Chapter 121 - Simple Dinner

Lucy stood in front of her closet wondering what she could wear to the dinner. The only reason she wasn't changing her mind at the last minute was because Tom was going for the dinner too, else she would have come up with an excuse to skip it. She really despised dressing up and leaving her house, especially because of the time it took to make up her mind on what to wear. 

She didn't know which she hated more between being overdressed and underdressed to an occasion. Being overdressed would make you stand out too much and cause others to assume you are showing off while being underdressed would make you feel small and unable to move around freely because you don't want to be noticed.

After spending several minutes looking at the closet which was made up of corporate wear, a few sexy gowns, a couple of dinner gowns, and her causal wears such as jeans and joggers, she walked out of her bedroom dressed in bum shorts and spaghetti tops. Without thinking much about it, she walked out of her apartment and found herself standing in front of Tom's door. 

She knocked on the door and moved from one foot to the other as she waited patiently for Tom to open the door. Since he was closer to them, she was sure he would know the right outfit that she could wear.

Soon the door opened, "Are you okay?" He asked, looking at her with concern as his eyes scanned her clothes while he tried to figure out why she was in front of his apartment when she should be getting ready for the dinner. 

She flashed him an apologetic smile, "I'm okay. Sorry to bother you, but..."

"You are not bothering me. You are my girlfriend," Tom quickly corrected her.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed when she realized that she had once again forgotten about their relationship. It seemed like she could never get used to this relationship thing, even though she noticed that she had become more relaxed around him now, "Okay, I'm having a hard time making up my mind on what to wear... What are you wearing to the dinner?" She asked, looking him over to see if he had changed out of his clothes already. 

"Oh!" She exclaimed when she realized for the first time that his shirt was unbuttoned and a towel was tied around his waist like he had been about to step into the shower before she knocked on his door. 

Tom followed her gaze to his chest, but before he could say anything, she spoke.

"You shaved," she murmured in a distant voice as though she was lost in thoughts as she kept looking at his once hairy chest, now cleanly shaven. Although she liked hairy men but seeing his hairless chest still affected her as much as his hairy chest had done. Her fingers itched to touch him and feel those muscles, but instead, she rubbed her hands together.

"You want to touch me?" Tom asked when he noticed how she kept rubbing her hands together.

"Yes," Lucy's face immediately heated up in embarrassment once she realized what she had just admitted, "What? No!" She denied, hiding her hands behind her, as she shook her head vigorously without meeting his gaze.

Tom grinned at her, "You don't have to deny it or be embarrassed about it. I'm your boyfriend, after all, so you are free to touch me whenever and however you want to, the same way I am free to touch you," Tom said as he reached out a hand to grab her arm.

"You are not..." Lucy's words trailed off, and her heart skipped a beat when he suddenly pulled her into his house. What was he doing?

"I am not what?" Tom asked curiously as he held on to her arm while looking at her face with interest and waiting for her to finish what she had to say. 

Lucy shook her head as if to clear it from whatever thoughts were entering it, "You are not free to touch me."

"I'm not? Are you sure about that?" Tom asked as he pulled her closer to himself with force such that she had to place her hand on his chest for support, "You just touched me, didn't you?" Tom asked with a wicked glint in his eyes as both their eyes fell on her hand which was now resting on his chest.

"It wasn't on purpose," Lucy said as she snatched her hand away from him quickly, and took a step backward.

"Are you sure it wasn't on purpose?" Tom asked with a smirk.

Lucy cleared her throat and lifted her chin defensively, "I only came to ask you what you are wearing to the dinner as I didn't want to look out of place," Lucy said, wanting to clear whatever doubt he was having that she had deliberately come to him because she wanted to touch him. 

"Have you showered yet?" He asked as he looked her over.

"Not yet. I was going to pick out my clothes before stepping into the shower," Lucy said without meeting his gaze or looking directly at him. She seemed to be looking over his shoulder as though he was Medusa, Tom thought with satisfaction.

"Want to share the shower with me then?" He asked, wiggling his brows suggestively, and then chuckled when her eyes flickered to his face and she blushed a deep shade of red, "Relax. I'm just pulling your legs," he said in amusement before turning serious. 

"You could wear something simple since it is just dinner with the neighbors," he said making her focus on him now, since she believed he had stopped teasing her, until he said, "You don't have to wear something sexy like you did last night unless it's just dinner between us both," He added with a wink. 

Was he ever serious? "What exactly are you wearing?" Lucy asked with a sigh. 

"Ah! You want us to wear matching outfits? That's definitely a perfect way to announce to the neighbors that we are an item now, and maybe they would stop ogling me. Why didn't I think about that?" Tom asked humorously and Lucy laughed despite the awkwardness she had been feeling only a minute ago. 

"Don't be silly."

"Lucy, stop trying to be a perfectionist else you might end up being exactly like Anita, no offense," Tom said, making her brows crease. 

"What do you mean by that? Why would you compare me to your ex-girlfriend?" She asked with displeasure.

"That wasn't a comparison. You implied that she paid too much attention to details, in an extreme manner. Maybe you haven't noticed, but you do that too. It's just a dinner, put on a pair of jeans trousers or a simple gown. You don't have to overthink it. And I'm sure regardless of what you wear, you will look better than anyone else in there," Tom assured her with a wink as he rubbed her arms affectionately. 

"You sure are a good boyfriend," Lucy murmured as she turned to leave his house. 

An hour later Tom and Lucy exchanged a look as they sat on the couch in Jasmine's living room. Tom gave her an apologetic smile since it seemed she was actually underdressed in her casual jeans outfit, whereas both Jasmine and Alicia were dressed in lovely evening gowns. 

"I thought it was supposed to be a simple dinner?" Tom asked as he looked from Alicia to Jasmine.

"It is a simple dinner. Why do you ask?" Alicia asked with a curious smile as she looked at Tom with her shiny eyes. 

"You are both dressed up, whereas we are..." Tom let the rest of his words trail off as he shrugged. 

"Oh! It isn't a big deal, trust me. We both always look for every opportunity to dress up whether or not it's a family dinner," Jasmine assured them, but Lucy remained quiet as she listened to the conversations going on around her. 

"It just feels good to have new neighbors around and..."

New neighbors? Someone else was joining them for dinner, or was Tom the other neighbor? Lucy wondered, and then frowned when something occurred to her and she looked around the living room. Initially, when Jasmine had walked up to Tom the first time to introduce herself, she had assumed it was because Jasmine was new to the area, but seeing how homely the place looked, and the paint didn't look fresh either, it didn't seem like they had moved in recently. If that was the case how come they didn't know Tom? Was this one of the lies Tom had talked about?

"I guess you've been living here for a long time?" Lucy asked, looking at Alicia since she looked more innocent and charming than Jasmine. 

"Depends on how you define long. We have been here for about two years now," Alicia said, looking at Jasmine with a soft smile since the question reminded them of how they had moved in together despite her family's objection.

"That's nice. What about you, Tom? How long have you been in this neighborhood? I just realized I never asked," Lucy said, turning her attention to Tom, who tried not to look alarmed by her question as he wondered what was going on in her head and why she was suddenly asking him that. 

Jasmine and Alicia exchanged a look before turning to look at Tom since they remembered that he had asked them not to mention to Lucy that he was new to the neighborhood.