Pull Me Closer, Kiss Me Faster

DAN
~~~~~

I double-punched the elevator button and headed up to my apartment where I live with my dad, James or Jimmy Anderson. My dad nodded hello to me as I dropped off my stuff. I wanted to head over to Hot Lips Pizza and decided on a whim to invite Dakota. I called her,

"Hey, what's up?" She said

"I wondered if you wanted to go get pizza," I'm so lame

"And talk about music. Maybe more," I could almost see her winking over the phone. I laughed and said,

"Yes that too. You wanna bring laptops and share?"

"Sweet. Meet you in five. "

"It's a date!" We laughed and I ended the call.

"Dakota, I am so glad that my boy is dating you out of anything!" Dad yells from the other room. Brother. He has a bad habit of listening in to conversations.

"Dad, I already hung up," I shout, "and besides, we're just meeting about music!"

"And more!" He giggles and wished me luck. Damn you, Dad!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dakota and I meet in the back of Hot Lips where the vinyl couches and abundant flies reside.

"You go first!" Dakota says after we've sat down.

"Okay, okay. My new demo is 'Write the Wrongs'." She giggles and raises her eyebrows while sweeping her hair back at the same time.
Damn, she's so cute when she laughs. I nearly facepalm myself right there. Maybe my dad is right. I play the demo for her through her Beats so nobody is bothered. She sits there listening carefully. Every few measures she nods or grinds her teeth thoughtfully.

"It's pretty awesome," Dakota concludes.

"Aww, yours is probably better. And B, you're probably pretty biased. "

"Guilty as charged," Dakota holds her hand up, "but seriously, you've got a ton of sweet ideas that I would have never thought of! Like the little bass roll in measure 76? That was pure steez right there."

I glow at her praise, "Enough about me. Lets here yours."

She hands me her terminal and I plug in my headphones. Her demo is 'Summer Times And Pickup Lines". All of her songs have really witty titles.

When she starts the track, I just feel summer in it. I can taste the Popsicles, feel the sun. It's just amazing. Dakota is a truly talented producer and artist. She's gonna make it someday.

When she sweeps her hair back, it's like she feels self conscious. Like she hopes that everyone around will think she's beautiful. And truthfully, she's gorgeous. Her deep brown eyes compliment her fair skin and dark hair. In that moment right there, I realize I love her.