A Real Date at the Lake
Chapter fifteen
Jake
Despite my best efforts, Alex has roped me into a date.
I have to admit that he knows how to romance a guy.
He sits in my lap as we stare out at the lake, my arms wrapped around him.
It’s a beautiful day. There are just a handful of clouds in the sky and a light breeze in the air.
We watch a pair of mallards swim around in the lake for a bit until they fly away.
Occasionally a white-tailed deer will be spotted out here, but today there’s nothing else around. It’s just me and Alex.
He hasn’t said much since we got here, but he doesn’t need to. As much as I love listening to him talk, this silence is peaceful. Calming. A picnic basket sits nearby in the grass. I smile at how thoughtfully he planned all this.
He doesn’t realize that I overheard his entire conversation with Brandon but honestly, I thought it was sweet that he would go through the effort for me. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be at the moment.
“It’s a really good thing that no one else knows about this spot. It’s just for us,” he says as he looks up at me. I try and fail not to laugh. “What?” he demands.
“Throwing the guests off a cliff might be a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” I say with a smile.
He gasps. “You did not hear that!”
“I did.”
“Oh my god. It wasn’t my idea, I swear. Brandon put me up to it.”
“Should I tell Brandon how easily you threw him under the bus just now?”
He glares at me. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would, brat.” He pinches my leg and I tickle him in retaliation. He squeals and yells, “No, Jake! Tickling is not allowed!” I continue the torment just for a moment, and he leans back against me to catch his breath.
“You play dirty, Mr. Covington. I’m going to punish you later for that.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mhmm.”
“Let’s make a deal, then.” I lean down to whisper in his ear. “I escape your wrath, and Brandon never finds out about your treachery. What do you say?”
He tilts his head and considers. “You drive a hard bargain. Okay, I accept. Can I punish you just a little?”
“No, brat. A deal’s a deal.”
“Fine. I accept.” He wiggles out of my grasp and army crawls through the grass to the picnic basket. He grabs onto it before realizing that he can’t drag it while lying on his stomach. I lean over and pick it up for him, setting it in front of me.
“Show off! You and your long limbs.” He sits back in my lap and opens the lid to the basket.
I look over his shoulder and huff a laugh of surprise.
He really did think of everything. There is an assortment of fruits, crackers, cheese and what looks like cubes of sausage.
He pulls out a bunch of grapes and picks one off the vine.
“Open up.” He leans back to look up at me and guides the grape to my lips.
“Wait,” I say, pulling back a little. “How do you know we can eat those?” I didn’t think ghosts were able to eat solid food.
He gives me a playful glare. “Do you think I would attempt to feed you something that would hurt you? I tried one earlier and it was fine. Now open.”
I obey, and he pops the grape into my mouth. I grab the grapes out of his hands and return the favor. He gives out a little “oh” of surprise, before accepting the grape. “Mhmm, those are good. Give me another,” he demands and opens his mouth, waiting. I place another grape gently on his tongue.
We stay like that for a while, trading grapes and enjoying the solitude. I find myself wanting to hear him speak again. “I’m curious about what your plans were before you died. Was working at Keystone what you wanted to do, or was there something more? Any goals, aspirations?”
He thinks about it for a second. “Honestly, not really. I never went to college; I couldn’t afford it.
Working at the hotel was the only thing I was qualified to do and, don’t tell Kayla this, but I lied on my resume.
I’d never cleaned anything in my life before applying.
But no, I love working here. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. What about you?”
“I wasn’t allowed to have dreams. The only option I ever had was doing exactly what my father wanted, so I don't know what I'd choose, given the chance. I never planned on coming here, it was just the first place I thought of when I ran. But meeting you, I don’t know, I feel like maybe it was worth all of it.”
“I feel the same way,” he says, a little breathless. “You know, I don’t think my parents even know what happened to me. They’re probably worried sick, thinking I’ve been abducted by aliens or something. I just want to tell them that I’m okay now.”
I squeeze him. “You had a good relationship with your parents?”
“The best. They were always supportive of anything I wanted to do. They couldn’t give me much, but I wouldn’t trade them for all the material shit in the world. I hope you can meet them one day.”
“I’d love that. Maybe we can get a message to them, have them come visit. Once we’re able to maintain a solid appearance for longer than a few minutes at a time.”
“I’d love that.” He’s getting choked up thinking about his parents and I want more than anything to be able to give that to him.
“We’ll figure it out.”
He turns in my arms and leans in close. His mouth hovers just over mine as he asks, “Can I kiss you?”
I hesitate for a second, studying him, his expression open. He has no expectations for how the rest of this date will go. If I said no, he’d respect it. Wouldn’t he? I have to know.
“No,” I whisper, and hold my breath as I study his expression. Instead of the anger I expect to see there, his eyes widen for a fraction of a second before he gives me a warm smile.
“No, yeah, way too soon. That’s definitely at least a second date kind of thing,” he says and tries to twist back around in my hold.
He doesn’t berate me for my boundaries, doesn’t grab my hair and force me down, doesn’t take what he wants despite my protests.
I tighten my grip on his waist, stilling his movements.
“Wait.”
He stills in my lap, biting his lip as he looks up at me. He’s so cute like this, off his game and a little unsure.
“Yes,” I decide.
His breath catches. “Yes? Are you sure?”
“Very.”
He cups the back of my neck with a hand, and brings his lips to mine.
He pauses for just a moment, giving me time to pull away if I want to.
I don’t want to. I close the distance between us and he kisses me tenderly before deepening the kiss and shoving his tongue in my mouth.
God, he’s hot when he takes control like that.
What does that say about me? I don’t even care, as long as he never stops kissing me like that.
He pulls away and I let him go. “Pretty good first date, don’t you think?” he asks.
“Perfect,” I say.
“Does this mean I can take you on another?”
“No.” His face falls a little before I continue. “I’m taking you on the next date.”
He perks up at that. “Ooh, where?”
“That’s for me to know, and you to find out.”
“I can’t wait,” he says and kisses me again.
After a while, his hand trails down my stomach and is headed for my waistband.
I grab it without thinking, stopping his perusal.
I’m frozen for a minute, holding onto the hand and trying to come up with an explanation that doesn’t make me feel like an idiot.
It’s just Alex. He doesn’t try to pull away, just lets me hold onto him while working through my feelings.
“Sorry, I got a bit carried away. I won’t do that again.” He looks up at me, apology in his eyes.
I suck in a deep breath. “It’s okay. I want you to, but maybe we can take this slow for now?” He nods in agreement and gently pulls his hand out of my grip, placing it back around my neck.
“Just kissing for now?”
“Yeah. You’re a very talented kisser.” He preens as he leans in again, and we get lost in each other until the sun starts to set behind the lake, painting the sky various shades of orange, red, and yellow.