I walk over to her and grab her face in my hands. "Baby," I note, using the nickname I sometimes call her. "You can wear a potato sack, and you’d be the most beautiful girl there. We don’t even have to go out. We can stay here."
"No, I want to go out. I just want this to be sort of a test run and then when we get back home we do the whole date thing," she counters and I smile and kiss her lips.
"Deal," I agree, and she smiles.
"Okay, I’ll be ready in twenty," she states, turning and running back into her room and closing the door. I tie my blue shorts and grab my baby blue short-sleeve button-down shirt. And then walk to the bathroom, slicking my hair back.
I walk back out and her door opens, and I sit down to look at her. She left her hair loose and curled the ends. She is wearing a long, white, loose-layered skirt with pink flowers on it; it goes down to her ankles. Her arms are bare as she wears a white crop top that goes up to her neck. "This is the best I can do," she says, and I get up.
"If that is the best you can do, I really don’t know if I can handle you at your best best." I wink at her, and she laughs.
She puts her hands on my wrists. "Can I tell you that this is the best date that I’ve been on?” she admits softly as her green eyes light up even more. She hasn’t put on makeup since she’s been here, and she didn’t even put any on tonight. This is her, and I have to admit this is the only way I want her, relaxed and at peace.
"Shall we go?” She nods her head. We walk out of the house, and I open the door for her. I look over at her. "Remember, this is new even to me," I remind her, and she laughs.
When I pull up to the parking area, she looks around. "Is this?" Her eyes go big. "Is this the boardwalk?"
"Maybe." I get out of the SUV and walk over to her side, opening it for her. Holding my hand out, she takes it and gets down. She holds her dress up a bit as we walk toward the wooden boardwalk. She puts her other hand to her chest, and I look down at her, and my heart literally fills in my chest.
She jumps up and down. "This is the best day ever! I’ve never been to a boardwalk before," she says, turning and kissing me. "Thank you."
I grab her hand, and we start walking. As we pass a store that sells frozen custard, she points at it, her eyes taking in everything. “We have to bring the girls here,” she adds, and that feeling I had in my chest before starts, except for this time, it feels like it’s getting bigger. Her hand stays in mine the whole time, and when we pass one of those stuffed animal places, I stop. "Stop." She shakes her head, laughing, and I look at her. It’s always been like this with her, so carefree and full of life. Neither of us are scared to say what we are feeling. I grab the basketball, and she throws her head back and claps her hands, and asks for my phone. "I need proof if you win." I hand her my phone, and she looks at the screensaver of her and the girls when we got off the plane. "Nice." She turns the phone for me to see, and then she enters my password and sees the picture of the two of us I took last night while we sat outside. My arms are around her and her face is close to mine. "Ready?" she asks, and the guy looks at me funny.
"She thinks I suck," I state as I bounce the ball on the ground. "What she doesn’t know is …"
"You used to play basketball in high school." She finishes my sentence for me, and I look at her. I’m the one with my mouth hanging open. "You told me this story."
"Well then," I say and throw the ball and get it in. The guy grabs the ball and hands it back to me, and I sink it again.
"One more and you can get the big one," he says. She holds the camera up, and I sink the shot. The sound of her laughing makes me turn around, and she comes to me.
"My hero!” she exclaims, wrapping her arms around my waist as she picks the frog one. "Thank you," she says, kissing my lips, and we walk slowly with my arm around her shoulder as she holds the frog in her hand.