He pushes me away and stumbles backward a few steps. "No, Arden, we're not doing that anymore."
"Who knew hot sex would make you so uptight?"
"I am not uptight. I'm trying to do the right thing, which I admit is a bit of a stretch for me. But I'm giving it a go, and your constant attempts to break my willpower aren't helping."
Am I being a total slut? If I am, it's kind of his fault for being so great at sex. Still, I don't want to scare him away. "I'm sorry. You're being so nice, and I'm acting like a crazy person. I promise to stop trying to seduce you."
"That would be helpful."
Guess I have to nix my plan to drag him into a secluded, shady spot and beg him to corrupt me some more. Well, let's say I'm pressing pause on that plan.
I turn and wave for him to follow me. "Come on. We've got plenty more places to see."
Chapter Eleven
Reese
Arden tows me down various paths until we exit the zoo. She stops us outside the entrance and smiles so brightly it gives me a different sort of warm feeling, the kind that makes me want to hug her instead of doing dirty things to her.
"Should we go to the aquarium or museums first?" she asks.
Her excitement about zoos and museums makes me like her even more. I know she loves science---she told me she specializes in that subject in her fact-checking job---and I want to see how excited she'll get about it. "Museums first."
"Awesome. I love museums even more than the zoo. Should we start with history or science?"
"Your choice."
She grabs my hand again and leads me away. "Science it is."
A taxi takes us to our destination, and now we're inside the New York Hall of Science surrounded by children and their parents. I don't see any other adults without children, only me and Arden.
"Is this a children's museum?" I ask.
"Technically, I guess. But the exhibits are fantastic." She eyes me sideways, her hand clamped around mine and her lips curling up in a teasing way. "I know you're a naughty boy, but surely you know how to have innocent fun too."
Christ, I wish she wouldn't say things like that. Or look at me that way. Or... exist. Nothing short of annihilating her from history seems likely to keep my cock at bay.
I let her guide me through the museum and can't help smiling every time she gets excited about something, anything, everything. I've never met anyone as happy as Arden. She takes pleasure in the simplest things, from a display of orange pink flagging tape that hangs above our heads to an exhibit about health and human evolution. Arden insists I pose next to the articulated human skeleton on display there so she can take a picture. Then she asks me to take a picture of her posing with the skeleton. Finally, she has us both pose with it while she takes a selfie of us.
Strangely, it's the most fun I've had in ages.
Next, she takes me to the American Museum of Natural History. I love watching her enjoy these places. She's so alive and engaged, excited by every little thing even though she tells me she's visited these museums many times. I've gone to museums with my parents when I was younger, but I never had such a good time doing it. My parents are plenty of fun, but no one on earth relishes life the way Arden does.
She insists we buy tickets for the Hayden Planetarium, which has some sort of show about alien planets. I let her decide where we sit once we're inside, and she chooses seats in the third row because, she assures me, "it's the absolute best place to see everything and feel like you're right in the middle of it all." We're very close to the giant black ball that she tells me is the projector for the movie-like show.
"Will your grey alien friends pop out of the projector?" I ask.
"No, they're way too covert to do something like that."
Lately, I've gotten to know her playful looks, and she's giving me one of them right now.
I smirk and say, "I'm sure you've been to these alien worlds we're about to see."
"Oh yeah, loads of times. I'm a frequent flyer on the ET Express."
The room goes dark as the show begins. Arden holds my hand throughout it, and we both lean our heads back to take in the experience. I find myself ignoring the film projected above our heads and instead watching Arden. The delight and wonder on her face captivates me, and rather than thinking about sex, I imagine walking through the park with her again, or having dinner with her, or... doing all sorts of normal, boring things that I know won't seem normal or boring if I'm with her. I realize with a mental jolt what it is I really want.
I want to date her.