He walked in and I was pleased as punch to see him, this quiet boy who was quickly becoming one of my favorites. He was sweet and snarky, a lively combo that kept me off-balance just enough to keep me guessing...but in a good kind of way. I was tentative, being back in the game after sitting on the sidelines for so long; and he seemed just the right kind of guy to get me back into the swing of things.
He had been shopping, as evidenced by the bag in his hand and self-satisfied gleam in his eyes.
"I gotcha something; well...a couple of somethings," he said; and pulled out two different lotions from the bag and handed them to me. Surprised, again, at his generosity, which I had already noted was a strong characteristic of this guy, I gave him a full smile.
I couldn't tell you what I had expected, but lotion would have been near the bottom of my list of guesses. Not that I was unhappy, mind you, just taken aback. I don't think a boy has ever gotten me lotion before...
Flowers - yes
Jewelry - yes
Poetry - yes
Lotion - um, yea, a definite no
But, I am an equal opportunity gift receiver.
I appreciate being thought of, especially by a boy that I think so much of, so I enthusiastically sniffed each lotion and said thanks. Sniffing was clearly not enough. We were sitting on the couch and he adjusted his direction so that he was facing my side. He lifted my shirt sleeve, rolled it up a bit and got started with an upper arm massage. He was using the Vanilla Chai Hemp cream and the smell permeated the living room space as we talked about the events of the day. He transitioned to the other arm and I felt like I had won the boyfriend lottery.
When he was done, he grabbed the other, much smaller bottle of lotion. It was an intensive butter-based cream for heels and feet, spiced with a eucalyptus-based scent. He grabbed my legs and positioned my feet in his lap and went to town rubbing and massing my tired footsies.
Now, I have given boyfriends foot massages, but I don't - for the life of me - remember any one of them returning the favor. And it wasn't like I was weirded-out, by any means; just surprised, really surprised; and realizing that his guy was easily in my Top 5 - I mean out of all the boys that I have dated...ever...this guy was definitely in the top five and contending for the number one spot.
My feet are certainly not the prettiest part of my body - take my word for it (though I'm sure you aren't surprised by that comment). But, he didn't seem weirded-out about the job he was doing; it wasn't awkward, just comfortable. And I think that was one of the best parts about being with him: we were comfortable. In spite of the extreme differences of our personalities and backgrounds, we were simply at-ease in each other's presence. We hadn't even really been dating that long, but that didn't seem to matter either. It just felt right, and so I was going with the flow, enjoying his vibe and being really, really happy.
And, my feet were certainly happy as well. They tend to be on the dry side, no matter how much I moisturize. And, he was really getting into it; taking a lot of time with each foot, really massaging in the essential, natural butters. I could almost hear my feet sigh with delighted pleasure.
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Later, in the semi dark as he lifted my legs up high to score a more satisfying position, I couldn't help but notice that my heels rubbed in rhythm against his body.
I chuckled to myself.
Clearly this man had foreseen the need to treat my feet and heels to some TLC.
Score one for the boyfriend, I thought.
In reality, he had banked quite a few points through the evening and was doing a seriously good job of collecting at the moment. I decided then and there that he could buy me lotion anytime.
