Page 6 of Warrior

“Hey, Taylor,” he calls, using my last name like always. I roll my eyes and move closer to them.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” I tell him, hoping he can’t detect the nervousness in my voice. I’m going on my first date and with Colt of all people. It feels like a dream and I hope nothing horrible happens like getting pepperoni stuck in my teeth.

“Sure.” He nods, pushing a jumble of buttons on the controller until Kyler’s team wins and “Mission Complete” flashes on the screen.

“Woah!” Kyler’s mouth opens in awe. His gaze falls on Colt, and I can see the hero worship in his eyes.

“See you later, bud,” Colt says, before standing and taking my hand to lead me out of the house.

His light blue truck sits in our driveway. Colt surprises me by walking me to my side and opening the door so I can climb in. I’m instantly thankful I decided on jeans for this date and not the skirt I had been toying with. He shuts the door behind me and rounds to his side.

“So there is a six thirty movie and an eight. Do you want to eat first or see the movie first?” he asks, while starting the ignition and backing out of my driveway.

With my lip clamped between my teeth, I quickly toss the options around in my head. “How about eat first?”

His smile widens and he nods his head. “Food first it is.”

Colt drives us into town and past the school. He waves every now and then when we see people in our grade. My cheeks tinge pink because I swear everyone knows we’re on a date and not just hanging out like normal. There’s a shift of emotion in the air and I wonder if he can feel it too. Or am I just being a girly-girl about it? I take a few deep breaths to try and calm myself. I’veeaten with Colt many times. Usually Zane or a group of people is with us, but it can’t be that much different. Right?

I don’t know if Colt can sense my nervousness or not when he pulls into the parking lot of the pizzeria. Again, he opens my door for me and takes my hand while we walk in. It might be my imagination, but I swear the loud chatter dials down to a muted murmur while the hostess walks us back to a smaller booth. We live in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else’s business, even if you don’t want them to. It can be nice, and sometimes it can be super awkward, like right now. By Monday at school, everyone will know Lyric Taylor and Colt Street were on a date Saturday night. Once we’re seated, I can see the smirk on Colt’s face and a small chuckle escapes his mouth.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, peering around us.

“I think we’re the talk of the town tonight, Taylor.” He leans over the table, those coffee-brown eyes of his holding my blue ones. Butterflies nosedive in my stomach. I’ve never felt nervous around Colt, but for some reason, my hands feel sweaty and I’m tongue-tied.

“Is this weird?” I ask suddenly, my thoughts too jumbled in my own mind.

Colt’s lips tug into an easy smile and he shakes his head no. “I’ve been waiting a long time to ask you out.”

“You have?” The idiotic questions just keep coming. I hope the filter between my brain and my mouth decides to make an appearance tonight.

He laughs. “Can you tell me you haven’t thought about it?”

I have to look away because the answer on my tongue is going to cause a whole new round of girly blushing. Of course I’ve thought about it. I’ve had a crush on Colt before I even knew his name.

My eyes creep back up to his and sure enough, he’s staring at me waiting for an answer. “I have.”

“See.” He grins, reaching under the table to pull my hand into his. “It was meant to be.”

My mouth quirks into a smile and we both exhale past the weirdness. It’s been over five years that we’ve been hanging out as friends. He knows me and I know him. Still, I can’t help but feel my heart beat faster, knowing he’s been wanting to take me on a date for a while. He definitely hid his interest well.

When our server returns, he orders my favorite pizza, which I know he secretly likes too, and we get two Cokes. The longer we sit, the more natural everything feels. As if we’re meant to be right here, right now in this moment, just the two of us. Time seems to stop. Every smile and laugh shared between us is a new string tethering our souls together. I know in my blood that I will never be the same after this date. I also know I never want to date again. I don’t care if this is my first one; I never want another. I only want Colt.

“Oh shoot,” he says suddenly, sitting back and checking the watch on his wrist.

“Everything okay?” I ask, my eyebrows kicking up.

He chuckles. “We were on a roll talking about old man Tomlinson’s cat, and I lost track of time. The movie started thirty minutes ago!”

I snatch his wrist to look at the time. Sure enough, we’ve spent way too long just catching up that we may as well skip the movie. My smile falters. I was looking forward to spending more time with Colt. Missing the movie just cut off another hour and a half of our date.

“Well, my dad won’t hate it if I’m home early.” I shrug, trying to keep it light, even though I’d do anything right now to spend more time with him.

His eyes dip to the table, suddenly very interested in his fork that’s lying in front of him. “Would you want to get ice cream instead? We could get it to go and take a walk around the park…”

His voice trails off as if he expects me to turn him down. Little does he know my heart just jumped in my throat with excitement. “I never say no to ice cream, Street.”

His lips pull into a lopsided smile and I don’t miss the small flash of relief in his eyes. My cheeks tinge pink. He finishes off our pizza before reaching for the check right when our server drops it on the table between us.

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