Page 78 of Summer Nights

My nose wrinkled. "But it's not."

"You said yourself; it's a date."

I crossed my arms over my chest, prepared to argue more about this, but we were in the middle of the tiny shop area, and he opened the door and walked out.

Over his shoulder, he called, "I want to feed the alligators."

I ran after him. "Don't use all the food. I want to do it too."

He handed me a cup, keeping one for himself. Then we threw the pellets at the tiny alligators, watching them swim closer. There was a barrier between us.

We spent a long time with the alligators. I was fascinated with them. When we finally moved onto the course, we were behind a family of five. The kids were hitting the balls too hard and then having to hunt them down in the ponds and the waterways.

Cooper put his arm around me. "Is that how our child will be?"

We watched while the children tried to dig a ball out of the pond with the fountain in the middle.

"I have no idea. I was an only child most of my life." And we certainly didn't do family outings like this. I played around the trailer park with other kids. We weren't going to minigolf or the movies. That stuff cost money my mom most certainly didn't have. Every once in a while, she dated someone who would pay for us to go out, but those opportunities were few and far between.

"Our child should have a sibling," Cooper said with confidence.

"You'll have another child someday." It would be with someone else though. Someone who deserved a man like him. That thought sunk into the pit of my stomach. It was hard to ignore the old negative beliefs about myself. They'd protected me for so long.

Finally, the father told the kids to move onto the next hole without completing this one. He probably saw that we were waiting. But I was in no rush to be done with this day.

Cooper motioned for me to go first.

The first time, I whiffed. "Well, that was embarrassing."

"Here, let me." He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his arms bracketing mine.

I could barely breathe in without feeling dizzy. And it had nothing to do with being pregnant.

His hands closed over mine, and we moved in tandem. I was sure he was trying to teach me a skill, but I was hyperfocused on the feel of his hard body surrounding mine. Together, we hit the ball down the green.

I moved away from him so that I could see where it went. "It's so close to the hole."

"Why don't you finish it off, and then I'll go? I don't want to knock yours out."

"Good idea." This time I got into position without his help and hit it lightly. It only took two tries for it to drop into the hole.

He marked three on his score card, and then he tucked it into his pocket. I watched him hit the ball, and it ricocheted off the barrier, going into the hole.

"You got a hole in one!" I cried.

He bent down to snatch up the ball, and he came over to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me on the lips. He lifted his face, gazing down at me with a look of affection.

"You ready for the next one?"

"Absolutely." I couldn't remember the last time I felt free. I didn't have any work or obligations for the rest of the day. I could enjoy this time with Cooper. For once, I refused to give into my worst fears.

He guided me a second time, and my hit was just as good as the first. We teased each other as we moved from one hole to the next. From time to time, we had to wait for the family in front of us, and we told the parents several times that we weren't in a rush.

In fact, when we got to the cave, he cupped my cheek and kissed me. It was soft and sweet and left me aching for more. The pregnancy hormones were real. But it was a sweet move. One I wanted to experience again and again.

He must have gotten a go-ahead signal from me, because for the rest of the course, he touched me whenever he could, guiding me to the next hole with a hand on my lower back and sneaking into a corner to kiss me.

It was romantic and sweet and made me think that this is what I'd been missing when I was a teenager. But at the same time, I didn't want to experience this with anyone else.

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