Page 29 of Teaching Cayden

Chapter 13

Cayden

I don’t know why I agreed to this date for Josh. I mean, I knew why and the thought of it made me sick. I should just man up and tell Will, then I wouldn’t be stuck in this predicament. Josh had let me choose, so I picked The Family Fun Park. It was a great place to get lost in the crowd, and there wouldn’t be a chance to snuggle up.

“Really, man?” Josh groaned as I pulled into a parking space. He and Grace were in the backseat while Serena and I were up front.

“What? You don’t like Go Karts?” I grinned. “This place is great!” I hopped out and jogged around to get Serena’s door before striding toward the ticket booth. I didn’t really want to be here, but it was still a date and I was a gentleman. “Two please.” I handed over my credit card before handing Serena one of the bracelets from the sales girl, and then stepped to the side to wait for Josh.

“I haven’t been here since I was like twelve.” He groaned as he bought his and Grace’s bracelets and joined us.

“It looks like fun.” Grace smiled as her eyes swung over to the Ferris wheel. I’d forgotten about that.

“Sure does.” Josh snickered. I guessed he was changing his tune now.

“What do you want to do first?” Serena glanced around. “Ten bucks says I can kick all your butts at mini-golf.”

“You’re on,” I challenged as I began to head toward the course. I grabbed a club for myself and a ball, and then stepped back. Serena looked kinda taken aback that I didn’t hand her one, but I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. I wasn’t interested. This wasn’t a real date, and after the Spring Formal I was hoping to not run into her anymore.

“I’ll keep score.” Grace plucked the pencil Serena was holding out of her hand. “She likes to cheat.” She giggled as Serena pouted.

“I do not.” Serena scowled as she stepped up to the tee at the first hole. She positioned her ball, and then stood up to square up her hips.

“You can’t beat me on your own merit?” I teased as she pulled the club back and swung through very gracefully.

“Nah. I was gonna let you win, but now I’m not, Hot Shot.” She shrugged as she turned just in time to see her ball bounce off of one of the bumpers and roll into the cup. “That’s one.” She waltzed away swinging her hips before scooping up the ball and turning to watch us.

“Damn.” Josh whistled while I just stood there staring. If I wasn’t falling for Addison right now, I might actually like this girl.

“Let’s go!” Serena tapped her wrist like she was watching the time while I position my ball on the tee. I was pretty good, but not that good. I sunk the ball on my third stroke. We went back and forth like this until we reached the final hole. I had a one stroke lead, but it was a complete fluke. Serena had sneezed when she went to hit her ball on hole ten, causing her to hit it. She’d been doing so well that we made her count it.

“Just go already!” Josh grumbled from behind me. I’d squatted down to check the angle of the green. I wasn’t that good, but I want to waste time and mess with all their concentration.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes as I stood up. I squared my hips and tapped the ball, causing it to roll rather gracefully toward the cup. It ringed the edge before rolling an inch or so away. “Damn,” I muttered as I trudged toward the ball, tapping it in. I stepped back and waved toward the group. “I’m finished. Your turn.” I motioned to Josh.

“I bet you say that to all the girls.” He snickered as he placed his ball on the tee.

“How would you know?” I fired back. “You stand outside my door at night? I didn’t think you were into that sort of thing.”

“I’ve got better things to do than that.” He scoffed as he took his shot. “Right?” He grinned at Grace, causing her to giggle. Those two had been circling each other for a while. I was at the point that I wanted them to just screw each other and get it out of their systems.

When we finished the game, I ended up tying Serena. She got another hole in one, and I was ready to move on. “What’s next?” She placed her club in the window and shifted to look at us guys.

“I’m kinda hungry.” I rubbed my stomach. The smell of pizza was coming from the snack bar, and it was slowly killing me.

“You’re letting you stomach decide?” Josh shook his head. “I’ve got a better idea.” He wrapped his arm around Grace’s shoulders and began striding toward the Ferris wheel and Go Karts. When he stopped in front of the giant wheel, Grace clapped her hands giddily and bounced on the balls of her feet.

“We’ll wait here,” I called out as I started to walk toward a nearby bench.

“No, we won’t.” Serena grabbed my hand and tugged me in the same direction.

The ride operator snapped the safety bar across our laps, and off we went. “This was one of my favorites as a kid.” Serena smiled over at me as we rose to the top. “You can see the whole park from up here. Look!” She pointed out into the distance. “You can see the beach too.”

“Yeah, it’s great.” I sighed as I fidgeted in my seat. I was uncomfortable with this entire night, and I was trying my damndest to not let it show. It wasn’t Serena’s fault that I wasn’t interested, or that I had a girlfriend. It wasn’t her fault that I had to hide that, and it sure as shit wasn’t her fault that her friend wouldn’t go on a date without her. “I need to tell you something,” I rubbed my fingers over my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Ok.” She turned slightly so she could face me, and it gave me my first real look at her. Her brown hair was fluttering in the breeze as the Ferris wheel churned, her blue eyes sparkling in the lights flashing around us lighting up the night. The curve of her smile was almost teasing as she smiled at me with genuine interest. Dressed in a simple purple t-shirt and khaki shorts, she looked young.

“I have a girlfriend,” I blurted out and then shook my head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just thrown that at you.”

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