Magcon Boys

Chapter 16

"Carter?" I say, then he sticks out and hugs me. I hug him back and smile, "You weren't supposed to be back for another two weeks, right?" He smiles back at me and Grace leans up against him. "Isn't it great?" She sighs, and I agree. For the next hour we just stay at the food court, eat and talk. "So how was tour?" I ask. He answers," Amazing, it was really amazing connecting with the fans." I take a bite of the Chipotle we got and say, "It must've been. Matt and I had to run away from a mob yesterday." Carter laughs, "You're joking." "No sir, I am not." Grace laughs with Carter. "We were running for our lives." I say. Carter asks how I have been doing and I tell him about the monoxide incident. He immediately looks at me concerned. "Are you okay?" He asks. "Yeah, I am fine." Then Grace and Carter get involved in this conversation I really don't want to be a part of. I start to daydream about the date. I sit there and just imagine Nash's smile, his laugh, his eyes. I hear a faint calling and snap out of my daze and hear Grace asking if I was still here. "You kind of zoned out for like 5 minutes." I smile and nod. Later, we make our way back to the car. Grace had said goodbye to Carter in a rather slobbery way and we were now driving. 'Fancy' came on the radio and we both started rocking out. We were kind of half yelling, half singing. "First things first, I'm the realest! Drop this and let the whole world feel it...." We sing this until it ends and then we kind of sit in silence. It feels awkward. Grace seems kind of in a daze, and she's driving so I don't know about this. We make it home safely though, and I get out and thank her, and then quickly run inside to take a shower and get dressed. I blow dry my hair and then curl it, it's a special occasion after all. My thoughts keep drifting to Cam. I feel bad, but he has to know I can't date him! I head outside even though I still have another hour. Stand in my backyard, scrolling through my phone, singing loudly Counting Stars.

'Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep.

Dreamin about the things that we could be,

but baby I've been,

I've been praying hard....

say no more counting dollars we'll be counting stars,

yeah we'll be counting....

stars."

I keep singing and I realize how much I love to sing. I just lose myself in the song and when I'm finished I hear breathing, breathing that's not mine. I spin around and see Nash. He stares at me and I feel heat rush to my cheeks. Was he watching the whole time? He looks shocked. Was I really THAT bad? He stutters," I.......I didn't know you could sing." I smile and say, " I didn't either." He picks me up by the waist and spins me, "Babe! You are amazing! The world needs to hear you!" I smile again, then blush. "I'm not THAT good." He looks at me, "You're fucking kidding me right? You are astounding! Come sing with us at Magcon!" I look at him," Would it be alright with your manager?" "Heck yeah!" He responds. "Wait, wait, wait, FIRST, lets get on with our date shall we?" I laugh. I almost forgot in that moment. He offers his arm and I take it. He takes me to his Jeep, and opens the door for him. "Thank you Mr.Grier." I say, "Anything for you, Mrs. Dale" I smile and kiss him lightly on the cheek. He smiles that killer smile back at me and climbs in the Jeep.

We drive down my neighborhood and turn out of it. He has the GPS pointed away from me so I can't see it. This must be some mystery. I look over at Nash and he has this sappy grin on his as he drives. I smile and sit back. We drive really far, it's been an hour already. This is getting harder and harder for me to be patient. I flick on the radio, because there has been a lot of silence. "Happy" comes on, no surprise. They play that song so much! We pull up to this forest. Forest? I wonder what's going on. Nash pulls out a picnic basket from the back and walks to open my door for me. I smile, but a picnic in the forest? Nash takes my hand and leads me down a beaten path. We come to a clearing overlooking the beach. I gasp and look around. A pink picnic blanket is spread out on the grass. Strung from all the trees are white, glistening lights, lighting up the fluorescent sunset. A path leads right from the hilltop to the beach. I turn to see Nash, leaning up against the tree. I run towards him and kiss him, I wrap my arms around him and just hug and kiss him. He pulls away, still holding the picnic basket and sets in on the blanket. He sits down and I walk over to him and plop next to him. He pulls out those Welch's sparkling drinks, the ones that are SUPPOSED to taste like champagne. I laugh and admire his creativity. We aren't old enough to drink after all, only 16. He looks at me and says, "Jordan, I will wow you with my culinary food-of-choice for this evening......" He smiles and pulls out a box of pizza. Thank God! I was actually kind of hoping that it wasn't anything fancy. I feel like Jennifer Lawrence when I scream, "PIZZA!" And I dive in, after a slice I feel Nash's eyes on me. I look up at him and say, "What?" Kind of defensively. He smiles and says, "That's why I love you. You can act and dress formal, but you're really just fun, you love pizza over classy foods and you are flawless and amazing and loving and caring and sweet and....." He goes on and on and I smile. He really does find all the good qualities about me. He keeps on going, but I stop him with a kiss. He suddenly puts his arms around me and just holds me. We collapse on the blanket and just cuddle. I suddenly remember the water and grab him. He gets up and I tell him, "We have to go to the beach...PLEASE!!!!" He smiles, he reaches into the bottom of the basket and pulls out two towels, swim shorts and one of my bikinis. "Where do you..." I start and I give him this look. He is quick to explain, "Your mom, she helped me with the idea....I asked and she....." I immediately relax. As long as Nash wasn't going through my drawers. He tosses me the bikini and tells me to go change. I find a deserted place and quickly change, I felt awkward, but whatever. I find Nash already changed. He pulls me on his back and I grab onto him. He is really solid, and his muscles feel amazing. He sets me down on the sand and then runs to the water. What a boy, I think as he runs back to me and pulls me in with him. I scream and then get submerged in water. I swim up and laugh. We just start splashing each other and then he asks me, "Would you like to make a Vine with me?" I laugh and say yes. He opens his phone, how has it not gotten soaked....and opens Vine. He makes a new video. "Just chillin with the BÆ!" I laugh and kiss his cheek then the Vine is over. He uploads it and turn off his phone. He goes to lay down, but then runs back up the trail to get the towels. He lays them on the sand and we just cuddle together. "Sing with me?" He asks. We just sing Counting Stars together as the sun sets over the ocean and "I fall in love with him the way you fall asleep, slowly then all at once."