#the creep smut josef

[strangererotica]

EXPLICIT CONTENT | MINORS DNI

Reader is female • Y/N is Billie in this story; Josef uses the alias John • Christian/Catholic imagery mentioned, as well as cancer/death • dry humping, breast worship, coming in clothes, some aggression/biting, squirting, Josef lying/manipulating but he’s hella cute doing it… 😊 🥳 happy new year 2025!

You never did anything like this. It was fucking insane. Risky at the very least, and at the worst, potentially deadly. Yes you were strapped for cash, but responding to an anonymous Craigslist ad to record a man in private-with god knows what in mind-was an incredibly bold move, even for you. Thankfully, you were meeting at a hotel, instead of his private residence, a fact that made you feel slightly less worried. If the guy did turn out to be a serial killer or something, you at least had the guarantee of people close by who could hear you scream for help. That is, of course, if you were able to scream at all. You considered that the ‘audience,’ you were hoping for in the form of hotel guests may turn out to be witnesses instead.

The thought chilled you, and you tried to put it out of your mind. This was a responsible act, you told yourself, not the reverse. It would be irresponsible to miss rent again, to potentially lose your home. Times were tough; the debt you’d acquired from college wasn’t going anywhere soon. It was time to put the creative arts degree you’d worked for to use. Filming some guy in a hotel room for a few hours, for well over a thousand dollars, balanced things out in your mind. He was probably just some weirdo making an avant-garde film, you assured yourself. And if by chance the guy ended up having genuine talent himself, combined with your editing skills, the film might actually be an important addition to your resume.

Finding the hotel was easy enough. You’d driven past it on the highway probably hundreds of times in your life, so the name was familiar to you. But you’d never been a guest at the hotel, nor had you really seen it up close. In perspective, it wasn’t quite as clean-cut as your brief glimpses from the highway had suggested. The word that came to mind for describing the place was ‘seedy,’ like you were walking onto the location of Dan Bell’s Another Dirty Room series. Your instincts told you this was a bad sign, both figuratively and literally, as you took in the sun-bleached name of the hotel emblazoned above the lobby entrance. You reminded yourself of the money you needed, the money that was promised for you on the other side of Room 222’s door. The outside condition of the hotel didn’t really matter, you reasoned. Maybe the man who hired you was strapped for cash himself? Perhaps he didn’t have many options in terms of location, and simply chose the hotel that suited his budget? Maybe I shouldn’t be such a stuck-up bitch, you wondered, feeling a little ashamed. You’d been trying to work on slowing your initial responses to people and places, not wanting to judge a book by its cover, so to speak. It was a new year, and a new start for you towards being a more open-minded individual. This experience was testing your commitment to improving yourself, because your intuition was practically screaming at you to get the hell out of there.

Taking a deep, mindful breath, you entered the elevator. Its interior was just as dingy as the rest of the hotel, and when the doors opened on the second floor, you were hit immediately with the smell of stale cigarettes and booze. Another sigh, this one a little less mindful, left your lungs heavily. You adjusted the strap of your camera bag on your shoulder, and proceeded to room 22…

When you’d reached the stranger’s door, you took a second to settle your nerves before knocking twice. “John?’ you called, forcing your voice steady. “It’s Billie.” Only silence responded from behind the door at first, followed by the sound of footsteps quickly approaching. The door pulled open, just a crack, but enough for you to see the face of the man who’d hired your services for the next few hours. The first thing you noticed were his eyes. They were kind eyes, you assessed, a warm hazel with flecks of copper that revealed themselves when the light caught them just right.

“You’re Billie?” Josef asked. He was obviously surprised, and you quickly realized why. “I was expecting someone…someone-.” Josef paused.

“Male?” you offered. “I get that a lot.” Josef chuckled good-naturedly, his friendly smile easing your nerves. “Well with a name like Billie,” he said, pulling back the door for you. “I can imagine it happens a lot. Please-.” He waved his hand past himself to the room. “-Come in.”

The more you saw of Josef, the more you liked him. He was taller than you, but not so tall that it was off-putting. He was just right, the kind of height you wouldn’t even have to lift on your tiptoes to kiss. The mental image flickered through your mind, and you cleared your throat, remembering why you were there in the first place. Yes he was a good looking guy, who for some reason put you at ease in a way you’d never felt when meeting someone new before. But you were there for the sole purpose of capturing his artistic vision on film, and for that purpose alone.

“So what did you have in mind, John?” you asked, setting your bag down on one of the two queen beds. Josef cocked his head, his curious expression returning. The door clicked shut behind him. You watched to make sure he didn’t turn the lock. Even though you really liked this guy, he was still a stranger. And you were still standing here with him in a sleazy hotel room, with his body currently between you and the door.

“I appreciate your question, Billie,” he said, emphasizing your name. “Billie. Billie the Kid. Anyone ever call you that, Billie?”

You felt your cheeks flush a little, because for some reason, his question felt like a compliment, even though it wasn’t. “I-um,” you distractedly tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “My dad used to call me that. When I was little.”

Josef nodded, snapping his fingers for emphasis. “Smart man. He had vision. As do I-.” He ducked suddenly around a corner and returned with what looked to be a veil, like the kind you’d seen the Virgin Mary depicted wearing in art. Josef draped the lace fabric over his shoulders and approached you, his face and tone solemn with importance: “…And with your creative direction, Billie, my vision will be brought to life…It was fate herself that willed our paths should cross…” Josef took another step closer, close enough that you began to worry he could hear your heart racing. “You could have been any other Billy…even a Bill, even a William for that matter but no, my dear sweet Billie-.” Here, Josef’s hands moved to cup your face in his palms, your eyes going wide in surprise. “…This is destiny,” he continued, almost in a whisper. “We’re partners now.” He went slowly to his knees before you, his palms together as if in reverence. “Blood of my blood…flesh of my flesh…” You recognized the paraphrased scripture as you gazed down on the strange man knelt at your feet. Josef took your hands in his, rising to a standing position, his eyes never leaving yours. “Oh my god, Billie…Oh my god,” he said through a warm smile, eyes lit with excitement. “This is gonna be a good night...”

Over the course of the following hour, you watched and recorded, offering input as requested from your client: a little change in lighting here, a play with background props there. From what you could tell, the vision Josef had in mind was a sort of religious horror short. His ‘character,’ was meant to be a man possessed by unholy forces. The Devil has a deadline, a certain amount of time he’ll allow the man before the demons take over completely. The man knows his time is up, that he’s in his final hours. He hires someone to document on film his last night on earth, before he’s unwillingly summoned to his unavoidable fate in Hell.

As a concept, it all sounded really cool. Bringing that concept to life however, with no budget and a lead who couldn’t act, was not cool by any stretch of the imagination.

Regardless of the details and Josef’s lackluster performance, nothing could have prepared you for what happened next. Whereas his character was standing strong in the trenches of spiritual warfare, it appeared that Josef himself was breaking down. You knew something was wrong, that he was no longer acting when he deviated sharply from the script and began to shed real tears, not the miserably-unconvincing ones he’d faked for a scene.

“Hey…it’s okay, John,” you assured him. He knelt at the bedside on which you were seated, resting his head in your lap. Your pulse lurched, heart thudding inside your chest. You weren’t sure what to do, so you did the only thing that seemed right: you gently stroked Josef’s cheek in an awkward attempt at comfort. The tears had slowed, but they picked right up again when Josef revealed his left hand, which bore a wedding ring. Your heart sank at seeing it. “My wife,” Josef began solemnly. “This whole project was her idea…She wrote the script, created this character, his whole history…”

You nodded as you listened, your hands dropping to your sides. There’s no way you were going to be touching a married man like that. “…She wanted me to play him, to bring her creation to life,” Josef continued. “It was her greatest wish…and sadly, her last wish…” You hated yourself for feeling it, but a sense of relief washed over you. He wasn’t married after all. At least, not anymore.

“…The cancer took her three years ago,” Josef tearfully revealed. “Three years and I still haven’t made her dream come true…I’m still letting her down, to this day…” His lament was cut short by a sob, words fading into your lap as he wept there. You reflexively began to stroke Josef’s cheek again, because you’d only seen someone this upset a few times in your life. You couldn’t not offer him some kind of comfort; he was obviously hurting, deeply. “I think what we’ve made so far is great, John,” you told him. “From the looks of the script, it seems like you’re following it exactly as your wife wrote it.”

He tilted his head to look up at you, eyes wide and hopeful. “Do you mean it?” Josef asked. With a nod of confirmation, you replied “yeah, I do. I think you’re doing a great job.” His eyes narrowed slightly, a darker look overtaking them. Josef rose abruptly to his feet, and began to pace back and forth around the room. “I don’t believe you,” he declared flatly, in a voice so low you had to ask him to repeat himself. “I don’t BELIEVE you,” Josef insisted, adding “You’re probably sitting there thinking this guy can’t act worth a goddamn…you know I can’t do her dream justice, you’re just refusing to say it! You probably think I’m a failure, don’t you Billie?” He almost sneered your name at you, and normally, you wouldn’t have taken this kind of verbal abuse from anyone. But you knew this wasn’t a normal kind of hurt that Josef was feeling. This man was grieving, haunted by a level of grief you hoped never to experience. Remembering your commitment to judging others less, you knew that right now, Josef wasn’t behaving rationally. He was acting in his grief, and you wouldn’t let yourself take his sharp change in attitude personally. Instead, you calmly came to Josef’s side. You turned his face to yours, letting your fingertips linger along his jawline. The muscles in his throat tensed against your palm, veins pulsing with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Josef’s eyes were wet and wide, like a puppy who’d been scolded. “I don’t think you’re a failure, John,” you told him confidently, a warm smile on your lips as your thumb brushed Josef’s. “I think your wife was lucky to have a husband who loved her so much. I think you’re a very special man.” He swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing under your fingertips. “Do that again,” Josef told you, his voice as much a prayer as a command.

“Do what?” you asked. Every indication of sadness had faded from Josef’s face, the tension in his body evaporating. “Tell me I’m special,” he replied. Josef’s hands went to your shoulders, gripping softly. “You’re special, John,” you said. “So, so special…” You brushed your mouth lightly against his, breath hitching as Josef’s tongue slipped between your lips unexpectedly. He was aggressive, impatient in a way that told you he hadn’t been touched in a long time. Josef’s hands were everywhere at once, finding your ass and clutching it in one hand while clumsily groping for your tits with the other. You let him lay you back against one of the beds, his hand pawing between your legs and massaging you through your jeans. You arched upward, keening into Josef’s thrusts, his bulge grinding into your thigh as he clumsily humped against it. Your hips trembled as his fingertips found your clit. The front seam in your jeans was positioned between your labia; Josef’s fingertips rubbed rough circles into the denim, kneading your cunt through the fabric. He buried his head against your shoulder, his mouth a wet mess of tongue and teeth, consuming the feel of your skin, its texture, its taste.

You curled your fingers in the hair at the back of Josef’s head, clutching him into you. His lips traveled down your neck and along your collarbone, tongue gliding between your breasts. Opening his jaw wide, Josef drew as much of your breast inside his mouth as he could. Your nipple hardened to meet his tongue, a warm, wet pressure flicking against it. Your grip in Josef’s hair tightened as you arched, pressing your tit against his face, offering as much of your breast as his mouth could hold. Josef sucked at your breast in a rhythmic tug, massaging your aerola between the muscles in his cheeks. He whimpered softly, a sign you interpreted as an expression of pure need. Josef needed to be held, to be cherished. He needed to be desired by a woman again.

You tugged back Josef’s hair to lift his head from your breast. He groaned at the pull to his scalp. A dark smile briefly touched his lips as he indulged himself to enjoy the sting. Josef’s mouth crashed against yours, his tongue forcing past your lips in a kiss that was somehow more greedy than the ones before it. His hands were on your hips, keeping them spread. Your clit throbbed against the bulky outline of Josef’s erection. He ground his hips forward, rutting his cock into the now-saturated crotch of your jeans. He whimpered again, returning his mouth to your breast. Josef clutched your other breast tightly, kneading the soft mound in his hand. Your nipple was swollen and sensitive against Josef’s rough palm as he groped you, his mouth busy at work suckling your other breast while his cock strained at the seams separating your skin. You came hard, rocking beneath the weight of Josef’s body pressing down on you. Your orgasm completely soaked through your jeans and wet the bed under you. Every punch of Josef’s hips produced a slick, saturated sound as he rutted your ass inside a puddle of your own juices. He growled into your breast, like something animalistic. The vibration of his chest against yours was like the low purr of a lion, rattling your lungs as if Josef was inside you, replacing the very air you breathed with himself. His thrusts grew sharper, his fingernails digging into your skin. You winced as Josef’s teeth suddenly nipped at your breast, his bite grazing your nipple as you pulled back in pain. Josef’s hands went quickly to your shoulders, pinning you down, his mouth immediately returning to your breast. Josef tugged and licked and sucked your breast till he was gushing cum into the crotch of his pants, a feral growl rolling from his chest as he claimed you…

In retrospect, you wish you hadn’t fallen asleep. You wish you could have checked in to make sure Josef was okay, to make sure he knew the brief time you spent together meant all that it meant to you. And even if none of that had been said, you would at least have liked the chance to say goodbye.

When you woke, Josef was already gone. He’d left your money on the bedside table, along with a note. The text read: Billie: Thanks for a special night. Beneath the text was what appeared to be a doodle of a wolf’s face. You knew it was unlikely you’d ever see Josef again. But just in case, you keep the note he left you, hoping that somehow, someday, you’ll have the chance to ask him what the little wolf doodle means… 🐺

[lebenspurpur]

Josef with a praise kink.

Have a gif, as a treat.

Josef looks at you with encouraging eyes, gaze filled with adoration and appreciation, making your skin tingle with comfort.

"Look at you..", he murmurs, one hand trailing over your nude body while the other one works on your sex, "You're doing so good for me."

Whining, you buck up into his touch and Josef grins at your eagerness, head dipping down to kiss your jaw.

"So pretty for me.", he whispers against your skin, "So good."

His lips find yours in a deep kiss and he closes his eyes, moaning softly as your fingers trail down his abdomen.

[jelly-drabble]

Last First Date Jitters (1/?)

Synopsis:  Men are pigs. Josef will tell you that with confidence. When he tells you some men are wolves, you have to wonder which he is. Warnings: None (yet) Pt 2 Ao3 Link:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568362/chapters/62046643

Ping

You lift your phone screen and glance at the notification out of the corner of your eye. More often than you’d care to admit, you would browse Tinder after work as a way to blow off steam. Something about the swiping was pleasing. Though that was usually as fun as it would get for you.

With every passing day, you were becoming convinced that there wasn’t a single person worth talking to on there. So was it even worth it to check tonight?

You drop your phone again and lie flat on your back. You were still in your work clothes but your bed was just so inviting…

You jolt awake, realizing you’d started to doze off for a moment. With a drawn out sigh, you force yourself to sit up and get undressed. After tossing the dirty clothes into a hamper, you slip into some worn out sweats and a t-shirt that had been banished to the pajama drawer.

Perfect, now you’re awake. Now you had an excuse to needlessly judge strangers for half an hour before you inevitably succumbed to exhaustion. Once again you get comfortable, before opening the standard notification letting you know your profile had gotten likes.

After only a few minutes you’re starting to feel bored with it though. Maybe it was just starting to lose it’s novelty. You swipe a few more times absentmindedly, but snap out of your trance as you land on “Josef”.

He isn’t half bad looking, and his bio is simple if not a little cheesy. It says he’s looking for an adventure, and lists a few of his likes and dislikes. To his credit, this is the first profile you’d seen that mentioned Interview With The Vampire to any capacity.

There wasn’t any harm in swiping on him, it certainly wasn’t hard to block people when things went poorly over text.

You swipe right, and you have to admit you’re a little surprised to see you’d matched. There wasn’t anything about your profile that really screamed “adventure”, you didn’t think.

As you look through his photos again, just to get a better idea of what you’re dealing with, you get a message. It’s from him. Had he using the app at the same time? You glance at the clock, which reads 2:30 AM, before opening the new message.

“Hey, Y/N!”

The typing bubble is still on the screen so you don’t bother responding right away.

“You can probably tell I’ve never done this, so I’ll be blunt. I’m looking for a partner in crime, a real adventurous soul.”

This time you do start to try to piece together a reply, but before you know it he’s typing again, so you delete it without a second thought.

“Or were you just looking for a hookup?”

You snort and quirk your eyebrow, staring at the screen in confusion. It wasn’t exactly the most polite opener you’d ever gotten but it was far from the worst.

This time you get a moment to think of something to say, and you feel like he’s just watching his own screen eagerly.

“I’m just going with the flow.”

After you’ve sent it, you can’t help but physically cringe. What a lame fucking response.

But he’s already typing, he’d started almost as soon as you’d hit send.

“That’s the spirit! Would you like to meet up some time? I know a great local spot.”

Immediately your mind is throwing excuses to bail at you. It seems your time chatting with other users had made you somewhat jaded. It would be nice to go out for coffee though, even if he wasn’t a good date, what’s the worst that could happen?

“Sure, where and when?”

“Free tomorrow?”

“I can be.”

He sends you the address, it’s not a place you recognize but it isn’t out of the way. When you thank him, and dismiss yourself for the night, he doesn’t respond. Maybe he’d passed out himself.

————————

In the morning you struggled to find the motivation to get up and ready for your date. It had been so long since you’d even been on one at all, let alone a good one. When your phone buzzes you perk up a little.

Come on, Josef. Give me something.

It isn’t him though, it’s someone else on the app. They open with “Hey”, and you decide you’d rather take the risk by going on a date instead of subjecting yourself to 10 dead-end conversations a day.

Getting into the morning routine helps a little. Once you’ve had a nice, hot shower you feel more energized. Time was passing a little faster than you’d like though, you’d spent so much of it trying to decide on what to wear, you were going to have to leave shortly after getting dressed.

Much to your own surprise, you make it there right on time. Now… did you order first or look around for him? Assuming he’d already arrived.

“Y/N?”

When you first glance around, you don’t see anyone even looking in your direction. You assume you were just hearing things. Until you turn back around and jolt back. There stood Josef, beaming down at you. You hold your chest and sigh, chuckling a little to yourself.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says with an infectious smile.

“You weren’t waiting here long, were you?”

“Just a minute or two, don’t worry.”

He takes a few slow steps forward, leading the way to the line. Is it rude to assume he’ll pay? You brought your wallet anyway, but usually when the other person asked you out-

“What can I get started for you?”

The cashier’s words interrupt your needlessly frantic train of thought. Now you had something else to panic about.

“Just a coffee; cream and sugar, please.”

Maybe it’s just your brain trying to torment you but you feel as though Josef’s eyes are boring into you. Judging or admiring, who could say.

“Same for me, thanks.”

He does thankfully foot the bill, and doesn’t seem to think twice about it.

“Where do you want to sit? Or, and I know this is crazy but hear me out, we could walk around the park for a little bit.”

You can’t help but smile when that silly grin spreads across his face. It was nice enough out, and you weren’t completely lost in the area. Plus, it’s a park, there would be plenty of people around.

“A walk sounds nice.”

[mememyers]

Requests: OPEN

hi! i’m lily and i write and draw!!

18+ minors dni

here are the rules for requesting: smut is allowed, pls don’t request anything with rape/incest/pedophilia. just generally be nice and i’ll probably write it!

MASTERLIST

characters i write for:

•jason voorhees (friday the 13th)

•bubba sawyer/leatherface (texas chainsaw massacre)

•thomas hewitt/leatherface (texas chainsaw massacre remake)

•vincent sinclair (house of wax)

•lester sinclair (house of wax)

•billy lenz (black christmas)

•brahms heelshire (the boy)

•art the clown (terrifier)

•yautja (the predator)

•pyramid head (silent hill)

•beetlejuice (beetlejuice) (....beetleju-aCk)

•salvatore moreau (resi 8: village)

•mark hoffman (saw)

•amanda young (saw)

•josef (creep)

[strangererotica]

table of ‘cuntents,’ below 👇

art the clown x reader

art was here ✨devil in the details✨the art of fucking ✨miles county haunt✨blood lust ✨santa’s little helper ✨santa’s little helper part 2

cooper adams x reader

headcanons (nsfw) ✨red flags ✨ your attention ✨my other cooper fics are posted on my exclusively cooper/trap blog @thebutchersbitch

steve harrington x reader

lesson learned ✨april showers ✨ delirium ✨ need ✨ dinner for one ✨ drain the snake ✨ baby-making weather ✨ honey ✨ afternoon delight ✨ brunch ✨ after party ✨campsite conception ✨ whiskey with a stranger ✨in the shower with steve ✨kitchen floor ✨toxic ex ✨head

josef (creep, the creep tapes)

episode one: billie

james logan howlett (wolverine) x reader

primal fuck love ✨ swallow

joel miller x reader

definitely good ✨hands on

jim hopper x reader

hopper’s sin part 1 ✨ hopper’s sin part 2 ✨ hopper’s sin part 3 ✨ under cover ✨ love spell part 1 ✨ love spell part 2 ✨ nsfw alphabet (hopper) ✨ dolled up part 1 ✨ enemies to lovers (hopper) ✨ hot lunch ✨dolled up part 2 ✨golden and alive ✨wrong

william afton / springtrap x reader

sick fuck ✨freak on purpose

steddie x reader

two holes, one dom ✨ wet as sin ✨the devil in hawkins ✨ two towels ✨love and treason (gladiator au)

eddie munson x reader

get off ✨bark ✨ devil eyes ✨ it’s wetter inside ✨motel sex

steve, eddie, hopper x reader

dealer part 1 ✨ dealer part 2

anthony bridgerton x reader

intensity ✨ soaked ✨ soaked part 2

mike schmidt x reader

just tell me when you’ve had enough ✨visiting mike late-night at freddy’s

gator tillman x reader

tight fit

[lebenspurpur]

i saw how many requests you have (WOW that’s so many) but idk if you’ve got one for a trans man reader and josef from creep…? 👉👈 possibly indulging in some kinks you think josef would have…? if you’re too overwhelmed with reqs right now you definitely don’t have to write this one but i figured i would ask :>

AN: I enjoy the requests lmao, I just feel bad for taking so long so no worries :) Sorry that this is so short as well, I'm so unbelievably busy right now.

Warnings: mentions of homophobia

Wordcount: 468 words

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

SFW

We all know Josef doesn't really give a shit about gender. If he meets someone he deems attractive and interesting, he'll try his best to romance them, doesn't matter what they identify as.

And oh lord, does Josef meet a lot of people he finds attractive.

He's very interested in transsexuality though.

I have the feeling that his family was rather homophobic, leading to Josef isolating himself as a teen. That, paired with him being rather neglected by his parents, added a lot of pressure about his own sexuality which probably explains his awkwardness when it comes to that.

So yeah, Josef is hella awkward. Not because he doesn't treasure you, he just keeps having flashbacks from his youth. The opinion of his parents, their negative comments, and snarky remarks still affect him, even if he tries to ignore it.

Therefore, if someone reacts the same way his parents did, he gets angry pretty quickly.

No one has the right to make you feel invalid, and Josef will absolutely fight them if he finds out that they are.

Josef is there to comfort. Someone made you uncomfortable, even insulted you? Josef is there to ground you, comfort you until you feel better again.

Making you feel comforted and validated is something he's incredibly good at. Which is surprising considering he has never done that before.

NSFW

We all know Josef is a virgin before he meets you. He was way too isolated and hateful before he met you, sex wasn't one of his priorities.

He knows beforehand that to him, romance is way more important than the act of having sex with each other. Josef wants to love you, not just fuck you.

Surprisingly, he does know about kinks and he even has a clue to what his could be.

You'd think he'd be into petplay after all the shit he's said about peachfuzz but surprisingly, he's not. It's not the fact that Peachfuzz is an animal that arouses him, it's the roleplay aspect. Therefore, pet play is not something he is that interested in, but roleplay is something he fucking loves.

He's a full-time switch. Josef doesn't care if you dominate him or if he dominates you, as long as the both of you receive pleasure.

Another thing he wants to try out is sex outside. It's not really because he likes getting caught, he just loves spending time in nature. And since most of the time, he lives pretty far away from regular society you have all the privacy you could need.

Please praise him as well. Josef's so insecure, he deserves to be worshipped every now and then.

[jelly-drabble]

Last First Date Jitters (2/?)

Synopsis: What? No one gets murdered in public in broad daylight. Warnings: None (yet) Pt 1 Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568362/chapters/62306248#workskin

Constantly you’re taking note of people in the area, almost completely subconsciously. Your eyes darting around probably weren’t very subtle though, whether or not you’d given it any thought.

“Too adventurous?”

“Wh- no, no. Sorry. Worst case scenario is always playing out in my head.”

Probably not the most romantic thing to admit on a first date. Josef laughs though, he doesn’t seem hurt by the comment at all. You try to loosen up a little.

“Really though, I’m glad you agreed to meet up. I know it’s a big gamble even talking to someone on that app, especially talking to men.”

Huh. Maybe he gets it.

“Yeah I’ve only actually met a few guys in person after talking to them on there for a while, and no matter what they ended up just… I don’t know, being weird. Almost every guy has sent naked pictures I didn’t ask for, even the ones I went out with. Like immediately after the date they thought it was a good time for them to show me their genitals, like-“ you scoff and stop yourself, shaking your head in frustration.

Josef just smiles and nods. Not in a condescending way, he really seems like he’s listening, and that he already knows what you’re going through. It’s a weird thing to bond over, sure, but a very personal thing. By now you’ve almost completely focused on Josef or the sidewalk in front of you. He has a few first date horror stories of his own.

After lapping the park a few times, you check your phone and realize you’d killed a couple of hours just chatting. In your book, that checked off as a good date.

“You hungry? We can stop somewhere?”

Your stomach tightens with guilt, and maybe a little from hunger. Before he’d said that, you were going to come up with an excuse to bail. But for what? You certainly didn’t have anything to do today. Mainly you just thought since the date had already gone on for a few hours now, it was probably time to leave. Even if you were having a good time, and it seemed like you were both free.

Take the leap.

“I could eat. I take it you know a place?”

“Naturally.”

Lunch didn’t disappoint either. The place was kind of a dive, but the food was good, and the staff was extremely friendly.

“I can tell you were a little hesitant about going somewhere else. Thanks for taking a day to be adventurous with me.”

Josef has caught you with a mouth full of food, so you just nod and try to chew faster. He continues anyway.

“I’m not usually this gutsy myself. We’ve both been on some shitty dates though, what’s the point? Why not take it for all it’s worth? Sure you could have gone home after the walk, but then what? We would have just sat in our own places, with nothing to do. Just a passable date to remember, that you maybe would have decided wasn’t worth following up on? Gotta make it memorable.”

Hearing the truth did sort of sting. Had the date gone as well as it did, but ended there, maybe it would have just faded in your memory. Sure it would have been above-average for your track record, but it still would have been mundane. It was hard enough convincing yourself to go out as is. You didn’t want to admit to yourself that you might have just let Josef drop off your radar if you hadn’t been pushed.

But even after being forced to face it, you still felt like you wanted to be around him. He didn’t seem mad about what the outcome could have been. He was just a brutally honest, rational guy.

“Let’s keep it going then,” you finally say, having finished your food.

“Yeah?”

His smile was almost paralyzing. Maybe that wasn’t the right word. You were forced to stop and admire it regardless.

“Can I show you something?” He asks, after you’d say there quietly staring like an idiot.

“Oh- yeah. Yeah of course.”

The two of you leave the diner, and just start walking. He leads you to a car, you hadn’t really considered he might not have walked all the way here like you did.

“Can I ask where we’re going first before I get into a car with a strange man?”

“Just the woods right outside town. You have your phone on you?”

You nod.

“Good. It’s just a scenic place, I’m not gonna tie you up and dump you out there.”

Both of you laugh about it, and for the most part your anxiety melts away. You had pepper spray on your keychain, but you tried not to think about needing to use it.

“Alright,” you agree, “Let’s go.”