I opened my mouth then shut it before I did something stupid like blurt out that I loved this man after knowing him for a few months, but fuck, I knew without a doubt I would love to spend days like this with Kaleo for the rest of my life.
Kaleo leftwork early on the day of the basketball game and we made the two hour drive out to the state’s main stadium. I wasn’t a big fan of professional sports, but I was excited to do something with Kale that he liked doing and I was down to try anything at least once or twice. I’d done some research so that I wasn’t completely lost. I’d looked up the rules, the names for different positions and the two teams that were playing tonight so I could see if it would be a fun game or some kind of rivalry between the teams or players.
I looked over at Kaleo. He was driving with one hand, the other resting beneath his chin. I had a burning desire to reach over and kiss him. I set my hand on his leg instead. I looked out the window and my eyebrows knitted together when I realized we weren’t at the stadium or even close to it. I checked the time on my phone. The game was set to start in thirty minutes. I didn’t even think about saying that though. I knew Kaleo knew what time the game was. If we’d gotten lost or were having parking issues there was no reason to bring that to his attention as if he didn’t know. I didn’t want to stress him further than he already was.
I looked back down at my phone and responded to a text message that Allur had sent to me. I kept my head down and in my phone until I felt the car slowing down. When I looked up, I was sure the confusion I felt was plastered all over my face.
The stadium wasn’t even in view. Instead I was looking at a dark lake. I looked over at Kaleo who already had his eyes focused on me.
He didn’t utter a word. He just cut the engine, hopped out and walked around the car to open the door for me. He offeredme a hand. I looked around again before I took it. I let him help me out.
“This isn’t a basketball game, Kaleo,” I said.
He grinned. “I know.”
He twined our fingers together and started to lead me through the grass and to the sidewalk. We’d only gone a few yards when I saw the gazebo out in the middle of the water. It was lit up beautifully with a dining set up already there and two men, one with a waiter outfit on and one holding an instrument. They both smiled as we got closer.
I squeezed Kaleo’s hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you to dinner,” he said simply.
I shot him a look but his eyes were still faced forward.
He walked me over, greeted both men then pulled a chair out for me. I collapsed into it. We were served water and wine. There was already a menu in front of us so we picked what we wanted from the three options listed. The musician started to play light music as the waiter walked off. I watched him walk to a large truck that I immediately found out was pretty much a kitchen on wheels.
Kaleo reached over and twined his fingers through mine and I looked at him across the table. I scoffed and shook my head.
“You realize you could have just asked me on a date, right?” I asked.
“Where would the fun in that be?” he asked. “I mean, the surprise is some of the best part.”
“You let me research basketball information all week.”
“And now you’re fine and educated.”
“You’re full of shit.”
We both laughed.
“I promise to take you to a professional game next time though,” he offered.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve got you.”
“Alright. So, what made you want to have dinner out here?” I looked around again.
It was genuinely beautiful and I loved the live music, but I wasn’t sure why this specific dinner had to be so nice. I started to think of all the things he could be getting ready to tell me. Maybe he was opening another shop or was leaving his penthouse apartment to buy an actual house. He had to be celebrating something.
“I just wanted us to be away from the noise and I wanted to get you alone so we could have a real ass conversation honestly.”
Alarm bells went off in my head. I blinked at him.
“Kaleo, if you were going to tell me you wanted nothing to do with me, you could have done it at home or like Donald did over a text.”
“What?” His face screwed up in disgust. “Man, ain’t nobody trying to get rid of you. I actually brought you out here to do the opposite.”
