Page 52 of Rise & Fall
“Correction, what you did on our first date. I just simply listened.”
“And you are such a good girl for that,” I tell her, and I can tell she blushes a little as she attempts to turn her head away.
She looks behind her, then takes a deep breath before shutting her eyes. “Fine, blindfold me, old man.”
I laugh as I layer the silk fabric gently across her eyes, feeling the intensity of what is about to happen. How she doesn’t know I’m about to give her a high she’s never felt before, literally.
“I’m actually getting really nervous now.” Dakota speaks up from the passenger seat.
The whole drive over has been pretty quiet. The silence has been avoided with music playing from the radio. She sang some of the songs that came on and hummed a little here and there. Who would have known there wouldn’t be much to talk about when you have someone blindfolded in your passenger seat.
But now, we’re almost there and she’s finally decided to speak up.
“I mean, realistically you could be taking me into the middle of a forest to kill me, dig me a grave, and then have sex with my corpse before throwing me in,” she giggles darkly.
“Dakota, what the fuck?” I nearly choke when she says this.
“Haven’t you ever read a dark romance book?” I look over at her, eyes tied up with a black tie, her hair still seamless as it blows in the wind from the small crack in the windows.
“The only books I read are fairy tales, and usually they’re for a six year old.”
“Oh, I read fairy tales too, old man. They’re just darker.” She smiles as she leans back into her seat.
I can’t help but notice how her dress bunches up a little higher as she’s sitting down. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“But really, when are you going to take this stupid thing off me?”
Right at the same time as she finished her question, I pull into the parking lot. There’s really no one else here. But that was part of the plan.
It’s technically after hours for the place I’m taking her, but I have connections. Connections that owe me for ruining my trust.
“Are we here?” She asks, squirming in her seat, her sundress sliding up a little more on her thighs, I can’t help but notice how my body reacts to the sight of her.
I reach over and remove the silk from her eyes.
“Where are we?” She looks around allowing her eyes to adjust to the light after being closed off for so long.
“Dakota, if you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to.” I take a deep breath as I look into her eyes, feeling pretty defeated at this point knowing that I am in fact taking this way too far for a second date.
“What do you mean, silly?” She nudges me in the arm with her closed fist. It’s light and playful which gives me hope, but I don’t want to force her.
“It’s just that it may seem too fast and too extreme for a second date, and I don’t want to cross a line.” I admit, never having been in this kind of situation before.
“Nolan, I quite literally sat on your face last week. Yeah, it may be a little too soon and too quick, but after I used your face like a chair, nothing is going to seem like crossing a line.” She reassures me all while letting out a cute laugh.
“We haven’t known each other long,” she starts, “but I’m having fun and if I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be.” She leans over the seat of my truck and kisses me softly on my lips.
“Okay, well just know that this is actually a little crazy. I’ve never done anything like this.” I start to unbuckle my seatbelt and she pauses, staring at me like I might be in trouble.
“What is it exactly that we’re doing?” she questions, following me out of the truck.
“Let’s just say I’m about to make one of your dreams come true.” I smile down at her and walk her over past the host stand up front.
We walk about another two minutes into an empty field; there’s nothing but grass for miles. She gives me a curious look, and once her eyes are met with what I have planned for us, she gasps.
“Nolan.” Her eyes stare ahead for a minute before turning to me and covering her mouth with her hand, then looking back in front of us.
The big rainbow, checkered balloon floats high in the air taking up more space than I envisioned; the basket is unoccupied, but the host stands in front of it and waits for us.