Tongue First, Feelings Later
We met in a kitchen that smelled like cheap beer and overcooked pasta
your laugh louder than the playlist on that dying speaker
You bumped my elbow reaching for the salt
looked up with a grin that hit like a shot
making the bad week feel weaker, No deep talk
no tragic backstory
just fingers brushing over a drawer
brain going straight to bad ideas and good hips
By the time we hit the balcony
the night was already written on our lips.
You backed me into the rattling rail
one hand on my jaw
the other hanging loose like you had all night
Kissed me like we were running late
like the feelings could catch up in the morning with the light
I didn’t ask who you were till my lipstick was half gone and my shirt was nearly off
priorities scattered in the fray
Every instinct screamed go
while a voice in the back muttered “this is going to hurt in a week
but not today.”
Tongue first, feelings later
that was the deal we signed with our teeth and our heat
We can dig into the “why” when the hangover hits
when the sun comes up and we’re dead on our feet
Tonight we are just mouths and laughter
bad choices we will half regret and half repeat
Tongue first, feelings later
and if the feelings show up early
we pretend they missed the beat.
First real conversation in a bathroom line
leaning on opposite walls, panting, looking wrecked
You told me about your cat, your worst job
your allergy to bullshit
trying not to stare at the bruise on your neck
We kept it shallow on purpose
two kids splashing in the heat
You said “I don’t do relationships
I just like your mouth
” and my heart nodded while my stomach missed a beat.
Every time you leave
I swear I won’t read into the way you tuck my hair back before you go
I promise myself this is just a body thing, a fun thing
a no-strings scenario
Then you text a dumb meme midweek and I catch myself smiling like an idiot in the checkout row.
Tongue first, feelings later
that was the deal we signed with our teeth and our heat
We can dig into the “why” when the hangover hits
when the sun comes up and we’re dead on our feet
Tonight we are just mouths and laughter
bad choices we will half regret and half repeat
Tongue first, feelings later
and if the feelings show up early
we pretend they missed the beat.
One of these nights the talking will get heavy
a song will hit a nerve and we’ll trade the real parts
You’ll talk about your dad, I’ll talk about panic
sitting on the floor with bare knees and open hearts
Tongues will slow down, hands will pause
and everything we dodged will climb into bed
uninvited and stark, We’ll either step back
laugh it off
or let this stupid fling become a permanent mark.
Till then it is tongue first, feelings later
using each other as a fire escape when the day runs long
Finding pockets of joy in dark apartments where the neighbors mishear every song
I keep expectations in one pocket
protection in the other
try not to mix them up when the night gets strong
Tongue first, feelings later, and if the feelings win
we write a new wrong.
You text me “hey trouble” with a wink and no context at all
Tongue first, feelings later
my heart writing essays while my boots hit the hall.