It’s funny that my first thought is that I’m out with a man instead of a guy.
We’re taken to our table, overlooking Lady Bird Lake. I have a suspicion he may have chosen this restaurant due to my love for the lake.
He glances out past my reflection in the window, watching the slight movements in the current.
“Can I come clean about something?” Chance asks.
“Uh oh. Should I be scared?”
Chance purses his lips and fiddles with his fork. “Nah.” He glances up at me. “I was looking for you the night you fell into the water. I was worried about you. Honestly, I didn’t realize it was you in the water until after I dove in.”
“I was wondering how you found me.” It’s embarrassing to think back on it all now.
“That’s not all.”
“What?” What else could there be?
“I had to give you mouth to mouth for like five minutes before you started breathing again.”
In response, my body trembles at the thought of what he’s explaining. I guess I didn’t realize how much trouble I was having. I got lucky. “I was that bad?”
“I thought I was going to lose you, August.”
“So then, this morning wasn’t really our first kiss?” I try to make light of the subject. I don’t know if it’s been weighing him down or what, but he saved my life.
“Auggie, don’t get all cute on me,” he says, pointing his fork at me. “I feel guilty that I didn’t say all this sooner. I mean, the paramedics knew what I’d done, but I didn’t feel right trying to sound like a hero after you woke up either.”
“You saved me,” I tell him. If he, who was more or less a mere acquaintance at that time, hadn’t been concerned enough to follow me, I would have drowned.
“I helped you,” he corrects me.
“You saved my life, Chance.”
He shrugs. “Maybe a little.”
“You’re my hero.”
“Anyway,” he says. “What is it about the lake that you love so much. I thought this place might be nice since it’s overlooking the water.”
“It’s peaceful. I like the white noise of moving water. I can talk to the lake, and it won’t be judgmental.” I snicker because that sounds ridiculous, but everyone needs a place where they feel at peace.
“That makes perfect sense. It is pretty to look at.” Chance glances out the window. “You think I could talk to the lake too? You know ... without being judged?”
“The lake doesn’t discriminate,” I tell him.
“You say that a lot?”
“I do.” I open the menu I haven’t checked out yet, finding steak to be the focus. “What are you thinking?”
Chance opens his menu, then closes it right away. “The filet with roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts.”
“You had this preplanned, didn’t you?”
“I’m a man who knows what I like.”
I raise an eyebrow to match the flirtatious glint in his eyes. “Well then ...”
“Do you fancy filet too?”
