Page 13 of A Very Grumpy Halloween

“Thanks again. They’re beautiful.”

He nods, and I grab my purse and follow him out of my place. I lock the door behind us, and he takes my hand as we head downstairs.

His truck is parked right out front, and he leads me over to it, opening the passenger door for me. I smile slightly as I climb inside.

I feel comfortable around Ryder, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not nervous to be going on my first date. Things that I never thought of before keep popping into my head. Thoughts like, what do I do with my hands? What do we talk about? Am I dressed appropriately? Am I breathing too loud?

That last one is because I can feel myself starting to panic as Ryder climbs behind the wheel and starts the truck up.

“Ready? Hey! Are you okay?” He asks me, turning to me in concern.

His hand lands on my knee and his thumb rubs circles there. I can feel his heat through my jeans, and I shiver.

“It’s okay. You’re okay, Maple.”

I suck in a deep breath and nod.

“Are you not feeling alright? We don’t have to do this tonight. There’s no rush. No pressure.”

I snort at that, and he cocks his head.

“No pressure? You’re not nervous? Cause I’m kind of freaking out,” I admit, and he smiles at that.

“I’m nervous,” he tells me. “I don’t want to mess this up. I don’t want to pressure you to do anything that you’re not ready for. I don’t want to push you away.”

I take a deeper, calmer breath this time and nod.

“This is my first date,” I whisper, and he nods.

“It’s mine too,” he whispers back, and I blink.

“How is that possible?” I blurt out, and he laughs.

“Well, it’s probably the same reason why you haven’t been out with anyone before.”

“Social anxiety, being overweight, and a lack of interest in the opposite sex,” I say, listing my reasons, and he frowns.

“You’re not overweight.”

I snort again, and he frowns harder.

“You’re not, Maple. I love your body and all of your curves.”

“Alright, well, other men haven’t.”

“They do,” he grumbles darkly, glaring out the truck windows like he’s about to see a line of men all ogling my body.

“It doesn’t matter. No one has ever caught my eye before,” I tell him and his gaze swings to me.

“Until me,” he says matter-of-factly, and I turn my head to buckle my seatbelt so that he doesn’t notice the blush on my face.

My stomach growls and Ryder shifts the truck into drive, and we take off.

“Where are we going?” I ask him as we cruise down Main Street.

“How do you feel about steak?”

“Love it.”

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