Chapter Nine

Kent

We were going out on a date. A date-date, too. Not just going to the club. I’d have been happy with that. He was pretty fun to play with, but this…this meant more.

I was still wrapping my head around the fact that this super-hot, sweet, and dog owning daddy wanted me beyond play time. He wasn’t there for me just as a little. He asked me on a real date.

Safe to say I still had to unpack some of the damage Thomas did, but the more I opened my eyes to how bad it had been the entire time, the more easily I let it go. It didn’t hurt anymore; it was more of a handbook reminding me to be careful—to tread lightly.

And because of that, it was difficult not to temper my expectations. Every single red flag that Thomas waved loud and proud was nonexistent with Barrett.

Barrett was kind, silly, sweet, honest, and, most importantly, very open. It wasn’t his living next door, where I could see his comings and goings if I chose, that had me trusting that I was his only—it was because of who he’d shown himself to be.

We teased each other about who would pick up whom via text messages throughout the day. It was nice to have someone who would indulge me in those silly little things. Obviously , it was he who was going to pick me up in our shared driveway, but you know—same difference.

I put on my favorite jeans and opted for a nice dress shirt with a tie. It looked a little like a “teenager not wanting to wear a suit to a wedding” vibe, but I still thought I looked pretty good and it would fit in if most places we might be heading to.

When I reached the driveway, he was out with the dog, reminding them that they needed to take care of business so “Daddy can go.” I had a feeling the cutie was being like that because they didn’t want Barrett to go and that amused me, probably more than it should.

“Hey, buddy!” I bent down, and the dog came running over. “Are you coming with us on our date?”

Not that I would have minded if they did. It would change the places we could go, but as long as I was with Barrett, I was going to have a great time.

“No, he just needs to do his business so Daddy can get on his way.”

I loved how freely he used the term. Obviously, he was talking to the dog—he was the dog’s daddy, not mine—but I still liked hearing it. And he looked at me when he said it and winked. I took that as a sign to dive into the land of everything is good and everything is right .

The dog eventually finished their business, and, after they were settled inside, Barrett came back out, keys in hand.

“I’m driving,” he said.

“Works for me.”

I wasn’t a huge fan of driving, but I didn’t hate it. The problem was, I didn’t know where we were going. If I had driven, it would have just been him telling me where to go, and while I could see myself enjoying that dynamic in some areas of our time together, it wasn’t when I was behind the wheel.

He opened the car door for me like a gentleman, and I climbed in.

“Okay, we have two choices tonight,” he said. “We can go to Mama Foresca’s and have Italian, or we can go to Sky’s the Limit and More.”

“Sky’s the Limit and More? Really? You want to go to a trampoline park?” It wasn’t a little date, but it also wasn’t a serious, mind-your-manners one.

“With you?”

I nodded.

“Have you jumped on a trampoline since becoming an adult?”

“No, but I think I would enjoy it with you—besides, there is the and More part of the business. But if it’s not something you’d be interested in—”

“Oh, I want to go.” I couldn’t even remember the other choice. “I don’t even know what else is there, but I’ve always wanted to go and never have.”

“Do you want to see?” He held up his phone.

“Yeah, I do—but not till we are there. I want to see it for the first time with you.”

I was giddy, already pulling off my tie. And More definitely didn’t require ties, no matter what it was.

It was a packed parking lot, but when we went inside, it was not super crowded. There was enough space, and everyone was all spread out. One side was all arcade games, then there were the trampolines in the middle, go-karts out back, and even an obstacle course.

“Please, Barrett, don’t tell me the obstacle course is the and More you want us to do.”

It looked like military training from the movies. I was all set never doing that. Shockingly, I was in the minority. It had a line.

“You will laugh,” He took my hand. “But how about I show you .”

We wove us through the arcade, straight to the prize center.

“This isn’t and More ,” I teased. “This is where you get a little temporary tattoo after spending fifty dollars on games.” At least that was how well I did at them.

“Nope. Trust me. I am the game master.” He waved his hand like a game show host. “See anything good?”

I looked around. Surprisingly, there was a lot that was good—and also a lot of junk, A Christmas-colored, weighted dragon stuffie caught my eye.

“It’s all the points,” I said, pointing to the dragon. I wasn’t exaggerating, either. I’d never even had a quarter of those at any given time and, back when I was in college, I lived at the arcade because it was within walking distance and the “cool hangout” despite our ages. “We’re going to have to come here a lot if I’m going to get that.”

“Or…we can be really lucky.” He grinned. “I happen to be very good at a particular game.”

We started with Skee-Ball—my favorite. Ticket collection was in the single digits, but it was fun. Then we played a bunch of silly little games that caught my eye with their flashy lights and noise. We made even fewer tickets. Then, we reached *his* zone: the claw machines.

“This one here is all tickets,” he said, pointing to a machine.

Sure enough, there were rings inside.

“In theory, it’s not a game of skill,” he explained, “but I have a knack.”

One after another, he pulled rings until he eventually said, “That’s all we can get out of this one. They’re in the wrong position now.”

I had no idea what the right position was, but I believed him. He obviously knew what he was doing.

We brought the tickets straight to the counter and had them loaded onto our card. There was no way we were carrying those around all day. I’d never had that many points on a card before. He was a claw-machine master.

After some more Skee-Ball and jumping on the trampolines, and a pizza,we checked out. I didn’t have enough for the dragon plush, but I was close.

In the past, I would have just said, “Oh, let’s pick something else.” But because this was Barrett, and because he liked it when I spoke my mind, I said, “How about next time we come, we’ll go straight to that ticket claw machine?”

“I like the sound of that,” he said.

Best. Date. Ever.

Why did it have to be over? Or did it?