The seventh inning stretch had just finished up and the Rangers were still trailing the Mariners, now by a miserable 13 runs. Nick had his arm unapologetically around Sara's shoulders and he couldn't resist reaching up and playing with her hair now and then, smiling at the faint blush that colored her cheeks each time he did it. His mind was most definitely no longer on the game.
Well at least one good thing out of this game is that things seem to be going pretty damn well with Sara. I don't think that even the Rangers could pull off a comeback from this far behind. I suppose it just gives me that much more reason to give Sara my undivided attention.
Sara turned towards Nick with a slightly panicked expression on her face as she pointed at the jumbo-tron. "Uh, what are they doing now?" The strains of the song 'Love Shack' began playing over the sound system as the inning ended.
Nick looked perplexed. "I dunno, but it looks like they're doing some kind of fan participation thing." He couldn't have been more correct, and a flash of panic ran through him too as he realized that the camera was panning the crowd for couples to find the best kiss. Apparently the winning kiss won some sort of prize. Nick had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he wouldn't mind kissing Sara sooner rather than later, but on the other hand this wasn't exactly how he pictured their first kiss.
C'mon, pass us by...well, then again, if I get to kiss her now, she might let me kiss her a few more times before the game's over and then there's later...keep the mind on track, Nick. Sara isn't the kind of girl that sleeps with a guy on the first date...of course, it's not like we don't know each other…'i' before 'e' except after 'c'...uh, when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking...ok, keep the mind clean...we're in public.
Sara nervously nibbled at her lower lip as the song continued and the camera kept zooming in on different couples. She didn't really realize that she had scooted closer to Nick and that he was absentmindedly playing with her hair. And then there they were, up on the jumbo-tron for the whole ball park to see, and the crowd chanting for them to kiss. Sara was nearly mortified as she realized that the entire ball park was going to witness their first kiss.
Ok, man, you've got to kiss her...as if that's a problem...just make it a good one, you never get a second chance for a first kiss...
Nick slowly leaned in and softly captured her lips, his fingers sliding into her hair as he cupped her cheek.
I could die a happy man...her lips are so soft...oh, that's it Sara, where the hell did you learn to kiss like this?...Damn girl! You've got an audience, keep the hands PG, man, keep 'em PG...
Sara had a grin on her face as they finally broke off the kiss, and the crowd seemed pretty pleased too, given the applause. She wasn't sure exactly what to say to Nick and so she just kept smiling.
Nick was grinning like a fool himself. It had definitely been quite the memorable kiss and now all he wanted to do was kiss her again, which he did after only the briefest hesitation. When he pulled back he let out a soft laugh as he made a confession to Sara. "I've wanted to do that all night."
Surprise flickered in her eyes momentarily and then she made a confession of her own. "Me too." Sara wasn't sure she was going to be eating anytime soon given the scores of butterflies in her stomach. This date was turning out far better than she'd anticipated.
Nick leaned in and stole one more quick kiss before gathering her hand in his and lacing their fingers together. "Despite the total and complete slaughter of the Rangers by the Mariners, I'm having a great time."
Sara giggled. "I'm having a pretty good time too." In truth the fact that Nick was more excited about being with her than disappointed that his team was loosing in such a deplorable fashion made her heart flip.
I think I could almost give up being a Rangers fan if it meant that I could hang out with Sara like this all the time…I bet our kids would look cute…Oh, hello! Where did that come from? When did we go from first kiss, hey we're on a date to talking about 'our kids'?...If she knew what I was thinking she'd run across the field and never speak to me again…
Nick stole a glance at Sara, taking time to study her profile and finding as she turned towards him and smiled widely, revealing the gap in her front teeth, that he wasn't sure he'd ever felt quite this way before.
Still, I think I could see myself growing old with her…pace yourself, buddy, it's your first date and you don't even know if she's going to want to go on a second date.
Sara nudged him. "Hey, your friend the Moose is headed this way." She arched her brows at him and a smirk flitted across her face.
"Really." Nick smirked back, glancing over his shoulder as the Seattle mascot made his way down the steps towards them. "I wonder what he's over here for."
Neither one of them had noticed that their picture was up on the jumbo-tron as the winners of the kissing contest and as the Moose approached, it was apparent that he had something under his arm. Several people around them pointed up at the screen and it was only then that Nick and Sara realized just why the Mariner Moose was coming to them.
I guess I'm better than I thought…we won a kissing contest with our first kiss…I bet with a bit more practice we could win a few more things too…Nick, man, get the mind out of the gutter. Damn it's a good thing that Sara can't read my mind…well at least I don't think she can read my mind…although sometimes I wonder.
"We won." Sara couldn't stop smiling as she took the large envelope from the Moose who was doing his best to get her to stand up and give him a kiss on the cheek.
"What did we win?" Nick looked at her quizzically, not quite paying attention to the Moose who was motioning both of them to come out into the aisle for a close-up for the jumbo-tron.
"I don't know." Sara pulled Nick by the hand into the aisle to stand next to the Moose for a photo op. After getting Sara to kiss the Moose on his fuzzy cheek, he let them return to their seats.
"Open it up." Nick urged her not so subtly.
This may be just the ticket…I mean we won this together, we'll have to use this together…a guaranteed second date.
"Golf." Sara wasn't sure what to think. She'd never gone golfing before, and she wasn't entirely sure she was interested as she handed Nick the gift certificate to a local golf course.
He noticed her skeptical expression and smiled at her. "It could be fun…have you ever golfed before?"
"No." She reasoned that she just might be willing to try it; baseball had worked out pretty well and it would give her more time to spend with Nick; that is if he wanted to spend it with her.
"Well I have, and while I'm not the greatest, it is fun. I think we should try it together." Nick was prepared to ask her out again and he reasoned that this was the perfect opportunity.
I could teach her to putt, and well that would require me to stand really close with my arms around her…I think I'm going to like playing golf with Sara.
"Ok." Sara agreed. "So I guess it's a date then." She was more than agreeable to having a second date with Nick; she just hoped he wanted to go out with her again.
"It's definitely a date." Nick grinned at her and then leaned in and softly kissed her.
I am the luckiest guy in the world right now…a second date with Sara Sidle. Greg is gonna be jealous.
