the sea, heaven and everthing between [completed]

4. awkward first dates

Sam looked slightly nervous, his hands fiddled together and cheek flushed. "Lia, I was wondering um-" he tripped over his own words and which I found that utterly adorable. "Since Gracie is spending the weekend in Florida with my sister in law, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me on Saturday?"

The smile I tried to hide was on full display. "Like in date?"

"Yeah, like a date," he nervously chucked, scratching the back of his head.

"I would love to," I said, leaning on my toes to give him a peck on the cheek. "See you tomorrow."

I was running around my little room trying to find something subtle that I could wear for a date. This was the first time I would be with Sam without Gracie and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach just thinking about him. After our kiss out on the balcony, we acted like it never happened in front of Gracie, it was a different situation when she wasn't there. Sam was so sweet with me, treating like I was his special lady even though our relationship wasn't really official yet. Whenever Gracie wasn't looking, he would sneak in a little kiss and occasionally a little cheeky butt pinch.

I was safe to say that I was excited for the date.

The clock almost ticked 7 and I heard a soft knock on my door. I straightened my simple dress and opened the door. There he was, Sam was standing there in a light blue shirt that stood out to his tan skin and a small flower bouquet in his hand. "Hi," he said with that smirk of his.

"Hi. Thank you. Woah," I said, taking his flowers in my hand. "These are beautiful."

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yes," I said, putting the flowers in a vase and closed the door.

We walked into the town. In the late Saturday evening, the lights in the town was lit up, making the whole date more magical. It was like I was 18 again, nervous for the first date.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I wish I could say that it was a surprise, but there is literally only one eating spot in this place," he said.

"Oh," I nodded.

"Don't worry I know the owner, I have done something special," he smiled, dimples visible.

He wasn't lying when he said he had done something special. We walked right past the restaurant and down to the beach. I gasped when I saw what he had done. Lots of pillows and blankets were put out in the sand, there burning candles and a waiter stood ready.

"Oh my god," I said, hands over my mouth. "This is really beautiful."

Sam guided me and we sat down on the blankets and pillows. The waiter took our orders and disappeared right after.

"Seriously, how did you come up with this?" I said totally amazed.

"I have had a fair share of awkward first dates, so I really wanted this one to work out," Sam chuckled.

"Really? Tell me more," I raised my brow at him.

"I have ended up spilling my drink at my date, a date that ended up crying and of course dates that left me because I was too talky," Sam shook his head and laughed.

"Crying? Really?"

"She had just lost her dog and I was the jackass who decided to have a movie date at my place, of course I had a dog."

I started laughing.

"She and Baileys spent the whole evening crying while I watched The Notebook."

"Wait? Baileys like the drink?"

Sam shrugged his shoulder. "I guess you can say it like that. My mother really liked the drink, so she named the dog after it."

"Sounds like something I would do," I laughed. "Maybe Tequila."

"What about you? Any awkward first date stories?" Sam asked.

"Well, there is this one guy," I started shyly and Sam raised his brow at me with that smirk plastered on his face. "He took me to McDonalds."

Sam bursted into laughter. "I am like an expert at bad first dates, but I know that you don't take a girl to McDonalds on the first date. Was there any second date?"

"No, after a meal with screaming kids and teenagers around me, I just figured out that he wasn't worth it," I laughed.

Shortly after the waiter came with our orders and we started to eat while Sam started to tell me more about his disastrous dates and with me laughing to every single one of them.

After a while, we finished our meals and a bottle of wine. The sun was starting to set.

"Let'a go for a walk," he said, grabbing my hand.

"Really, a long romantic walk on the beach? You sound like every guy on Tinder," I joked, feeling the wine in my bloodstream.

"Wow Lia. You got me. I got all of the ideas from Tinder," he put his hands up in defense.

I kissed his lips that tasted like sweet wine and intertwined his hand with mine as we started to walk. I took off my heels that Sam offered to carry as we walked in the sand.

We walked in silence as the waves and the wind were the only sounds around us. It was a comfortable silence.

There were things I loved about today. The incredible date had set up for me and the light blue shirt he was wearing that made him look more tanner.

We stopped in front of my front door and Sam looked like he didn't know what to do next. I looked into his blue green eyes. "Come on in," I said.

"I wouldn't want to bother," he said.

"Bother what?" I laughed. "Everybody knows that I am alone as I can be and Gracie is in Florida, so unless you want to play with her dolls, I know that you don't have any plans."

Sam finally gave in and followed me inside. I found a bottle of wine and two glass and put it on the coffee table.

"Time for wine?" He asked.

"When is it not time for wine?" I asked instead.

"Touché," he said and we poured ourselves another glass.

Halfway through the glass, a knock was heard on the door. Both Sam and I looked curiously at each other. I got up with the glass in my hand and opened the door. When the door revealed what was hiding behind it, a gasp escaped from my lips and I almost dropped my glass.

"Ethan," I coughed out. My ex-fiancé was standing outside my beach house.