Man Seeking Woman

She tasted like strawberries. Just like she had when she and Alex had first met. They stood in the doorway, lost in the moment. Alex's hands slid down to cup and lift her ass, and she wrapped her hands around his neck.

The dating app had been something new to both of them. It was supposed to be for casual hook-ups. Straight sex, no money, no bullshit. For lonely twenty-somethings fresh out of college with no real chance to meet people outside of work, and for a fuck. Yet something had stirred in Alex's chest when he met her for that first "date," at a hotel. Rory's ginger hair had been put up in a bun with chopsticks, and the red dress she wore was scandalously short, emphasizing her bottom-heavy figure...yet what had caught his eye was the book she was reading, as she waited for him.

"You like Gibson?" Alex had asked, unable to repress a smile as he recognized the title.

"I love Gibson," she had said, and offered her hand. He'd brought her knuckles to his lips as a matter of course, and they had both laughed.

Something told Alex that wanted to know a lot more about Rory than whether the carpets matched the drapes.

"I know we came here for a reason," he said. "But...want to get a bite to eat first? Or a drink? I'd like to get to know you a bit better first."

Which is how they ended up, overdressed at a local bowling alley, telling each other their life stories while sharing a strawberry milkshake. They had cemented their unexpected bond by ritually removing the app from their phones...and then there had been that awkward moment when they shared their first kiss, back in the no-tell motel. Alex had closed his eyes, oddly eager and excited, not wanting to push too hard too fast...their tongues had met, just probing at first, teasing. His hands had rubbed her thighs, pushing her skirt up. Rory's hands fumbled with his pants, almost tearing the belt off. The heat had built up between them, that first night, yet Alex would always remember that first kiss.

Strawberries.