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“Yep. Just in case you turn out to be a psycho.” I hand his license back to him and he puts it back in his wallet smiling.
“Smart,” he says. “Do you have any dietary restrictions? Or preferences?” he asks me.
I pause, narrowing my eyes once more. “No.”
“Great!” He claps his hands together once before saying, “this way.” He does a half bow and gestures to the passenger door of the car he stands in front of. He opens it for me and closes it once I am inside. The car smells good, like clean leather and something fragrant. Music is playing quietly, a song I don’t recognize.
I buckle up as he opens his own door and sits down next to me. He looks over at me smiling before reaching around to fasten his own seatbelt.
“So,” I say. “Where are we going, Hayden?”
“Ana, I have an extraordinary evening planned for us tonight,” he declares, while he reaches into the back seat and grabs a black beanie. He shakes it a few times before extending it in my direction. I look at him questioningly.
“Pick a paper out,” he says, his smile never faltering. I sigh, then reach my hand toward the beanie and feel little slips of paper inside. I pull one out.
I unfold it and read, “Sunrise Thai Kitchen.” I look up at him. “Okay?”
“Nice! Appetizers at Sunrise,” he exclaims, placing the beanie back in the backseat and turning forward to start reversing the car.
“Just appetizers?” I ask, confused.
“We’re doing a progressive dinner tonight, Ana. You pick where we eat each course,” he says, obviously pleased with himself.
I can't help the smile that slips through, though I try to bite it back. “You’re so strange, gringo.” He laughs. “I can tell this is already the weirdest first date I’ve ever been on.”
“I had to think outside of the box. I wanted it to be like nothing you’ve experienced before. Something special,” he says, and I look at him smiling.
“Thank you, I appreciate that.” He rolls his lips into his mouth to hide another smile before turning to face the road while he drives us to our appetizer destination.
“Okay, last one,” Hayden says excitedly as we get back into the car for what feels like the millionth time. I groan dramatically as I flop down into the passenger seat again. He pulls out the last beanie, this one bright red and holds it out to me.
“You have a lot of these beanies,” I comment.
“Every color you can imagine,” he answers with a laugh. He shakes the beanie in emphasis to hurry me along.
“Okay, dessert.” I sigh, reaching my hand in the beanie. “Although, I don’t think I can possibly fit anything else in my mouth.”
Haydens mouth parts in a suggestive smile and I know he is about to say something inappropriate so I say with a laugh, “don’t.” He chuckles.
We had Thai chicken lettuce wraps for appetizers, which were amazing. I then picked McDonalds for our first course which had me glaring at him. He swore there were so many better options in the hat but fate was fate and we had to follow through. I got a cheeseburger and fries.
For our second course—why we needed two courses I didn’t know—I pulled out the name of a BBQ food truck in town. We shared pulled pork sliders and now I feel like I am going to explode. I am so full.
I unfold the little paper and read his surprisingly tidy scrawl, “Cheesy Dan’s?” I ask. “What the hell is that?”
“Oh sweet, they have the best cheesecake!” Hayden fist bumps the air before pulling out and starting the drive again.
“Well with a name like Cheesy Dan’s, you have to either be the best or the worst, I guess.” I relax back into the seat, actually incredibly comfortable around him.
Over the course of our night, we talked about anything and everything. Conversation with him seems to come easily, naturally. Effortlessly.
“So your dad is an investment banker?” I ask.
He nods, keeping his eyes on the road. “Yeah, in Jersey City.”
“My dad is a lawyer in New York City.”
He raises his eyebrows in slight surprise. “Wow, look at us with our hot shot dads!”
