Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 52

Julian


I almost messed up big time there for a second—or a week? When I had the idea of Isla and I casual, I was doing as per her sake. I thought that maybe she thought dating was something too complicated, and she hadn't dated anyone before, so... I thought she wouldn't want us to be official.

But doing that made me out to be an asshole to her. I was doing everything that painted an ugly picture of me: sneaking around kisses, only hanging out at our house, and taking her to my bedroom. It wasn't what I was supposed to do at all. It's something that was out of my element, and when she pointed it out, I immediately felt regret wash over me.

I hadn't meant to make it seem that I didn't care about her, or worse, that I was using her. No, I'd never use her or any other girl, for that matter. I just thought that doing what I was doing before was keeping it safe. But being safe was causing her to feel uncomfortable, so that was automatically a rather stupid idea.

But that was all in the past because tonight I was taking her out on an official date. It's what she should have gotten way earlier.

•

I had it all planned out.

I had talked to her on the phone yesterday, and very smoothly, I asked her if she liked the movie I had chosen today. She had said yes, so with that set, I had everything I needed for the rest.

Right now, I was heading out of my house with the flowers in my hand. They were soft pink, with a baby's breath in them. I had the store clerk arrange the flowers with extra precision, wanting to get them to look perfect. As I head over to her house, I cannot help but be nervous. I was anxiously tapping my finger against the steering wheel, thinking about how much I wanted it to be perfect.

I knew I shouldn't be nervous because Isal and I were comfortable with each other. We had spent a great deal of time together at my house and even out. The only thing was that this was being labeled as our first date, and that was scaring the hell out of me. But I needed to chill and just let the day play out.

But as I park in front of her house, I cannot help but pause and check my hair in the rearview mirror. Today, my hair was not cooperating with me. It was always flowing in the working direction, and I huffed out a breath. Running my fingertips along the ends of my hair, I make sure that it's not in an awkward spot and call it a day.

I take a deep breath and get out of my car. Because of my nervous state, I forget the flowers in my car. I have to open my car to get it again, but once I have it in my hands, I stand up straight and start to head up her driveway. Once I'm standing on her front porch, I try to ignore the fact that it was my first time up here and take a breath.

I place a fist on her door, but before I can pull back and knock, the door pulls open. I think I almost lose my breath at the shock of it all as the door opens to reveal Isla. She is laughing as she says, "Hi." I'm looking at her and at how there was a camera placed in front of my face. I blink a few times, and she must see the flowers in my hand because she gasps. Cringing, she says, "Shit, I'm sorry."

She steps back and places the camera inside the house. Then she stands back in front of me and says, "Okay. I'm sorry."

"The camera caught me off guard," I say, then shake my head. "But it's okay."

She shakes her head, but then I watch as her eyes flit up and down the length of me. I cannot help but notice the way she put in effort for the date as well. She was wearing a white dress with small, dark green detailing on it. It was fitted at the torso, but then it flowed down her thigh. She was also wearing white heels, something I haven't seen her wear anywhere around me. Her hair was flowing past her shoulders in her natural curls, which I loved best about her. She was also wearing necklaces, and a tiny green detail perfectly matched the dress she was wearing.