We are so glad that you guys are loving this story! This is part one and part two is coming soon so look out for it!
Sam had breakfast with his siblings the next morning and told him his plans for the day. They both seemed pretty confident that he could erase any damage the night before might have done if he played his cards right. And he was determined to do just that. He liked Mercedes so much and he wasn't going to let his past come back and screw up his present or his future.
He headed over to Mercedes' place at 11 just like he'd promised and headed on up once again, knocking at her door.
Mercedes was up with the sun, she had made it to the store and back before 9. Grabbing a quick breakfast and changed into a pair of hip hugging jeans, a pair of white K-swiss and an off the shoulder shirt that said"Save a Horse and Ride a Cowboy."
Letting her hair fall over her shoulders, she applied her make up and just finished when there was a knock on the door. Taking a breath she smiled brightly as she opened the door. "Sam, hi!"
Sam looked up as the door opened and smiled at the sight of her. His eyes traveled down appreciatively at her jeans and then up to her shirt. He tilted his head and smirked at her. "Hey there," he snickered.
Glancing at him she beamed until he laughed. She looked down at herself and back at him. "What? You said casual and this is casual
"It is," Sam agreed. "And you look amazing, for the record. I was just wondering if there was a... particular cowboy you were planning on riding today?"
She smirked. "Oh I saw it and thought, why not. Besides play your cards right and it might happen... though not sue how...piggyback maybe, but we will def. have fun."
Sam was still grinning and he brought his hand up to cover his mouth. "You are so cute," he decided. "Just so we're on the same page... you do know that song's about sex, right?"
Mercedes smiled but gave him a confused look. "What song?"
"Oh dear..." Sam snickered again and held his hand out for her. "C'mon. I'll educate you in the truck. I know we talked about sightseeing, but I thought we'd do something a little more fun today. You can see sights any day."
Mercedes grabbed her things and shut the door behind her. "Okay yes educate me cause I am confused." Walking with him to his truck she smiled. "I am all yours today, I trust you."
Sam led her to the truck and helped her in once again, pulling out his phone as he hopped in on the other side. He plugged the aux cord in and found the song on his phone. "Before I play this for you, you have to promise to keep the shirt on."
Mercedes looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Why am I worried now that this shirt is extremely inappropriate?" She sighed with a smile. "Fine I will promise to keep it on."
"I wouldn't say extremely," Sam laughed. He hit play on the song and put the truck into gear to head to their destination. He bopped along and sang, "Cause I saddle up my horse, And I ride into the city, I make a lot of noise, Cause the girls, They are so pretty."
Mercedes listened to the song and her eyes widened as the meaning became clear, and Sam's words became clearer. "Oh my Gosh! I had no idea..." She looked down to her shirt. "But like... so this is sexual? And you want me to wear it?"
"It's a cute shirt. And it's a good song!" Sam insisted, gesturing at the speakers in his truck. "I promise, no one around here's gonna bat an eyelash at it. And if they do, I'll just remind 'em you're on a date with me."
Mercedes smiled. "I know its cute that's why I bought it. But I mean the song is good." She laughed. "Oh so they can think I am riding you instead huh?" she teased shaking her head. "So are you gonna tell me where we are going?"
Sam just shrugged innocently. "They're gonna think what they wanna think, but at least they won't bother you, I hope. Though where we're going isn't exactly a single's pick up hang out."
She looked at him. "And where exactly is this place we are going? Cause like I wanna know now."
"You will see when we get there," Sam insisted with a teasing smirk. "It's not too far, I promise." He drove the rest of the way and pulled into the parking lot of family fun center. "We got mini golf, we go go-karts, we got batting cages, we got video games. So much fun all in one place," he laughed.
Her eyes grew wide as he pulled into the fun center. It had been so long since she did anything fun, she started to wonder if she knew what fun was, but it was clear, being with Sam, that was going to be nothing but fun. "I can't believe you brought me here! Wait! Is that Laser Tag? I haven't played that since I was 16!"
"Well, then I suggest you get ready. Cause I'm not about to let you win, Miss Jones," Sam teased before hopped down from the truck and coming around to open her door. "From what you told me, your work keeps you pretty busy. And I know a thing or two about that myself. So I thought we could spend our day off going a little old school and letting loose."
Mercedes smiled happily as Sam helped her out of the car. "Yes! I am so here for all of this. I can't wait!" She linked her hands in his. "Oh please don't go easy on me because I am not gonna go easy on you. So what do you wanna do first? Just to let you know I have never swung a bat in my life so there is that..."
Sam smiled brightly seeing her so happy. It was exactly his goal for the day. "Honestly, I could take or leave the cages myself. But we are definitely doing some mini golf cause that is my jam."
Mercedes nodded as they walked inside of the Fun Family center. "Okay so how about this, we do one thing you want, then one thing I want and spend today like that. So we can do mini golf first, then I can kick your butt in laser tag!"
"Deal," Sam agreed, holding a hand up to give her a high five. He then took said hand in his own and walked her over to the counter so they could pick out balls and clubs. "Purple, right?"
She smiled high fiving him and nodded. "Purple all day everyday." she beamed taking the club. "How about we make this interesting, I am in a better mood."
Sam raised a curious eyebrow and leaned on the club he was holding. "And what are the terms?"
Mercedes thought for a moment, wondering what they should bet. "Okay, winner gets to pick what we do for our next date."
He tilted his head like he was considering it deeply. "Seems fair enough. But I have to warn you..." He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "I play dirty."
Mercedes smiled into the kiss. "Oh do you now cowboy? This I gotta see." She said with a smirk. "Let's do this."
Sam nodded and led the way to the first hole. "Now how much putt putt experience do you have? Cause you know, I could help you with your... form if you like?"
Mercedes had played putt putt when she was younger but it had been over 12 years so she wasn't that clear on her form, but then again even if she was, no way would she turn Sam down on his offer. "Oh well I could always use some help."
"Alright, alright, alright," Sam replied in full McConaughey, taking her ball from her and setting it down on the green. "Stand here." He gestured in front of himself and waited for her to join him before he wrapped his arms around her from behind and laid his hands over hers on the club.
Mercedes shook her head. "You know every time I hear someone do that impression all I can think of is "Giggidy Giggidy" don't judge me though,." she said with a laugh. Getting in position she smiled feeling the warmth from his body. Like this?" She said looking back at him.
Sam's head fell to Mercedes' shoulder in front of him as he laughed. "I'll have to remember that." He lifted his head and smiled at her, his eyes drifting down to her lips that were so close. "Yeah. That's good. Now put your feet about shoulder length apart and your right hand beneath your left. And just swing nice and smooth..." He moved his arms with hers. "Not too hard," he whispered against her ear.
It would be so easy, to kiss him, to drop the club and wrap her arms around him. Shaking off her thoughts she smiled focusing on what he said. His voice sent shivers down her spine as he spoke. She swung the club nice and gentle and looked back at him not even seeing where her ball went. "Just like that huh?"
The corner of Sam's mouth quirked up and he nodded. "Yeah... just like that," he repeated, leaning in a little closer. They really shouldn't be doing this here. "We should probably keep playing," he chuckled.
She nodded. "We probably should." She said leaning in and kissing him softly.
Sam accepted her kiss, leaning into it. He pulled back then though and cleared his throat. "Don't wanna traumatize any of these kids," he teased, moving to line up his own ball.
She smiled pulling away. "It's not like I am gonna mount you on the fifth hole Sam, I am a lady after all. But I will keep my hands to myself." She said watching him line up to putt.
Sam stopped and stared at her. "Did you put that image in my head just to throw me off my game?" he teased. "Because... it worked a little."
She shrugged. She truly hadn't but he didn't need to know that. "Maybe." As they made their way to another hole she placed her hair behind her ears. "Okay so tell me, what did you want to be growing up?"
Sam let her hit her own ball this time, admittedly letting himself enjoy the view just a little. "A baseball player. Pretty much like every other little boy in the country," he chuckled. "I kicked ass in little league too, let me tell you."
Mercedes laughed as her ball went into the hole. "A baseball player huh? And why didn't that dream pan out? You must have been a cute little leaguer."
"Yeah, I was pretty cute," Sam admitted with a laugh. "I kinda busted my shoulder up in high school though." He played his ball through and wrote with his tiny pencil before they walked to the next hole. "Not that I was even good enough anyway, but I guess we'll never know now."
"Don't say that, I am sure you would have been." She lined up and looked at him. "So is this where you take all you hot dates?" she asked hitting the ball through a windmill.
He just shrugged. "Maybe. But Stevie would never survive on that farm without me," he insisted with a smile. He let out a little chuckle as he leaned on his club. "Haven't really had any in quite awhile, so... I can say this is a first."
"Yeah well I think Stevie is the Yang to your Ying." She chewed her bottom lip remembering what happened last night. "Yeah..." She knew they needed to talk about what happened but she didn't want to ruin today with that. As they moved to another hole she quickly turned shaking her head. "No! Nope! Not gonna do it! I don't do clowns not happening!"
Sam nodded along. "He's an annoying little brother, but he's an excellent business partner. Kid's a genius on the marketing side of things," he admitted. He let the other subject slide for now, especially since Mercedes was running back at him and he couldn't stop himself from laughing brightly. "Oh, c'mon. You already beat the scary windmill! What are you gonna do when we get to the alligator?"
"Alligators, I can do, windmills, not that scary. But there are three things in life I know to be true when it comes to scary things. 1. When someone is running away from something, you follow them. Run first ask later. 2. If your phone rings after you watch a horror movie. You sure as hell better not pick up cause you bout to die. 3. Don't mess with them clowns. Period."
Sam was practically bent over he was laughing so hard. "I'm guessing you weren't first in line to see IT then?" he teased. "Does this mean I win the bet by default? I'm pretty sure it does."
"IT? Are you serious I want no parts of that movie! I am not here for the clowns. You win I quit, good game." Mercedes was strong in a lot of things, but when she feared something, she could not be swayed.
Sam had to lean against a nearby post to catch his breath, his hand coming up to hold his stomach. "Oh, this is the best date I've ever been on," he decided. "We could just... walk to the next hole?"
She shook her head staring at him. "I am so glad that my fear amuses you Evans!" She shuttered. "How many more clowns are there?"
Sam tried to stop himself from laughing, but she was so damn cute. He held his lips together tightly and finally managed to calm himself down. "Hey, we all got 'em. And there are zero more clowns. Scouts honor," he told her, holding three fingers up.
She folded her arms across her chest. "Okay I trust you but since you laughed at me, in order for us to continue on this date you have to tell me what you are afraid of."
Sam quickly shook his head. "I did not agree to that. Uh-uh," he chuckled. "And thankfully, it's nowhere on this golf course so I don't have anything to worry about."
"So you just not gonna tell me about your biggest fears? Now I wanna know more."
"It's really not that interesting," Sam insisted. "It is in fact, boring and lame. So you probably don't really wanna know anyway."
"And yet I want to know, and I am not leaving this spot until I find out. So what is it?" She stood her ground waiting for him to tell her.
Sam sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Needles. It's needles, okay? I have passed out in more than one doctor's office in my lifetime. Happy now?"
She smiled giggling. "Needles? Aww Sam I am sorry I know telling that secret was hard." She moved closer to him. "Seriously, thank you." she kissed his cheek. "I promise to protect you from needles if you protect me from clowns."
Sam gave her a little smile. He may have given her a hard time about it, but in truth he actually felt really comfortable with her. She'd already ended up smack dab in the middle of his biggest baggage and she was still here, so there was no reason to be embarrassed about a dumb fear. "You got yourself a deal, darling."
Mercedes smiled. "Ugh that is gonna be trouble, your accent, calling me darling bet that's how you get all the ladies." She sighed "Now shield me from that horrid clown so we can finish."
Sam looked down at her and tucked his fingers under her chin, lifting it up a little. "Only one lady I'm interested in getting," he told her sincerely. "Don't you doubt that." His smile widened at her comment and he gave her a nod before spreading his arms out and walking sideways between her and the clown.
"Good cause I don't like wasting my time on people who don't want to get to know me." She said with a small smirk. As he lead her away she exhaled seeing them face to face with and Alligator. "Okay yeah that's a big one."
"Lucky for both of us, it's all I've wanted to do since we met," he told her. He laughed again at her reaction, shaking his head. "Don't you worry. The only thing he wants to eat is your golf ball."
Mercedes laughed. "Okay I am good now, just no more clowns, my brother learned that lesson the hard way."
"You can't just say a thing like that and not expect to tell me the story," Sam laughed before knocking his ball into the gator's mouth proudly.
Mercedes sighed heavily. "My brother Benny convinced me to watch IT and I lost it became scared of everything that had to do with clowns. So when Link thought it was funny one day to walk into my room wearing a horrible bloody clown mask, I punching him in the face, kicking him in the groin and ran 3 blocks before they caught up with me."
Sam's hand came up to cover his mouth with his hand, but he couldn't actually stop himself from laughing all over again. "That's... I'll remember that for the sake of my body," he chuckled. "Not I'm not guilty of scaring my sister from time to time over the years."
Mercedes laughed. "I don't like being scared. I am the kind to fight first ask questions later." she said honestly.
"Again. I'll remember that," Sam laughed. He felt his phone buzzes in his back pocket and as much as he wanted to ignore it, he knew he had to check in case of an emergency back at the farm.
Jess: It was really good to see you last night, Sammy
His smile faltered and he let out a sigh, sticking the phone back into his pocket.
Mercedes laughed as she hit her ball into the Gator mouth and squealed as it was a hole in one. Looking at Sam, she noticed he was looking at his phone.
"Sam you missed it!" She looked at him and frowned. "Are you okay?"
