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Hell, this is going to be a long night.
Especially since I vowed to do this right and not take her to bed.
“Ready to go?” I ask, taking a step back and putting a little distance between her body and my own.
“Yes,” she says softly. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” I tell her, smiling inwardly at the plan for this evening. Everything I need is already in the trunk, including some entertainment for after dinner.
Opening the door, I wait until AJ is seated in the passenger seat before I close her door and slip around to the driver’s side. She’s already buckled in, her eyes readily following my every move. Eagerness buzzes through the air like bees at a picnic, which I suppose is an appropriate analogy, since that’s where we’re headed.
We’re quiet as we head to the location I chose for tonight’s outing. Okay, so we’re heading back to my place–she just doesn’t know it. My plan is to stay out on the beach, not at the house. I just didn’t know of any other place available, besides a public beach, where I could make this evening’s plans work. A public beach just wasn’t what I was shooting for on my first date with AJ.
“So why education?” I ask as I turn onto the highway that runs up the coast.
She slightly angles herself in the seat toward me, my eyes dropping to the smooth flesh where her dress rests a few inches above her knees. “Well, it was an easy decision for me. I love kids and excelled in math. When the math department at the junior high had an opening as soon as I completed my student teaching, I figured I should jump on the opportunity instead of searching other districts or waiting for a position at the high school to open up.”
“You want to teach high school?”
“Well, I thought I did, but I’m actually pretty content at this level. Maybe if a high school position opens up, I’ll look into it, but I don’t really see myself making the move anymore.”
“I’m kinda diggin’ the junior high right now too, even though I’ve only been at this new gig for about two weeks. I always thought I’d coach high school, but after giving it more consideration, I like working with the younger kids. You know, help them grow into the athletes they’ll be in high school.”
“I get it. That’s why I want to stick with junior high math,” she says with a shrug.
We’re quiet as we make our way to our destination. AJ seems content watching the scenery pass by, and she seems especially enthralled as we get closer to the water.
“Where are we going? I didn’t think there was anything but residential houses out here,” she says as I pull off the highway and worm my way down the seaside road that leads to my house.
“You’ll see,” I say vaguely, as I pull down the private lane beside my house that brings us to the beach. One of the things I love about this place is that the houses are far enough apart that you don’t really feel like you have neighbors. And right now, I’m banking on that distance to give us privacy.
In the handful of weeks that I’ve been living here, a few of my neighbors have had backyard gatherings. Even with dozens of people, music, and laughter, the noise barely made it to my place. It’s like the Bay swallowed it up. Since my gathering is just AJ and I, we should have no problem fading into the peace around us.
“Sawyer? Where are we?” she whispers, her eyes bouncing between the side of my house and the view of the Bay as I park along the fence that runs along the south side of my property.
“Come see,” I say, leaving my keys in the ignition and hopping out of the car.
I pop open the trunk as she gets out of the car. I can’t help but watch as she takes it all in, her long, brown hair gently swaying around her back. There’s more of a breeze here than in town, but, fortunately, I prepared for that.
I grab the small cooler, the picnic basket, blanket, and the bag from the vehicle. When the trunk is secure, I turn my attention back to her and hand her the blanket. “Let’s go.”
She walks beside me, my arms loaded with our meal, down to the spot I pre-picked on the beach. When we reach the sand, I stop and wait for her to slip her shoes from her feet. I kick off my flip-flops, but make no move to pick them up. I can come back for them later.
When we reach the spot, I set everything down on the sand. AJ seems to understand what’s happening and starts to spread the blanket out on the ground. I jump on the opposite end and help finish covering the sand. She smiles as she steps on the blanket and my heart starts hammering in my chest the same way it did when I hit my first grand slam in the majors.
AJ sits on her haunches, her hands resting on her knees, and watches me with eager, smiling emerald eyes. From the picnic basket, I retrieve plastic plates, cups, and silverware and set it all in between us. Then I pull out a container with sliced strawberries and grapes.
Her eyes seem to light up with each dish I reveal. After the fruit, I empty the cooler. The glasses are filled with lemonade and plates piled with pasta salad. Then, I go for the gold. Inside the bag is a thermal container with ballpark hotdogs. When I pull them out and set one on each plate, she giggles.
“These are the best hotdogs in the history of the world,” I say, handing her a plate. “Okay, confession. These aren’t the actual ballpark hotdogs, but they’re close. The nice lady at the grocery store helped me secure these bad boys. I’m pretty sure she thought I was hitting on her.”
AJ giggles. “Mrs. Hagley went to school with my grandpa. She’s eighty-two.”
“Well, I’m not sure she knows that.”
“Oh, she does. She’s just…spunky. That’s why she and my grandma are such good friends.”
“Now that I can see,” I confirm.
