Upon my begging and pleading, Seren and I split the fee to get in. Our highlighter yellow wristbands are for three hours of unlimited playtime. All courses will be open to us. I'd hope so for thirty bucks.
"Are you ready to go down, Sutton? I hate to break it to you, but I'm a queen at mini golf." Seren walks ahead of me, swaying her hips without even trying to do so. She's not only a queen of mini golf, but just a queen altogether.
We come up to a course called Poseidon's Sea. Blue is the primary color representing the ocean, I guess. Outside, we grab clubs and a ball, then carry on. A giant merman with a crown sits at the center of the course, his mouth unhinged. If I squint well enough, I can just make out a hole where I guess the ball comes out of.
"Take your shot, baby," Seren says, smiling and motioning to the contraption. "Loosen up and square your shoulders."
A delighted laugh leaves me as I step up and set the ball down in the starter groove. This first shot is fairly easy being right before us. Softly, I hit it and watch as it teeter-totters against the edge of the hole before falling in. Stopping myself from cheering, I turn to Seren with a grin. Considering this is my first time playing mini golf, I'm doing great!
"Not bad, hotshot," she commends, nodding as she steps up. I don't like this nickname as much as the last, but it'll do for the time being.
Seren makes the same motions as I do, effectively getting the ball into the hole. And that's how we spend our three hours. She didn't lie when she said she's a queen at mini golf. While I had multiple screw-ups, Seren made perfect passes almost every time.
Though I think Seren may be the cause for my failures. Her presence is just too distracting and for almost the whole time, she was mumbling innuendos.
Swing your wood.
Shafts tend to be really flexible... or hard.
Grip it and rip it, pretty boy!
A lot of them were lost on me, but I started to get the hang of it with each look she passed me. It's easy to tell when she licks her lips and bites her bottom one. I can only describe the look in her eyes as desire. At least, that's the emotion I feel each time. And I've never desired someone so much before... maybe even at all.
"You cheated." I sigh, shaking my head as we blend with people to exit. "Every time and you knew how it would distract me."
"Did I though?" Seren smirks, cutting her eyes over to me. "Maybe you just need a bit of practice. Or to get your head out of the gutter, Sutton. I only made comments relating to golf. What you thought after is all on you, baby."
The two of us laugh and it feels good to do so with someone who makes me happy. Getting to the car, Seren unlocks it and we both take our seats. It starts up and pop is the first genre to flow through the radio. The woman next to me shakes her head before changing it until R&B starts playing.
"Better," she mumbles and puts the car into drive. "Ready for the next thing on the list?"
I nod and smile at her. By the end of the night, my cheeks are sure to be sore. "And what would that be?"
"Dinner. At my place."
My breath hitches in my throat as I realize what this means. Are we moving too fast? Seren has seen my apartment, but only because she has the vehicle. With me seeing hers, I wonder if all relationships move this quickly or if we're two beings who are just too into each other. Shrugging to myself, I decide, for once, to just let it go. It's time to live without caring. While it's hard, I feel I've already come a long way.
"Order in?" I ask, glancing at her from the window.
Seren shakes her head as she turns the radio up a little more. "Actually, no. I figured we could cook something together. I don't enjoy eating out too much, if you can believe it."
I could. She has a regality about her that surpasses a lot of people I've met in my lifetime. Fast food doesn't seem like a Seren way to go about things. I imagine her feasting at five-star restaurants on a daily basis. Though I suppose she does cook a lot of her meals and that would make a lot more sense and be more logical overall.
"Okay." I nod, smiling to myself in this new direction. Cooking is something I learned to do ages ago, and it's something I'd be doing now if I had the time to go and get groceries.
"We're not far from my place, so we'll be there soon. Sit back and relax, okay? Just enjoy the ride."
True to her words, the drive doesn't take any longer than twenty minutes. Seren pulls into the lot of an apartment complex. We're in a suburb type area with the apartments standing out being surrounded by neighborhoods. Though I will admit that her place appears much nicer than mine. Where my street is grimy and full of noises at night, Seren's is clear of suspicious looking pedestrians.
She parks in a free space, then powers down the vehicle. Looking at me, she smiles and motions towards the building. "Let's go and continue our date."
My heart flutters and I scramble from the car, ready to see what the rest of the night brings us. Seren walks ahead of me, jingling her keys on the way. Scrambling after her, I stop myself from pausing to look at the surroundings.
"Up two flights," Seren tells me as we walk up the stairs. Unlike my place, hers doesn't have an inside where we walk up. Instead, it's all outdoors; the stairs, at least.
The trek to Seren's apartment is quick, though I stumbled a few times for whatever reason. I think the culprit is me being nervous about being in a place alone with Seren. Namely, her apartment. The territory is new, which means I won't be one-hundred percent comfortable.
Once she unlocks the door, Seren pushes it open and motions for me to head in first. Nodding my thanks to her, I can't help the awkward smile as I step inside. Almost immediately, I'm smacked in the face with the fresh scent of cucumber melon. I know because it's one of my mother's favorite scents. I spent the better part of my childhood bathing in all things cucumber melon.
To smell it now makes me feel like this is even more meant to be. I sigh and turn towards Seren, who's watching me. Her eyebrows raise before she turns to close the door. With the lock secure in its place, she walks past me.
Sighing again, I allow my eyes to explore her place. It's not huge or anything, but it is a lot bigger than my home. Seren's apartment is more like a studio, though I can see that she has two rooms off to the side, which I assume are her bedroom and bathroom. Unlike my place, she has furniture that speaks nothing but Seren.
A small, light gray suede sectional is the only seating area in the large open space. A coffee table sits in front, a single mug and a small succulent is placed on top. Under that is a smoky rug with hints of blue to match the throw pillows on the couch.
Past all of that is Seren's kitchen, which isn't separated. To my surprise, it's quite large. The fact that it's connected to the living room would be the obvious reason for its capacity. That's where she walks to, setting her keys on the table along the way.
The honey-haired beauty stretches and switches a light on for the kitchen area. She faces me after and smiles. Then she beckons me over to which I follow like a love sick puppy. I watch as Seren pulls open her fridge and pulls out ingredients.
"What are we making?" I ask her, smiling wide at the woman before me. My smile is so wide, I can feel my eyes trying to touch. "Looks like..." Looking at the items on the counter, I frown and shrug. "A salad. Spinach, cucumbers, no tomatoes—"
"Because I hate tomatoes. Remember that, pretty boy, okay?" Seren interrupts, nodding at me.
A small laugh leaves me and I nod. "I hate tomatoes too. But I never say no tomatoes when I go out because I'd rather not send anyone through the trouble."
"Well, that's a bummer, Sutton." It's Seren's turn to laugh. She reaches around me and grabs the vegetables, shaking her head. "Part of it is a salad, yeah. I figured we'd also make something simple. So... I hope you like pasta."
"I love pasta," I tell her, smiling down at the counter. "What kind of pasta?"
"Shrimp Alfredo. So, I also hope you like seafood."
I think my stomach growls, though my beating heart is too loud in my ears. Looking up, I take in the white cabinets and Seren's large silver fridge. This woman is tugging on my heartstrings. And not in the sad way from movies. She knows just what I need, what I want, and what I like. It's like she can read me better than I can even read myself.
Sighing, I chance a look over and into my new favorite color; amber. "You know the way to my heart."