I nod.
“Mm. Good to know,” Casey practically purrs.
There’s a FLETCHER song playing softly over the speakers. The Jeep smells like her: black forest air freshener and the faintest hint of old coffee. Casey’s turn signal clicks on and she slows. I’m rocked softly to the side as she makes a right turn. I don’t know if it’s down another street or what, until she comes to a stop. She lets go of my hand to shift the car into park.
“Can I take this off now?” I ask.
Casey captures my hands as I try to pull the blindfold off. “Not yet,” she whispers before finding my lips with hers. I gasp into her mouth, not expecting her to kiss me. And I don’t know if it’s the anticipation over the night or the sensory deprivation the blindfold provides, but this kiss is electric. It sends ripples across my skin. My belly tightens, and I can’t get enough. I grab her by the back of the neck, locking her in place, as I deepen the kiss.
“Fuck, Dakota,” Casey moans. She tones down the intensity before having to practically pry my hands from her neck until she can put some space between us. Casey laughs and pulls my hands to her face to kiss my knuckles. “As much as I want to continue this, I would like to take you to dinner first.”
“Fine.” I pout until there’s a sharp nip on my bottom lip, and I squeal.
“I told you to put that lip away or I’d bite it.”
I laugh as Casey’s car door opens.
“Give me a second, I’m coming to help you,” she says.
I’m glad Casey’s out of the car so she can’t see how wide I’m smiling, my fingertips lingering on my bottom lip. My car door opens faster than Iexpected.
“Awh, did that hurt?” Casey softly kisses my lip, also catching the tips on my fingers. “All better?”
“Much,” I say. She helps me out. “Now can I please take this off?”
“Almost,” she promises before leading me forward.
I’m squirming under the blindfold, anticipating a crowd of people coming and going from the restaurant looking at me funny. I wonder where we are. If it’s one of our favorite places or something new to try. I’ve been on many dates the past few weeks, and I’m kind of hoping she doesn’t take us to one of the places I went with someone else. I know this is a lot of pressure to put on a first date, but I want this to be really special.
“There’s a curb—yep, perfect,” Casey guides.
I frown. It’s eerily quiet—no chatter or the purr of car engines—the only sound I can pick up on is distant bird song and the faint rustling of leaves.
Where the hell are we?
My confusion grows as we walk for seemingly forever. “Casey?” I ask. “You’re not taking me somewhere to murder me, right?”
Casey barks out a laugh. “Five more steps.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Casey laughs harder, knowing I’m only joking. Of course, I don’t think she’s going to kill me, but I’m desperate to know where we are.
“Casey, seriously, I?—”
Casey unties the knot and removes the blindfold. I blink once. Then twice. Thenoh, my god.The scene before me is beautiful. A thick picnic blanket is spread out with an assortment of food. Meats, crackers, jams and jellies, cheeses, fruits, chunks of ciabatta bread with a Tupperware of oil. A bottle of white wine chills in an ice bucket. Twoempty stemless wineglasses rest on either side. And there are candles—so many candles—that glow in the setting sun. Rose petals are spread everywhere. The sight is gorgeous, except I’m confused by one part: the setting.
The picnic is set up inside a dugout.
“Casey, this is amazing. I’m just …”
“Dakota, I’ve been captivated by you since the moment I first saw you. I walked up to the field for our first kickball game together, and all I could hear was your laugh. I smiled at the sound … and then you turned around, and you took my breath away. I was so nervous to talk to you.”
“You?” I gape. Casey is so confident and so gorgeous, it shocks me to think she’d be nervous to talk tome.
She smiles softly. “Yes. And then I realized how close you were with Nina, and you have no idea how pissed I was to find out she met you first. Nina and I had some history, and I wanted nothing to do with her, so I avoided you both.”
I knew they didn’t get along, but I don’t know the details beyond them butting heads their previous season of kickball together.
