entryway that we came through, wasn't very large. At least not as large as I would've expected from a house this size. There were more Oriental decorations than a shop in Chinatown, including a porcelain doll in a yukata, a Japanese style dress.
"Won't he get bored and start squirming around?” I asked as I scratched the top of Rocket’s head.
“Maybe, but he likes to watch movies."
My eyes shot up to Jason who was watching me with a serene expression.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. We don't really know why but he could sit there with you for hours beyond a few potty breaks."
"Does that mean he's gonna poop on me or something?” I couldn’t help my disgusted frown.
I loved the rabbit already, but nobody liked being used as a litter box.
He shook his head. "He's trained to go to the bathroom in a small spot in his cage."
"I didn't know rabbits could be litter trained."
"Most people don't."
He walked over to the TV and started rifling through the DVD selection. "Any particular genre?"
"Do you have any satire?"
He pulled out a DVD and held it up to me. "Stardust?"
"That works.” I nodded.
Jason popped in the movie and sauntered over to the larger of the two couches and flopped down. He looked up at me and patted the space beside him. Nervously I shuffled over with Rocket in my arms and gingerly sat down on the cushions next to him.
Initially, I sat there stiff as a board, nervous about being this close to him completely alone in the house. But once the movie began, I settled a little, petting Rocket gently between his ears.
Jason wasn't lying when he said that Rocket liked watching the movie. He snuggled into my lap, only getting up to, I assume, go to the bathroom. He would hop away down the hall and then come back a few minutes later and hop back up on the couch with us. Sometimes he settled into my lap and other times into Jason's. Whenever he chose me, Jason and I would look over at each other and share giddy little smiles.
About halfway through the movie, I finally fully relaxed into the couch, Jason's arm slung over the back behind me. He was mere inches from me, and I was constantly aware of his slow, even breaths and deep barrel-chested laughter at the comedic drama of the movie. I was also aware of every time his gaze slid to me, and his hands twitched, probably wanting to touch me.
By the high point of the movie's climax, I was leaning fulling into the crook of his arm, my body relaxed, while my heart pounded. Testing my boundaries, I rested my hand over his chest feigning an attempt to snuggle closer. I could feel his heart racing underneath my fingertips. I was glad to know I wasn't the only one affected by our close proximity. Rocket lay sprawled across the two of us, a long noodle of fluff. His eyes were closed. Evidently, he was completely unaffected by the electrical tension that sparked the air.
As the movie wrapped up, I slowly began to run my hand up and down his chest. I could feel the hard muscle beneath the turtleneck sweater he wore. I could also feel him twitching at my touch. A little bit of triumph flickered through me at the thought of invoking a reaction into him. As the credits scrolled down the screen, I slowly turned my eyes toward Jason. He was already looking at me. His pupils were dilated, and he was probably breathing about as hard as I was.