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“Oh shit. I’m never gonna let you live this down.” Fuck me. I’m greeted by Collin’s ever familiar laugh.

“Heylil sis, your boyfriend’s here for your first date!” He cackles, back into the condo.

I roll my eyes at him, “Did you really have to do that?”

“Yes. Yes, I did,” he snorts as he pulls me into the mudroom, giving me a brotherly punch on the shoulder. “Now, come on in. She’ll be down in a minute.”

I’ve been in this condo hundreds, if not thousands of times over the years. But it feels so weird today as I sit in the dining room waiting on Ronni. It’s Friday now, so it’s been a few days since Collin and Lizzy found out about us.

I trimmed my hair and stubble up again. I’m wearing the same outfit as New Year’s Eve. I’m cleaned up about as well as I know how. But I’m scared, excited too, but still scared.

Going on my first real date with Ronni. One on one, no hiding, no sneaking around. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted but this still makes it feel so real and so fragile. I don’t know what’s next. I don’t know how we’ll make this work, but I know I’ll do anything for her.

All of my thoughts are out the window when I see her come down to the dining room. She’s got her hair back in some kind of double braid, her smile on full display. She’s beaming. My heart and stomach clench. I can feel my dick twitch while my eyes drop down to her outfit. She’s wearing a little black cocktail dress I’ve never seen her in before. I don’t know if it’s hers or Lizzy’s but it fucking hits in all the right places, like it was made for her. The low neckline showing the perfect hint of her breasts. It’s short and shows off her long legs, making me want to skip the date entirely and take her straight to my bed.

Our eyes meet and I feel my whole body relax finally.

“So where are you two lovebirds off to tonight?” Lizzy taunts us, barging in on the moment from the landing behind Ronni.

“It’s a surprise. My favorite place downtown,” I answer, my eyes never leaving Ronni’s direction. Damn, I could look at her all day and never get tired of it.

Collin wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“Well, have fun you two. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he says with a wink.

I walk over to Ronni, giving her a long, breathy kiss before grabbing her hand to walk out.

“Sure thing. So, no cowboys. Got it,” I quip, pointing fingers back at Lizzy and Collin in the shape of a finger pistol, winking as we close the mudroom door behind us. I look at Ronni. “Are you sure we can even leave them unsupervised?”

Ronni rolls her eyes, laughing while she grabs her tote bag from the mudroom. We head out and hop in our Uber to downtown.

“Finally,” she says, exhaling a deep breath before looking at me. “They’ve been teasing me all day.”

I chuckle a bit, holding her hand.

“You look amazing by the way. I almost thought of taking you straight back to the cabin, but figured you might be hungry for actual food. So, are you excited?” I look into her hazel eyes, still feeling like none of this is real. How did I get this lucky?

“Yes, very excited,” she says, giving me a kiss on the cheek, “but I’d be more excited if you would have told me where we were going so I could have looked at the menu.”

“Hmmm. What did I ask you before? Do you trust me?”

She huffs, crossing her arms.

“Ugh. You know I do. But this is food, Tanner!”

“Well, you’re just going to have to keep trusting me and go along for the ride I guess,” I say, nudging her with my shoulder and smirking.

I wrap my arm around her, bringing her closer. She rests her head on my shoulder, grabbing my other hand lacing her fingers through mine.

I feel a buzz rumble between us, three quick pulses, interrupting the moment. Ronni nervously looks down at her clutch, resting between our legs on the seat of the Uber.

“Do you need to get that?” I ask with a chuckle.

She sighs and I can feel her shoulders tense. “I should. That’s the alert I have for Jeff, my boss. If he’s messaging or emailing me this late, it’s probably something important.”

I run the backs of my fingers over her cheek, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s fine if you need to. I just don’t want that to ruin your night. I hate seeing the way you tense up when work is bothering you.”

The corner of her mouth pulls into a half-hearted smile. The way I can tell she’s upset about it, worrying about whatever her boss wants, kills me. They don’t deserve to have someone like her working there if this is how they make her feel. I can feel my jaw tense and teeth grind at the thought of her feeling like that, all the time, back in Ohio.

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