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“You look beautiful,” I tell her. “You always do, though.”
She smiles shyly now and says, “I thought we could grab dinner in the restaurant first. Is that okay?”
“Dinner?”
“Is that not okay? It–”
“It’s fine,” I say. “I’m nervous, too, by the way.”
“Yeah?” she says, laughing a little.
“Definitely,” I reply.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say or do,” she says. “I just want us to be here tonight; just the two of us.”
I don’t exactly know what she means by that, so I give her a confused expression.
“I want this to be your choice. Do you want to be here with me?”
“Of course, I do,” I say.
“No, I mean, if I’m not…”
I get it now, so I nod.
“You mean, if you’re not paying me?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t come here for money,” I say. “I want what you want tonight,” I add.
“And you’re sure?”
“Yes,” I say again.
“I might ask that, like, ten more times tonight. Sorry,” she says.
I laugh. Then, I take her hand and entwine our fingers.
“You don’t have to apologize. I want this as much as you do,” I say.
We walk through the lobby, and she leads me down the hall and into the restaurant, where she’s made a reservation. I’m definitely out of my element here. My friends have taken me to nice restaurants before, but I’ve never been on a date in a place like this. Shit. Is this a date? Are we on a date? I don’t ask the question out loud as the waiter pours our water and then brings us the wine she asked me to pick out like I actually know what I’m doing. I pointed at something. The waiter nodded at me, and I assumed that meant I’d made a good choice. We talk as we share an appetizer, and we talk some more as we eat our entrées. I love making her laugh – her whole face lights up. We share a dessert, which is way too rich for me, but I like how she eats the rest of it when I only take a couple of bites. I don’t like when women order only salads on dates and then just move their forks around their plate.
“I got us a room,” she says when she’s signed the check after I offered to pay.
“Do you want to go up?” I ask.
“This place is on the lake. Do you want to go for a walk first?” she asks.
“Yes,” I reply, loving that idea very much.
Outside, she takes my hand again, and it’s like we met through friends at work or something and we’re here on our anniversary. There are lights strung up outside, but they’re not on because the sun is only just setting. I stop us to stare out at the sun and the water. I move behind her and press my back to her front, wrapping her in my arms.
“Why do you feel so good?” she asks.
“Why do you?” I ask back.
She laughs a little, and I kiss her temple. Then, she says something.
