Summer Lovin'

Chapter Nineteen

(May 18th, 2009)
(Gabriel's POV)

Driving up the long driveway towards Hailey's house had me feeling like I was in a weird time warp. It had been years since I had driven down this road and yet it kind of felt like it was only yesterday.

I had hardly slept last night, excited that she had said yes to hanging out with me today. I should be exhausted but instead I was still riding the high of possibility.

I had no idea if she viewed today as the date that I did but either way, I was over the moon and was going to try to use the day to try to woo the shit out of her.

I pulled in and waited a moment, unsure of if I should go in and needing a minute to steady my nerves.

I gave Murphy a pat on the head and opened the window saying, "she's chronically late bud, we'll be a minute." He barked like he understood, which he probably did. I know he was mine so I obviously thought he was pretty great but there were times that I really thought he was a god dammed dog genius.

I closed the door and walked up to the front door. It was the weirdest of feelings as I reached the front door. It felt like my past and my future were colliding. I took a deep breath and then gave a loud knock before I opened the door a little and called out.

I would have waited but I had to assume that Hailey was still upstairs getting dressed and it would just slow down our day if I waited outside for her.

She yelled down, "I'm almost ready, grab yourself a coffee" and I chuckled to myself as I walked towards the kitchen, in so many ways, she was still the same and fuck had I missed her.

Over the course of the last few days I'd been shocked at how well I still knew her, yet also pleasantly surprised by Hailey the adult. For example: I had always known she was a social butterfly but watching her bartend and work a room was incredibly impressive.

My adult self also found her work ethic attractive, all the more so because it wasn't like her family was hurting for money.

She had always been independent but the woman she was now was fiercely so. It had never been something that I had given that much thought to with other women, but in Hailey I noticed everything and I found myself super attracted to it.

If I was going to be honest about it, there wasn't anything I had discovered about Hailey that I didn't find attractive.

I poured myself a coffee and walked towards the big open window, looking at the lake and thinking about the fact that in my not so distant future, I would be starting to build my dream house just down the street this summer.

When we had bought it, Li had commented on how close it was to Josie's Dad's place. However at the time, I hadn't really thought it was relevant.

Now that she was home and I was realizing the depth of my feelings for her, I couldn't help but wonder if I had subconsciously been buying with her in mind. If I had my way and made her fall madly in love with me, it would be our forever home and she would be over the moon to be so close to her family.

I couldn't help but smile, knowing how crazy my thoughts were.

Regardless of our future, we were going to start our day there and I couldn't wait to show Hailey the property that I had bought. I was going to get her on the water that she loved so much, as much as friggin possible today and the boathouse was where my water toys were.

I could've brought the paddle boards in the truck and left from here but I was too pumped up about getting to show her the site of my dream house.

Li and I had put in a boat house right away and it housed all our water toys. Plus, a little extra space. Addy had made fun of our priorities but if you've ever paid to store your boats for the winter, you know it was a smart move.

This was going to be the first time that Liam and I would be building a house from the ground up. We were both ready for a new challenge and our plan with everything was to learn as we built my dream house and then his. Then we could add custom homes to our repertoire for our clients.

Liam had also bought a plot of land, it was on the opposite side of the lake and we would do his place after my own.

He wanted to use the profits from our current flip, my current home to build his so the timing of it all was perfect.

I was smiling as I stared at the lake when I caught Hailey's reflection on the window. I turned to say good morning and my voice broke.

It wasn't that she was wearing anything scandalous, it just felt so homey... so perfectly right, watching her walk over to me with her own coffee cup.

She came over to "cheers" me and as our glasses touched, she asked, "I wasn't sure what we were up to today but you said water so I dressed for activity."

She gestured down her body and I swallowed hard. She was wearing a pair of work out shorts and a hoodie. Her hair was tied up and if she was wearing makeup, it was barely there.

She was so beautiful that it hurt to look at her and when I opened up my mouth to tell her what we were doing, what came out was, "do you know how gorgeous you are?"

She immediately blushed and as she stuttered out a "thhhhank you", her eyes met mine and the electricity sparked. I felt a calmness come over me. Addy and my Dad were right. This wasn't one sided, she felt it too.

I beamed with delight as the recognition washed over me and then told her about our day.

A/N- omg their first date!

I promise we're getting somewhere soon.

This date is going to take us through a couple of chapters, let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions/feedback. 🙌🏻🙏🥰