The next day Stephanie strolled in, whistling quietly to herself. Dante immediately brightened when he saw her, straightening his back to peer over the isles.

She came back with her usual, "Hey Dante."

"Hey Stephanie." he said timidly

She smiled and began unzipping her purse, "So… was Randal serious about that date?"

Dante looked up at her hopefully, "I think so…"

Stephanie's smile widened, "Well, I would really like that…" she handed him her money and pulled out a paper and pen, "I'll give you my number."

His face was rather blank with shock as he put her purchase in a bag.

She scribbled down the numbers and handed it to him, "Here. That's the number you can always reach me at."

He looked at it like a fragile treasure, "Thanks…"

"My pleasure…" she said suggestively

Dante felt his loin tighten.

She wrapped her arms around her neck and pressed herself to him.

"I love you." Dante blurted

Heat rushed his face.

'Shit,' he thought, 'she's gonna think I'm crazy now.'

"I love you too." She said seductively

Before he could react she pressed her lips to his and brought his hand up to her breast. Her other hand reached down, unzipping his pants. She reached into his underwear and wrapped her hand around-

Dante bolted upright in his bed, panting.

"What the hell-?"

Dante sat with his head down on the counter, drifting somewhere between sleep and a daze. Earlier, he had woken from his dream an hour before he was supposed to get up, but he found that whenever he would be right on the brink of sleep again, he would see the image of her looking at him through her lashes with her lips slightly parted, her cheeks flushed and he would jerk awake again.

He was just beginning to drool when he heard the door chime.

"Hey Dante!" she said in her usual cheery call

"Hey Stephanie." He said tiredly

She came to the counter with her milk and energy bar, "You okay?" she asked worriedly

"Yeah." He said as she handed him the money, "Just tired. Woke up too early on accident."

"Oh." She said sympathetically, "I'm sorry. How come?"

He cleared his throat, "A dream…"

She tilted her head questioningly.

"Never mind." He handed her the bag and receipt, "Have a good day."

She smiled, "You too."

She was just about to walk out when she stopped and turned to him.

"I'm really glad that you said yes to a date Dante, and I can't wait."

Then she was gone.

That night, Dante sat on his bed, staring nervously at his phone.

"Just do it." He said quietly, "She said she wants you to."

He picked it up off the cradle and dialed her number. After a few seconds of him sitting and sweating while his heart hammered, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Stephanie?"

"That's me."

"It's Dante." His voice cracked a little

"Oh hey Dante! I'm so glad you called, I was getting a little nervous." She giggled, "What's up?"

"Well," he took a breath, "I wanted to ask what you wanted to do for our date."

"Ah, I see…" she paused, "I don't really know, I rarely go on dates so… I honestly have no idea!" she laughed

Dante's eyes opened wide, "You're shitting me."

Stephanie giggled again, "Why so surprised?"

He blushed, "Well… I don't know, I just find that really hard to believe."

"Whadd'ya mean?"

A small smile crept on his face, "Well, I mean… I think you're really pretty and sweet… and smart and funny."

She chuckled.

"That's usually enough for guys to be all over a girl."

"That's really sweet of you to say Dante. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I go out with all those guys."

He sat up straighter, "Oh no! I didn't mean to offend you! I was just saying-"

"It's okay," she said soothingly, "I got what you meant, I was just explaining how come I'm pretty ignorant on this subject."

"Ah." He said smartly

"What about you?" she asked softly, "Did you have any ideas?"

He flushed, "Umm… not exactly… I haven't really been on that many dates either…"

This time she was surprised, "Wow, really? I can't believe that!"

He rolled his eyes, "What makes you say that?"

"Well…" he heard her clear her throat, "It's just… I don't know. I mean," her voice got softer, "I guess I'm so attracted to you that I find it hard to believe that a guy like you wouldn't go out with a bunch of women."

"Really?" he felt his heart pick up speed

"Well… yeah." She chuckled nervously, which made his heart beat faster, "I… I really like you Dante…"

He smiled, "…I really like you too Stephanie."

They were both silent for a moment.

"So what're we gonna do about the date?"

He scratched his head thoughtfully, "I honestly don't know…"

She laughed, Dante felt himself go a little weak.

"Well," she said, "What do you like to do normally?"

He thought for a second, "Laze around. What about you?"

"On my days off? The same."

He laughed.

"I have an idea!"

"What?"

"How about we do a movie or something." She said, "I'll come to your house and we can watch a movie and veg out."

He looked around his room, "I don't know. My house is really messy, you probably don't wanna come over here."

She chuckled, "You're talking to the wrong girl Dante. My house probably looks worse than yours."

He raised an eyebrow, "I very highly doubt that."

"Perfect, then I'll come over to evaluate and judge whose is messier."

Dante bit his lip, "Isn't going to a guy's house something you do after the first few dates?"

"How would you know?" he could practically hear her smiling through the phone, "I thought you said you haven't been on very many dates."

"Yeah, well-" he sputtered, "I'm just sayin-"

"That you don't want me coming over?" she said softly

"No! No! Its just…" he sighed, "I don't know, I just don't want to ruin things by losing control…"

He immediately flushed when he realized what he had just said. There was silence on her end. He put his head in his hand.

"Dante?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about it." She said comfortingly, "Whatever happens happens." She giggled, "Besides, I think it's going to take something drastic for me to get mad at you."

He smiled.

"So…" she paused, "Is it a date?"

He held the phone in both hands, silently thanking her for being so cool, "Yeah," he said softly, " sounds good."

"Great!" she said happily, "When do you wanna do it?"

"Umm…" he looked at his calendar, "I would say tomorrow? Nine o' clock? So it can be the typical Friday night."

"M'kay! Sounds perfect!" then she said suggestively, "I'm sure we'll have a great time."

Dante felt his loin tighten, "Yeah." He smiled, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep! Bye Dante."

"Bye Stephanie."

"Sweet dreams when you get there!"

He grinned, "You too."

Then there was a click. Dante sighed and lay back onto his bed, a broad grin across his face.