Secret Society

The Date

Jax drove us back to the house, not letting go of my hand but for the ten seconds it took for him to get in the car. I thought he might be dreading facing the guys after our intense moment. When we pulled up to the house, he placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand and then released me. He opened my door for me with a smile but didn't reach for my hand again, which I was slightly grateful for. I wasn't sure yet how to handle any sort of PDA in front of the other guys.

Everyone was in the kitchen when we walked standing around talking, like they had been waiting for us to walk in. Everyone smiled at me and I went in a circle giving them all a quick hug, ending with Braedon. He held on to me for a second and looked down at me.

"Are you busy tonight?" I could see the nervousness present in his expression but he was mostly confident.

"I don't think so, why?"

"Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me?" He gave me a breathtaking smile, and I wondered how I would be able to say anything but yes.

"Of course Bear, let me go get ready." I turned to the other guys in the room and gave them a short finger wave before heading up the stairs to get ready.

I wasn't sure how Braedon knew my size or which room I was going to choose to get ready in, but there was box laying on Tyler's bed with a rose lying on top. I picked up the flower and held it to my nose inhaling the sweet floral scent and smiling at the sweetness behind the gesture. I pulled the top off of the box and there was a deep green dress resting inside. I fingered the fabric and bit my lip at how much it would have cost. I pulled the dress out slowly admiring the princess cut and slight v-neck that would accent the natural curves of my body. I sighed and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

An hour later I headed down the stairs feeling like a real life princess, decending the stair case. There had been a pair of modest black wedges waiting for me when I finished in the bathroom and I wasn't feeling like I was going to fall over at any second. I praised the shoe gods when I made it down the stairs without stumbling once I looked around corners making sure that none of the boys were going to sneak up on me.

I took a deep breath and threw my shoulders back, instilling fake confidence in myself. My hands were clasped tightly in front of me showing how nervous I actually was. I had avoided dressing this way or presenting myself like this for at least a year and it was bringing up all my insecurities from living at home. I'm sure my facial expression was not a pleasant one either, but there was no way I was going to turn down this thoughtful and beautiful gift from Braedon.

I took another deep breath as I stepped into the kitchen to face the firing squad.I was staring at the floor, avoiding eye contact with the guys. After several long moments of silence I peeked up to see what was going on. All of their faces were some variation of slack jawed: Tyler's mouth was actually hanging open, Hunters eyes looked twice as big as normal, Jax was just shaking his head from side to side, and Cole was rubbing the side of his face with a red tint across his cheeks. I looked trying to find Breadon in the group when I heard footsteps and intake of breath from behind me.

"I knew that it would look good on you... but d*mn." He took the last few steps between us and brushed a lock of stray hair behind my ear. I had smoothed out my curls with a diffuser but they still went everywhere. He leaned close to me cupping my head behind my ear and whispered, "You look beautiful Bunny."

He looked devilishly handsome in a pair of dark blue slacks and a light blue shirt that should probably be outlawed. It clung to his muscles in all the right places. We would certainly look the pair tonight.

I blushed a deep red, feeling heat flush my face and neck and murmured a thanks back to him. He pulled back for a just a second only to lean right back in and place his lips against mine. I sucked in a breath and tried to pull away, still feeling the gazes of the other guys on me. He held my face still and continued to kiss me until I relaxed into him and kissed him back. When he finally pulled back and let me catch my breath he had a glimmer in his eyes and a small smirk on his lips. I turned away and placed a hand on my check to try and hide some of my blush. I still felt uncomfortable looking this way and the silence was not helping any.

"Well, if they aren't going to say anything or move, let's get going Bunny." Braedon grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the front door. I watched the guys in the kitchen as we walked away and Tyler's hand meekly lifted in a wave, which made me giggle slightly. The excitement of the night was finally coming back after feeling so nervous in this dress. It really was a great dress that fit me perfectly. Not too much cleavage was showing and it hit me just above my knee.

He led me out to a black Nissan Versa parked in front of the house. I wasn't surprised by the car that appeared to be his. It fit his personality. He opened my door for me like a true gentlemen and waited until I was settled to close my door and get in himself.

"Where are we going?" I was pulling on my fingers again, feeling nervous for a whole new reason now. This was going to be my first real date in about a year and I wasn't sure I remembered how to act.

"Relax." He reached over and grabbed one of my hands to still my nervousness. "Do you trust me?" He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes with a worried tone in his voice.

"Of course." I squeezed his hand and some of the tension he was holding melted off him. He smiled over at me for a second before focusing back on the road.

"OK, then." He didn't elaborate or answer my initial question, but I really did trust him. We pulled dup in front of a fancy looking restaurant about twenty minutes later. I realized that it was a very fancy place when he didn't park but pulled up in front of the door and a valet headed our way. I started to feel anxiety again about being somewhere that reminded me so much of home and my parents.

Braedon came around to my door and offered me his hand as I got out of the car. I gripped his offered hand tightly. I think he sensed that I was feeling a lot of anxiety because he pulled me off to the side of the front door and pulled me against his chest.

"What's going on? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute." My voice was tight to match the muscles in my shoulders and back. I pressed my face into his chest and breathed in his manly scent. I couldn't put into words what he smelled like, but I never wanted to leave my sanctuary against the world. After a few minutes My muscles relaxed and I felt calm enough to go inside. I pulled back from my hiding spot and gave him a small watery smile.

"Thank you."

"We will talk about this later." His tone was commanding but soft and he had a serious look on his face so I knew that we would. He led me inside and we were seated almost immediately. I started to read over the menu to see if anything looked remotely appetizing when Braedon cleared his throat. When I looked up at him he looked uncomfortable and nervous all of a sudden.

"Would you... would you mind if I ordered for you?" His voice was small which was very unlike Braedon. I smiled big at him.

"Oh thank god, I never know what to order." He smiled back at me the relief on his face extremely evident. I put my menu away and took a drink from my wine glass of water.