Broken Submission

The (Actual) Date

Hey, so I've come to the realization that this is a social site, and people like to hear from the authors. So, in the spirit of this, I'd like to say hi to my readers and to dedicate this chapter to my biggest supporter Nightshade971!

She understood now why he had insisted on sensible shoes. The sky was darkening to black, stars starting to reveal themselves. The moon hung low on the horizon. The evening air was cool and crisp, and she inhaled, stealing that refreshing chill into her lungs.

The park was gorgeous, resplendent with trees draped in fairy lights. The sound of rushing water came from her left, the grass yielding softly under her feet. Screw this, she thought and slipped off her sneakers. She sighed as she dug her toes into the earth. The man beside her was quiet, a soft enjoyment radiating from him as he turned his face to the breeze.

He turned to her with that easy smile. He glanced at the shoes in her hand.

"You might regret that in a minute," he mused. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brushed a kiss across her forehead.

Was this really a first date? They felt like old friends, sharing a peaceful evening. She leaned into the warmth of his side. There was a relaxing concealment to the approaching dusk, like the masks of day could be set aside. She followed him until the grass gave way to stony ground.

"I see what you meant," she laughed. Amelia went to tug her sneakers back on and found herself swept up in the air.

He dropped the bag of food on her stomach, juggling her slightly to do so. She giggled nervously at the movement. He grinned down at her mischievously.

"What, you don't like it when I do this," he dropped his arms, and she squealed, scrambling to grab his chest.

"No! No, I do not!" she yelped.

He secured her against him once more and laughed, the vibrations from his chest moving through her.

He looked down at her, lips curling at the corners. "You better unclench or you're going to squish the food."

"Oh!" She looked and saw that the bag was nearly flat between her chest and her knees. She relaxed her body. The bag did not regain its shape. "Oh well," she shrugged.

He chuckled and kept moving in the direction of the water. The rocks were getting bigger now—large, flat, overlapping boulders. He jumped from one to another easily, his size not impeding his agility. A soft gasp escaped her mouth as the waterfall came into view. A gently moving body of water stretched across two shores of grass and rock. Then the ground fell away, the drop bringing the water to a fever pitch as it plummeted, crashing into protruding rocks on the way down.

He set her down. The flat boulders were gentle on her feet. He sat, and she settled next to him, still enthralled by the sight.

"Why here?"

He leaned back on his hands, contemplating the answer. "I guess...I didn't want to be distracted by waiters and protocol and split-checks. I wanted to spend our time focused on each other. And I wanted to see how beautiful you are in the moonlight, how you tilt your head back to breathe in the sky, how your eyes glisten like the water right before it takes the plunge."

He meant every word of it. And the way she was looking at him now, with wide eyes and her lips slightly parted where her jaw had dropped open, he thought she knew it.

He smiled at her and brushed a finger across her lips. "Beautiful."

Before she said anything, he tugged the food bag closer. He had planned on making the food but spending the afternoon at her apartment had nixed that idea. Instead he'd ordered from a local restaurant that offered pick up. She'd chosen sushi and a ginger salad. She'd almost gotten a chicken club, but he'd seen the way she lingered on the sushi menu and guessed that she was concerned about prices. Which he had promptly nipped in the bud.