Page 76 of Before Dawn

Oh my god.Finally.

@mikkelsuarezofficial:I’m asking you on a date, Red.

Me:I’d love to.

Me:Where are we going?

@mikkelsuarezofficial:New York Aquarium.

I stared at my phone, a slow grin tugging at my lips. Not a restaurant? Was he heaven-sent?

Me:Time?

@mikkelsuarezofficial:Around ten. Want the full experience with you.

@mikkelsuarezofficial:Where should I pick you up?

Me:I’ll meet you there.

@mikkelsuarezofficial:Are you sure?

Me: Yes! See you at ten, Mikkel.

@mikkelsuarezofficial:See you at ten, Red.

It was like he’d read my mind, sensing my doubt about whether we’d ever actually meet in person despite our constant texting. Butthis? This was real. My heart did a giddy little flip at the thought of spending an entire day with him—not just dinner, but an experience.

An adventure.

Sea creatures. Ocean tunnels. Touch pools. Maybe even sea lions if they were in season.

Excitement and nerves tangled in my stomach, but mostly, I just felt happy. Happy that he asked me out. Happy that we weren’t doing something cliché. Happy about him.

It felt right.

It felt dangerously real.

Chapter Seventeen

Mikkel

“To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that’s everything.”

~ T. Tolis

Saturday arrived faster than I expected.

Thank God.

The week had been a whirlwind of back-to-back investor meetings, expansion plans, endless travel, and a mountain of vetting. Work consumed my days, leaving little room for anything else. I still forced myself into the gym a few times, but even that felt more like an obligation than an escape.

The highlight? Texting Abigail every chance I got.

Even when I was knee-deep in a summit in Shanghai, rewriting a proposal for the thirtieth damn time, frustration clawing at me, one message from her was enough to cut through the noise. She was the one thing in my life that didn’t feel like work.

But today? Today wasn’t about business. It was about her.

I’d been counting down the days—hell, the hours, minutes and seconds—until this moment. I didn’t want our first date to feel formal or suffocating in some overpriced restaurant where we’d sit across from each other, too aware of the moment. I wanted something real. The aquarium felt perfect—not just because it was fun, but because she’d once told me seeing sea lions was on her bucket list.

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