29. Only With Tatum
Skye
“That B&B was so nice!” I gush once we’re back in the car and on our way to the beach. “All of it! Inside and out! Don’t you think it would be such a good wedding venue?”
Tatum shoots me a sideways glance. “You’re talking about the fake wedding, right?”
“I think it would be kind of early on for me to be talking about a real wedding, Tatester,” I decide to tease him. “I mean, you haven’t even taken me on this super special, real official first date yet.”
“Yeah, we should fix that.” He taps his thumb against the steering wheel. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Hmm,” I hum, pretending to think about it. “Nothing?”
“Wrong answer, Carson. You’re going on a date with me.”
His husky voice causes my pulse to jump. “Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he echoes with a slight grin. “How does seven sound?”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “It sounds like I should eat dinner beforehand.”
“You should eat dinner beforehand. And before you ask, no, I’m not telling you what we’re doing.”
“Fineeeeee.” I roll my eyes. “Can you at least tell me what the dress code is going to be?”
He shrugs. “Something comfortable.”
How vague.
“Oh, cool,” I say as he parks at the beach. “So, I can wear my bunny onesie?”
He clicks his tongue before turning the car off. “Well, if you want to channel your inner-Ralphie—”
“Again, I did not get it because of the movie! I love pink and I have a pet bunny! It was an impulse-buy that just made sense!”
“—then who am I to stop you?”
I shake my head at his snickering as I unbuckle my seatbelt. “You’re the worst.”
“I know.” He takes his seatbelt off too. “But seriously, wear anything you want. Whether it’s the bunny onesie or not, I already know you’re going to look good either way.”
Dang it, I think I’m blushing again. “Thanks, Tate.”
“Of course.”
“Ya know,” I say after we’re out of his car and walking toward the beach entrance, “I could always wear your shirt. It was pretty comfortable.”
See? I can be flirty too.
Tatum grunts as he shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“You said I could wear anything I want. What if I want to wear your shirt?”
He proceeds to cuss. “As much as I love hearing you say that, I’m gonna be way too distracted if you end up wearing my shirt for our date.”
Our date.
We’re going on a date.
I’m going on a date with Tatum. With my best friend.
“I can’t believe we’re going on a date…” I hug his arm as we trek across the sand. “Do you think it’s going to be weird? Especially since neither of us have been on a date in forever?”
“Nah, that just means we can be out-of-practice together. But if tomorrow night is too soon for a first date, and you would rather wait—”
“Don’t you dare try to cancel on me, Tatum!” I cut him short. “We’re going on this date. No takebacks!”
“That’s my girl,” he murmurs, resting the side of his head against mine. “No takebacks.”
“How did you get here so fast?” I ask in disbelief. “We just got off the phone like five minutes ago.”
“I know,” Dria says with a grin. “I swear I’m a street racer in another life.”
“Righttttt,” I drag the word out as I close my apartment door, “you’re basically Dom Toretto.”
She starts to say something, but then shakes her head. “Never mind, so let’s talk about you.” She throws her arms around me and squeals. “YOU’RE GOING ON A DATE WITH TATUM TOMORROW NIGHT!”
“It’s crazy, right?” I laugh as she rocks us back and forth. “But like…in a good way?”
“In the best way! I can’t believe it took you guys this long, honestly.” She huffs before letting me go. “And to think, it would’ve taken even longer if I hadn’t stepped in and suggested that kissing engagement picture.”
“Dria, you’re such a schemer!”
“Uh, I prefer the term mastermind .” She tosses a hand up. “Which, by the way, you haven’t thanked me for that yet, but you’re welcome .” She proceeds to sigh. “Now, give me the deets! What made you decide to take the chance? Was it seeing him shirtless last night?”
I flat-out gasp. “Dria! What the heck?”
“Oh, puh-lease,” she says, rolling her eyes at me, “the tension between you guys was absolutely insane! I was ready to grab the fire extinguisher just in case things got too hot.”
“EW!” I swat her arm with a curse. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT.”
“Come on, Skye. I risked getting a speeding ticket to hear all about how this date came to be, so let’s hear it!”
I almost point out that I could’ve just told her on the phone, but she already knows this, so I don’t bother wasting my time.
“I’m waitingggg.”
“Well, we kissed again,” I finally say. “We kissed again, and it was…perfect. It was real . I’ve never felt the same way with any other guy.”
Only with him.
Only with Tatum.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” She squeals again. “This was definitely worth the possible speeding ticket. What happened after y’all kissed? Is that when he asked you out?”
“Not exactly…”
I explain how the rest of our day went, leading up to the first date conversation, and Dria is invested with every single word. She even microwaved a bag of popcorn for herself.
“You guys are so cute!” she coos, shoving some of the popcorn into her mouth. “I just love all the extra flirty stuff! And that little make-out sesh you had in his kitchen sounds like it was very nice .”
I almost gag. “Please don’t make me regret telling you that part.”
She waves me off. “Whatever. So, your date is supposed to be around seven? And all he said was to dress comfy?”
“Yeah,” I sigh, eating a few pieces of her popcorn, “he refused to give me any hints. Even after I tried to trick him into accidentally spilling his guts.”
Dria wrinkles her nose. “He better not take you to the movies as a first date. That’s so high school, and not in a cute way.”
Something tells me our first date won’t be at the movies, but that’s mostly because Tatum always complains about not being able to feel his butt afterward. And now I’m going to be thinking about his butt…
“Earth to Skye!” Dria huffs, kicking my leg. “I asked if you’ve already considered outfit choices.”
“Uh, no? I’m fine with dressing comfy but I also want to look okay, ya know?”
Just because Tatum said that I’m going to look good either way doesn’t mean I’m not going to put effort into whatever I decide on wearing.
“Obviously!” She rolls her eyes at me, but then claps her hands together. “Gah, this will be just like when we were younger and played fashion show all the time! Let me just text Trey really quick, so he knows I’ll probably be here for a couple more hours.”
A couple more hours ???
Does she really think it’s going to take us that long to find me the perfect first date outfit?
Actually, she may have a point.