The Free Pass

Chapter 53

Shawn

How excited was I for my date with Mallory? On a scale of 1-10 I'd say I was at at least a 20.

Even though things had not gone quite as smoothly as I'd hoped at the 'meetaversary' dinner, I was feeling pretty good about where they were headed.

I kind of liked the idea of starting over. Mal and I had never dated. We went from hooking up to getting married in an incredibly short period of time. Hell, maybe that's why I was so late to realize my love for her. It went so fast that I never had time to process my feelings.

So now I just needed to convince her that I loved her. I told myself that it could be worse; I could be in a situation where I had to get her to fall in love with me. Mallory loved me already.

I'd decided that taking things really slowly was the best way to handle this. It seemed silly to date my wife, but that was part of rebooting our relationship. I did get a certain thrill from thinking about our intimacy progressing slowly. I mean, I wouldn't mind jumping right back in bed with her, since god knows I was craving that. But in a way, courting her and taking each step at a time was romantic, and it would make it so much more exciting when we finally got to the end. Assuming we got there.

Instead of overdoing it with the first date, I figured a nice dinner out would be ideal. I knew Mal wouldn't want to leave Gracie for too long, so a couple hours alone together would suffice.

I texted Mallory before my family was due to arrive to babysit.

Me: pick you up at 6:00

I was in my studio and she was in the living room. Yes, I could easily walk out and talk to her, but this was more fun.

Mallory: How should I dress, Sean?

I laughed. She was playing along like we hardly knew each other.

Me: it's SHAWN and you can wear whatever you'd like

Me: no need to get really dressed up

Mallory: So sorry about your name!

Mallory: I'm looking forward to tonight.

I went to the master bedroom to shower and got ready about 30 minutes before my family would arrive. I'd heard Mallory shower earlier. She was getting ready in her room. Mal was sharing a room with Grace in the nursery again now that she was feeling better. I was looking forward to that ending eventually. I wanted her back in my bed.

I dressed in a brick red v-neck sweater and black jeans. I sprayed a bit of cologne on and decided I looked pretty good.

I walked out to the living room where Mallory was sitting with Grace.

"I just fed her. She should be good until bedtime," she said from her seat on the couch.

Mal was wearing some very tight jeans with a tan wrap sweater and brown ankle boots. Her hair was down and she'd blown it straight.

"You look beautiful," I told her. "Do you have plans tonight?"

"Actually, I have a date," she said coyly.

"A date? Nice," I said as I walked over and gave Grace a kiss on her head.

There was a knock at the door.

"Looks like the babysitters are here," I said as I went to answer the door.

"Hello!" my mom said cheerfully as she entered the condo. I hugged her and then proceeded to do the same with my dad and Aaliyah.