Page 53 of Rise & Fall

“A fucking hot air balloon?” Dakota finally speaks, the shock in her tone is present as she continues to look at the hot air balloon and then back at me.

“Listen, we don’t have to if you’re scared or nervous,” I offer, but loving the way her face is lighting up.

“Scared? Did you just call me a pussy, Nolan?” she quips, nudging me in my arm with her elbow.

She grabs my hand, lacing her fingers in with mine—which is a great fucking feeling if I’m being honest—and drags me ahead, closer to the basket and the host.

“Nolan.” Paul nods his head at me and smiles as Dakota. Paul is one of Mitch’s closest friends. He’s also the owner of this hot air balloon park, which is how I was able to plan this the way I did.

Mitch knows he owes me for the rest of his life most likely, and once I told him about how Dakota said one of her dreams was to go on a hot air balloon, the rest was unspoken. He pulled in a favor with Paul and even though the park closed nearly an hour ago, he agreed to stay for one last ride for today.

I’ll be honest, I’m not very thoughtful when it comes to planning out dates. Probably because I haven’t been on a date in forever. Even in my marriage, we didn’t go out much. But I know that something feels different with Dakota. And yes, this may be over the top, but the opportunity presented itself, so I took it.

“So this is date number two with Nolan Steele.” Dakota looks at me, giving me the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen on a girl. Her green eyes look phenomenal as the sun starts to set behind the trees, giving them an extra glow as she watches me.

“You ready?” Paul asks, and we both nod as we walk into the basket. “Just signal me if you need to be let down. There’s a red flag tucked into the bag there,” he points to a corner that houses a little black duffle bag, “hold that out if there is an emergency.”

“Got it,” I answer after shaking his hand. He closes the door to the basket once Dakota and I are both in the basket safely.

Paul rambles off a few more safety precautions before stepping back and prepping for our take-off.

I’ll admit, I am a bit nervous. I definitely don’t have a fear of heights, but this is a whole other level of high. I’ve never done anything like this before. I look over to the beautiful girl next to me who seems to be all smiles and excitement and I easily relax a little more.

“I can’t believe you brought me to a freaking hot air balloon.” She looks up at me before leaning over the basket a bit. I can’t believe it either, honestly.

We feel the moment the basket of the balloon lifts off the ground; the feeling is almost that of an elevator.

The view is stunning as we climb higher into the sky, seeing the trees surrounding us get a little smaller. The sunset of oranges and pinks layer around us, clouds nearly nonexistent in the sky.

“It’s beautiful, Nolan.” Her breathing is noticeable through the rise and fall of her chest, her mouth parted just a bit and I want more than anything to pull her into a kiss. But I let her have this moment, taking in the fact that we’re really floating up into the sky on a hot air balloon.

But I don’t hesitate to put my palm on the small of her back, feeling the fabric of her thin dress against my skin and the way she squirms under my touch creates excitement in me.

Paul becomes almost as small as an ant as we rise higher into the sky. We don’t get too much further though before the balloon stops, stationing us just above the tops of most of the trees.

“How did you manage this?” Dakota asks me, pushing off the side of the basket, turning herself around and leaning against it staring up at me.

We feel the wind push us ever so slightly, not creating too much of a disturbance but Dakota reaches out for me on instinct and grips my arm for purchase.

“I know someone,” I tell her after chuckling at her. She’s damn cute.

“Well, I can tell you that this will top anything I’ll ever do, that’s for sure. And you shut down the whole park?” She loosens her grip on my arm, stepping back again to the lean against the basket.

“No, not really. The park was already closed, I just called in a favor that was owed to me.” She eyes me carefully, probably spinning a bunch of different narratives as to what that favor owed could be. But I’ll let her have her thoughts because I don’t plan to bring up my brother and cheating ex-wife while I have her here in front of me.

“Seriously, though. It doesn’t get better than this.” She turns around and grips the edge, stands on the tip of her toes—like she really needs to in order to see anything from where we’re at—and looks out.

Everything about this moment is satisfactory. The scenery is nice, but the view of the woman I have next to me is even nicer. I can’t help but replay some of the time we’ve spent together before now.

The theater, the alley, her room, my bed, and now.

She’s a dream. And I never in a million years thought that I’d be here with someone like her after my divorce. I never thought I’d be with anybody else, actually. But she’s different, and I feel that about her. Even if only for right now.

I approach her from behind; the suns sets a little further behind the trees. I push her hair off the back of her neck and position it over her shoulder on one side. I can see little goosebumps form on her skin from my contact and I lean down to the lobe of her ear and kiss the skin just behind it before whispering, “I know of one way to make it better.”

seventeen

Dakota