Toast

I am toast.

I like Valdosta. I like Valdosta a lot. He always says and does the perfect things at the perfect time.

Text message received 5:28 p.m.:

I am getting sick :-(

Outgoing call placed 5:39 p.m.

"Hey, baby," Valdosta answered.

"Hey, sicky. You not feeling well?"

"I have a head cold. I've been fighting it all day."

"Do you want me to--"

"Yes, I still want you to come over."

"I was just sick a couple of weeks ago," I said, thinking I may have given him the cold.

"Good. Your immune system is probably built up because of that." I could hear him grinning. No fault placed on me.

"And I have been drinking green tea all afternoon, so I am feeling extra antioxidant-y," I added.

He laughed.

"Okay, well I'm still at work and will be leaving in a half hour to 45 minutes. Then I have to let the dog out."

"That's okay. Take your time. Go home. Freshen up. I'll see you whenever you're ready."

WTF? WHO SAYS THIS? Fictional characters created by women, that's who. Not men who hit you up on a free Internet dating website.

I had Val over to my place earlier in the week. I made him watch my newest favorite movie, (500) Days of Summer.

"Is this a chick flick?" he asked warily.

"No. It tells you at the very beginning that it is not a love story."

I knew he would like it. People who have had broken hearts like this movie. I love it.

Summer: We've been like Sid and Nancy for months now.

Tom: Summer, Sid stabbed Nancy seven times with a kitchen knife. I mean we have some disagreements but I hardly think I'm Sid Vicious.

Summer: No I'm Sid.

Tom: Oh, so I'm Nancy...

[Pancakes arrive]

Summer: Let's just eat and we'll talk about it later. Mmm, that is good, I'm really glad we did this. I love these pancakes... what?

[Tom gets up and walks away from the table]

Summer: Tom, don't go! You're still my best friend!

Valdosta cringed at the best friend line. I looked at him quizzically, "Aren't we friends?"

He put his arm around me and said abruptly, "No, we are not friends." I knew what he meant.

"Oh that's right. You won't let me get away with that," I said, referring to his first e-mail to me: Friends first never works.

During the movie, the Tom has a monologue where he talks about wanting to break down Summer's emotional wall. I squirmed a little. That was a chick flick moment.

"Okay. That's a girlie thing to say. 'I want to someone to tear down the wall that previous boys have built,'" I mimicked.

Valdosta then squirmed. He opened and closed his mouth like he had something to say. Then he leaned his head towards me, "Guys want that too," he eventually spoke.

I waved my hand. "No way. Everyone knows boys don't have feelings," I joked.

Valdosta stiffened. All of a sudden I was Memphis. I had made an inappropriate joke at an inappropriate time. He had given me an in and I threw it away.

The movie had ended. "That was good," he said. "But it's still a chick flick."

We both hemmed and hawed. It was getting late and he was starting a new position at his company in the morning. Neither of us moved.

"Could you set your alarm?" he asked.

He climbed in my bed and groaned. "These are the most comfortable sheets ever."

"Thanks. They're bamboo." I climbed in my side and before my head even hit the pillow, he slipped an arm under my neck. That's what Valdosta does. Everything he does is exactly the way I like it. There is no learning curve with him; the way he kisses me, talks to me and touches me, it's like he's known me for years. Like this isn't our first sleepover.

Normally I gain some sense of night vision in my bedroom, but it was pitch black that night. To kiss him, I had to reach my hand up to find his furry face. It was hot.

So as you can see, with this guy I am toast. I can't remember the last time I met someone and immediately liked him with without reservations or talking myself into it. Without first and foremost tallying a list of all of his faults before I even considered his good points. The last time I just went with it.

I am toast.

I am also sleeping in sex sheets.