Page 115 of Steeling Her
“I’m looking forward to it too.” She nervously smiles back at me. I couldn’t resist leaning in for a quick and small kiss from her. It’s been too damn long since we’ve kissed.
“Then let’s get this date on the way then, shall we?” I wink at her as she giggles and nods. I close the door and make my way around to the other side. I can see the audience inside watch us as I make my way around the car. “Typical,” I mumble to myself. You can swear I’m famous with the amount of attention I get from people.
“Hey, Nick!” A few of the guys on the football team holler over at me, and I wave back to acknowledge them with a smile on my face. I want this date to go smoothly because I have never been on a date in my life. For the entire Christmas vacation, I’ve been asking my mom to help me out along with Cas. My mom wouldn’t stop hugging me when I asked her to help me out. Planning is not my thing but I wanted to make sure I did this right for her.
When I came up with the perfect idea, my mom thought it was so romantic. My dad had planned the same thing for them on one of their dates, but it was also when they were married and where I was conceived.
I’m not ready for kids yet.Holy hell, am I not ready for that just yet. And boy, did I get a warning from my mom about it.
“So, are you going to give me any hints?” she teases me as I drive down the street to our destination. It’s not too far away from the college, but it’s not a short distance either.
“Nope, it’s all a surprise for you. I’m not giving anything away, but I’ll know you’ll try to get it out of me,” I joke, keeping my eyes on the road to get us there as safe as possible. My car has been touch and go for the last while. I need to get a new one. When I’m playing football professionally, it will be my first investment. Then a house.
“Are you taking me to a restaurant?” she asks, starting off the twenty-one questions with me. I know she’s itching to find out where we’re going. She’s a girl, and girls are curious twenty-four seven.
“You could say that . . .” I leave it cryptic because in a way we are and in a way we aren’t. We’ll be eating, just not dining in a crowded room.
“You’re not giving much away, Nick, and you won’t, will you?” She laughs, twisting her body to face me while I drive nearer and nearer to our destination.
“Nope, you’re not getting anything out of me. Plus, we’re nearly there anyway. I thought there would be a lot more traffic on the road right now, but I’m beating my own time allowance. I overcompensated for tonight . . .” I chuckle back as I make a turn off the highway and down towards the place of interest for me and her.
Hopefully, everything is set up for us down here.
***
Carter
Where in the holy name of God is he taking me?
I can only see pure black and darkness, nothing else. Only the ground is lit up in front of us and what catches in the light ahead of us. That’s it.
“You’re not going to murder me, are you?” I ask him while he bellows loudly beside me, struggling to keep his hands on the wheel. I smile as I watch his eyes crinkle in the corners as he laughs.I’ve missed him so much.
“Damn! I wanted you to be surprised when I did it!” I roll my eyes and playfully slap his chest. He simmers down after a while then turns to the right and comes to a stop. He unbuckles his belt and I do the same. “I’ll help you out, the ground here is a little uneven. I’ll come around, okay?” he offers.
I swoon at how caring he is towards me. The light beams above us when he opens his door. The light turns off when he shuts it. The crunch of his footsteps makes it known to me that he’s making his way on gravel-like terrain. The door swings open, and I take his hand once again as he wraps his arm around my waist, hoisting me up and lifting me down to my feet.
“Careful in those heels. I don’t want you hurting yourself.” His breath is inches away from my face. All I can do is nod while I stare at his features. Not letting go of my hand once more, he tugs me close to him again and guides me along what feels like a pathway. My heel catches on a few stones here and there, but nothing too bad to make me fall over.
“What is this place?” I ask, amazed by this secret location. I can’t make anything out except for the outline of Nick. He’s staring right at me. I can make out the hunter-green eyes that are watching my reaction.
“You’ll soon find out.” He grins as he picks up his pace as we make our way towards the desired spot for this date. Once we continue our short walk, I feel the ground getting more even, then I’m met with the echoes of our steps on wooden planks. I look down to see if I can make out if that’s what we’re on right now. I see the gaps in the planks and the sound of water gurgling beneath us.
I raise my head because I can now see my surroundings, and what I see what makes me stop completely. There are little fairy lights dangling around the mast of a boat and down along the railings, where people usually hold on to when getting on. It’s a beautiful white boat with two floors. This can’t be for us?
“You like it?” He turns himself slightly in front of me, making sure my sight to the boat is not blocked off but enough to make me take my gaze away from the boat and to him.
“That’s for us?” I point to it, waiting for him to confirm my assumptions. When he nods, I gasp at him and flicker my eyes back and forth between him and the boat. “This is beautiful, Nick!” I gush as he pulls me over to where we’ll be on our first date. On the lake, because I know we’re not near the sea. How Nicolas Sparks of him.
“I’m glad you like it.” He grins as we step in front of the boat.
“Ahhh, Nickiii, you’re fucking early!” A guy comes out from behind one of the pillars and greets him. The guy notices me and waves over to me. Seeing that we’re holding hands, he wiggles his eyebrows at Nick, who rolls his eyes and starts laughing.
“Carter, this is my cousin Gage, Taylor’s brother, the one you met at the restaurant that time with his mom, my aunt?” I nod, remembering when we did meet them. They were so friendly and nice. This guy has dark black hair, the complete opposite of Nick, and is built like he was in the army. He has muscles for his muscles. Are all of the guys in Nick’s family built like him?
“Hi . . .” I wave back shyly to him, and he sends me a smile that resembles his mother’s. I know I’ve only met his family for a couple of hours, but I remember his mom very well. She was a very sweet woman who is very much like Nick’s mom. Bubbly and chatty, your typical doting mother.
I watch Gage wink at Nick, whose grip tightens on me when he sends him that look. “You always go for the really hot ones with the hot names, don’t you Nick?” he teases, and Nick reaches across to smack him on the head. Gage starts to laugh loudly at his cousin’s actions. “First date, bro, those nerves acting up already? You do know it’s his first ever date, right?” he asks me and I nod, smiling up at him like a kid in a candy store. I know Gage is only doing this to annoy Nick, I can see that mischievous glint in his eye.
