ALLY'S POV
(Saturday night)
I carefully stroked the dark mascara brush over my long eyelashes as I awaited Cavan’s arrival. I heard my phone buzz as I checked the message. From: Lauren “Hey girl. I’m so happy you decided to give Cavan a chance! I hope you have fun tonight! :) X” I smiled, realizing how thankful I was that Lauren had urged me to do this. The only problem was that I really couldn’t help but see Cavan as a friend. I was anxious for the date. I was going to have to drop hints to let him know that I was interested. I was nervous that he would read too much in to it and things would get carried away. I just had to go with the flow and let things play out naturally. I looked out the window to see Cavan pulling up as he honked the horn. I checked myself out in the mirror as I nervously walked down the stairs and closed the door behind me.
~
As we pulled up to the curb I saw the community park out the window and wondered what we were going to do here. He looked over at me with a nervous smile as he got out of the car and opened my door for me. I placed my small hand in his large hand as he helped me out of the car. “Where are we going?” I asked casually. “To the park! They’re having a cookout down here and I thought we could check it out.” He answered. As we walked down the sidewalk I intertwined our fingers as we arrived at the park. A man was playing the acoustic guitar as a woman accompanied him by singing. Laughter and small talk filled my ears as we arrived. Cavan waved to some of the local people he knew as I graciously smiled as they walked by. We sat down at a picnic table as a blond boy approached Cavan. “Cavan!! Hey bro,” the boy said. “Hey buddy” Cavan answered. They quickly embraced in a bro hug as attention was brought to me. “Hm. You must be Ally. Right?” he asked. “Yes, I am. And who are you?” I asked curiously. “I’m Jake,” he answered as he stuck his right hand out to meet mine. “Also known as Cavan’s best friend and right hand man,” he said with a wink. I laughed with Cavan as Jake continued to speak. “Well. I better get going, it’s family night tonight,” Jake said as he rolled his eyes. “Don’t do anything too crazy now, ya hear?” He asked with a wink. We waved goodbye as he walked back over to meet with his family. Cavan’s golden eyes met mine. “He’s a bit crazy. But I do love him. Anyway, do you wanna dance?” Cavan asked. I grimaced as he answered quickly, “I mean we don’t have to I just thought-“ “No I’d love to!” I said, cutting him off. “It’s just, I don’t know the first thing about dancing and I’m REALLY clumsy.” I said. “It’s okay! C’mon!” He answered enthusiastically. I stood up as he quickly wrapped his arm around me and led me toward the rest of the couples dancing. He locked his gaze with mine as he smiled at me. I couldn’t help but smile back, his golden eyes shining. He rested one hand on my lower back and entertwined our fingers near our faces. We began to sway to the music in the background as I constantly tripped over my feet. He laughed as he pulled me in closer to him and hoisted me up on his feet. “See. Now you’re dancing.” He said as he smiled. I giggled as he spun us around in a circle and carefully dipped me. He moved his hand lower on my back, as I was about to protest, until I let it happen. I rested my chin on his shoulder as we silently rocked back and forth. It was surprisingly comforting and romantic. “Thank you coming out with me tonight.” He whispered in my ear. “I’m glad I came.” I whispered back. I felt him smile as he rested his chin on top of my head. As the song ended we slowly pulled away and smiled at each other. “I will no doubt be taking you out to dance again soon.” He said to me with a wink. I smiled mischievously. “You’ll have to catch me first.” I responded as I dashed towards the sunset. I heard him giggle and realised he was close behind me. I kicked off my sandals behind me as I saw him quickly approaching me. I was tiring out because I was laughing so hard. I felt his large, warm hands wrap around my waist and pull me back to him. I snuggled into him as we both laughed. “What am I going to do with you?” He joked. Realizing this was my opportunity to be flirty, I whispered into his ear. “Anything you want to.” I felt the warmth of his breath on the back of my neck as he spun me around to face him and pinned me gently against a tree. I giggled as he carefully rubbed his nose to mine. I felt him smile as he slowly leaned in. Our lips didn’t touch, but I felt his warmth running through me. I had never realized how careful he really was with me. I waited for him to press his lips to mine, but he was resistant and I knew why. I had rejected him so many times, he was afraid to really go for it. I leaned into his ear once more. “Do it Cavan. Kiss me.”