Dirty Little Secret

It was ten minutes to six, and I was freaking out. I was home alone, trying to get ready for my date with Zack. Clothes were thrown all over my room and I was standing in front of my closet in my boxers, trying to find something decent to wear. I had been trying to decide since I got out of the shower half an hour ago. This whole dating thing was a lot easier when I had Alex to help me out, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen this time. I didn’t want him to know about it at all.

I finally decided to wear my black skinny jeans and a button up shirt, knowing that anything else was too old or had a band’s logo plastered on it somewhere. Zack probably didn’t expect me to dress up nicely anyway. I ran into the bathroom to brush my hair, brushing the black and blonde strands off to the side so it wasn’t sticking up. Just as I finished with my hair, I heard my phone beeping in my room. I ran back to my room to get it and saw that Zack had texted me.

From: Zack
I’m here.

He probably didn’t want to come up to my door and be seen by any of the people who live on my street. That was understandable. I pulled my shoes and a jacket on quickly, grabbing my wallet and keys before heading outside. My heart was beating fast as I walked over to the car. Zack leaned over inside the car to open my door for me when he saw me walking over. I got in the passenger seat and put the seatbelt on. I looked up at him as I blushed slightly, feeling a little awkward.

Zack smiled at me reassuringly, “Hey.”

“Hey,” I said shyly, returning the smile. Zack pulled out of my driveway and we were both quiet for a while as he drove. I looked over and saw that he was wearing jeans and a nice shirt, similar to me. Huh. We both thought the same. I finally spoke up after a little while, “So... where are we going?”

“Well, I figured that driving into Baltimore would be best because it’s twenty minutes away. There’s less of a chance of people from school seeing us. So that’s where we’re going,” Zack said, looking in the mirrors as he changed lanes. “Did you eat dinner?”

“No, I didn’t,” I said, shaking my head.

“Good.”

It was a little less awkward after that, and Zack turned on the radio a little so it wasn’t so silent in the car. We got to Baltimore and it was busy, as I expected. It was a Friday night, after all. Zack pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant and turned the car off, getting out and shutting his door. He got over to my side of the car more quickly than I expected, and he pulled the door open for me as I was starting to open it. He locked the car and we walked inside together quietly.

“It’s nothing fancy. I didn’t want to freak you out and bring you to some expensive restaurant that we both would have been out of place in,” Zack murmured as we got inside, and I chuckled.

A waitress smiled at us as we walked in, “Table for two?”

“Yes, please,” Zack said. We followed her through the seating area and fortunately, she led us to a small table along the back wall. She gave us our menus before walking away. Zack looked up, meeting my eyes, “Your hands look a little shaky.”

“They are,” I blushed, putting my menu down against the table so my hands could rest against it. Zack reached out to put a warm hand over one of mine gently.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m probably more nervous than you are. I’ve never taken a guy out on a date before,” Zack said, smiling at me slightly.

“I bet I’m less bitchy than any of the girls you’ve taken on dates,” I mused, and Zack laughed.

The tension was gone after that, and we were much more relaxed with each other. We ordered our food and it got to the table quickly. We ate quietly, making some small talk with each other.

“This place is nice,” I spoke up, breaking our silence.

Zack smiled, seeming relieved that I liked it, “It’s my favorite restaurant in Baltimore. I was hoping it would be good to take you to. I mean, I wasn’t sure how you even felt about the date in the first place.”

“Why did you ask me out on a date, anyway?” I asked curiously.

He sighed, “To be honest, I felt bad about our hook-up and wanted to get off to a better start with you. That little argument with Alex yesterday made me realize that I really am an asshole; hooking up with you and then not talking to you was a douchebag move. I was hoping I could make you think differently of me.”

“Well you’re definitely making a good impression tonight,” I assured him, taking another bite of my food as he smiled. “I do have one more question though. Why is it that you act so much different around me compared to everyone else?”

“I sort of started to like you when we were working together on that project. We were both getting to know each other better and I realized that you’re actually pretty cool. I guess I’m different around you because I just didn’t want to present myself as an asshole to someone I like,” he said with a shrug.

“I kind of started to like you around then too,” I admitted, blushing a little. “It was nice to find out that there’s more to you than football and being a jerk.”

“I promise there’s way more to me than that,” he said, smiling.

--------------------

After we finished dinner we headed out to the car, but Zack stopped me before I could get inside. “Hey, let’s go walk down the boardwalk for a little while. It’s literally right there,” he said, pointing down the street. There was a small park by the water with a boardwalk leading out into the harbor. It was one of the few that wasn’t for launching boats.

“But it’s cold...” I protested weakly. I wanted to walk with him, but it really was freezing out here. It was the second week of December and had already snowed lightly.

“Come on, don’t be a pussy,” Zack teased, pulling a slight pout at me. “Please?”

I sighed, smiling slightly, “Alright, fine.”

We walked over to the boardwalk quietly, the sound of cars on the street being too loud to talk over. As we walked across the small park over to the boardwalk, the sound of cars began to fade away and was replaced with the sound of the water. I shivered as a gust of wind blew past us when we stepped onto the boardwalk. It was colder here by the water.

Zack saw me shiver and he reached out to hold my hand. I blushed furiously, looking down as we walked. He chuckled and squeezed my hand tighter. After we had walked down the boardwalk and were beginning to walk back, he looked over at me. “Jack, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” I said, nodding and looking up at him.

“Would you... would you like to try being my boyfriend?” Zack asked, his voice sounding small.

My heart skipped a beat in surprise. Really? I was about to stammer out a response when I slipped on ice, nearly falling. Zack reached out quickly and grabbed me around the waist so I wouldn’t fall. He kept his hands on my hips lightly, looking at me for an answer. I blushed, “I’d like to be your boyfriend, Zack. I don’t know how it would work without anyone knowing that you like guys, though...”

“We’ll make it work, okay? It’ll be our little secret. I really like you, and I’m not missing this opportunity just because I’m scared of what people will think,” Zack said. I nodded and he smiled, leaning in to kiss me softly.