Carden

"You got the flowers?"

"Yes, mom."

"Reservation is all set?"

"Yep! First thing I did."

"Deodorant?"

"MOTHER!"

Mom laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Are you sure you've got everything?"

"I'm sure." Carden glanced at his reflection in the mirror just to check. No product hair (Zoë loved it), a nice polo that fit his broad shoulder perfectly, dress pants, and sandals which were better known as "Jesus Sandals" for the beach after dinner. "How do I look?"

Mom's voice caught as her eyes scanned her son. "Like Jared. But with your own style."

He smiled sadly. "Thanks Mom."

"Anytime." She wrapped her arms around Carden and let out a deep sigh. "It's hard to believe my baby is all grown up. I feel like it was just yesterday Jared showed you how to throw a football and now you're all grown up." She backed up to smile at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"I love you most."

Carden glanced at his watch. "I've got to get going. I don't want to be late."

"You don't." Mom shoved him towards the front door with one of those motherly smirks that said My son has a girlfriend hehe! "Have fun but not to much fun!"

*****

He adjusted the collar of his polo before knocking on the door to the Flynn's nervously. He heard footsteps come down the stairs and when the door opened, Amber stood with a blank expression. "Come on in."

"Uh hey, Ambi," Carden said as he stepped inside awkwardly.

She slammed the door behind him and leaned against it with crossed arms. "Okay, before you and Zo leave, listen to me. If you hurt her at all, I will hurt you, got it? She's my best friend and I don't think she can take anymore heartbreak with all that's going on in her life. Tonight is her night off. Treat her like a queen. Do you understand, Mr. Ash?"

"Got it." His hands tightened on the flowers in his hands. "Fear the wrath of Amber Neilson."

"Exactly." A smile appeared on her face as the sound of heels on wood floor sounded loudly above them.

Carden turned his gaze toward the steps and he felt his jaw drop just a bit and his face heat up.

Zoë walked down the stairs in a light blue turtleneck with sleeves that barely passed her elbows, a white skirt that reached her knees, and white two inch heels. A pair of white Vans swung from her hands.

"I'm bringing these," she snapped at Amber, waving the shoes in her face.

"No, you aren't! We agreed on the heels!" Amber tried to snatch the shoes from Zoë but she held the shoes away from her.

"'We?!' More like you." She turned towards Carden with a major eye roll. "Tell her that I can wear whatever shoes I want. She's becoming a step in mother and it's very annoying."

"Don't do it. Remember what I said."

Carden looked between the two girls but held out the flowers instead of answering. He didn't want Amber to murder him before they even left. "These are for you."

Her eyes lit up as she switched the shoes for the flowers. "Aww, thank you! This is so sweet!"

He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Anytime."

From the corner of his eye, he could see Amber glaring at him so hard that it made him shiver. Once she saw his shoulders shake, it was like she was satisfied. "Alright. I'm going to be upstairs watching Enola Holmes-"

"Ambi, don't! Louis Partridge makes your expectations in men extremely high. If you do, you might not like Cam anymore."

Heat gently trickled up Amber's face as she glared at Zoë. "You just had to embarrass me in front of him?!"

Carden held his hands up. "Hey, I already knew. Cam is kinda obsessed with you."

"He is?"

A smile crept onto her lips but she quickly shook it away, like she remembered she was mad at Zoë. "And Louis Partridge is perfect! British, hot, kind. Have you seen his jawline Z?"

"Okay, this is getting weird fast." She shoved Carden out of the door quickly before Amber could start fangirling over a British actor.

Through the door, they could hear Amber yell, "BE HOME BY TEN AND NOT A MINUTE LATER OR ELSE I'LL SHAVE CARDEN'S HEAD!"

"So, where are we going?" Zoë asked, ignoring Amber.

"Umm, I'll tell you in a second." He opened the passengers door with a positive smile, trying hard to hid his fear about Amber's last threat. He didn't want to lose his wonderful hair. "Hop in. We have a reservation at seven fifteen."

"To where?"

"It's surprise, Zoë."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "I hate surprises."

He rolled his eyes playfully before climbing into the truck and reversing out of the driveway. The entire time, he could see Zoë staring at him from the corner of his eye, a small smile on her lips.

Finally, they arrived at the restaurant and Carden's heart started to pound in his chest. Nothing could go wrong, right?

*****

Zoë laughed in the moonlight after dinner as they walked all the beach. The light made everything about her more beautiful. Everything from her Vans, her heels were tucked under her arm, to her turtleneck.

"Hey Car?"

He blinked and forced himself back into reality. "Hmm?"

He could've sworn he saw her cheeks flame a darker shade. "You're staring."

Carden winked at her with a flirty smile. "Of course I am. I mean, you are the prettiest girl walking along the beach."

"I'm the only girl walking along the beach," she pointed out with a quiet giggle. Her hand always twirled a piece of her hair when she giggled.

"True. You know, I barely know anything about you," Carden said suddenly. "I didn't even know you lived in Florida for the first part of your life until you mentioned it with Cora." He noticed her eyes darken. "Tell me more about yourself."

She twined her fingers with his as they walked. "Umm...I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. It was just my parents and me. My mom was an elementary teacher, she was my third grade teacher, and my dad worked at Al's Sporting Goods. We moved here in the middle of fifth grade because my mom was offered a teaching job here.

I met Amber my first day at school but to be fair, she met me. She went down the slide and slammed right into me while I walked past. In middle school, I broke my wrist doing a service project. We were supposed to do recycling but Amber dared me to get in the bin and when I did, she ran, slipped on some ice, and I went flying when the bin collided with a basketball stand. Broke my wrist on the cement when I landed. I got glasses my Freshman year-"

"Wait, you have glasses?"

"Contacts." She tapped near her eye with a small laugh. Her eyes suddenly dimmed slightly again so Carden reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. "My dad, he um, he left me and my mom halfway through my sophomore year. He started drinking and got addicted and stuff and then he started taking money from us and you know the rest." She swallowed hard and she quickly wiped at her eyes with her free hand.

Carden gently held her head in his hand. "It's okay. I didn't mean to make you cry."

She laughed, her voice quietly cracking. "It's not you. I'm just...worried about my parents."

"Well, your doing everything you can to help them, right? I've never seen a girl take action like you. I've seen how hard your mom wants to stay here for you."

"And my dad too."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh." She tugged on one of her sleeves. "Um, Vanessa put my dad in a facility so he can beat his addiction. It happened a couple days ago."

He smiled slightly. "Well, then your dad is trying to get better for you too."

"Well, not just for me. He's got his girlfriend too."

Carden squeezed her hand again. "He still wants to be sober for you."

"Yeah...I guess." She cleared her throat to get rid of the awkwardness. "Umm...what about you? All I know is that your brother passed away and you're pro at football."

He cracked a smile. "At least someone realizes I'm at pro! I've lived in Cali for my entire life and my brother was about a year older than me. You'd like him, Zo. He was sarcastic, hilarious, dedicated," he winked at her, "everything. At least he got to see me play my first game. He died last September, which you know."

"Yeah, I do." Her voice was so quiet, the soft breeze around them nearly whisked the words away.

"But I've been the starter since Junior year. I'm not sure if Coach started me out of pity for my brother's death or cause I'm that amazing." He laughed. "And then I met you and since then, my life's been so much better. Well, after we put our differences aside. Jared would be glad I met you."

Zoë smiled. "I'm sure he is."

Carden's eyes watched the ocean waves as he came in and washed over their feet before whisking away. "If I had been faster. If I had gotten there or at least waited at the end of the street when I knew something was wrong. I could've done something...I could've saved him."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Don't feel guilty. Please. You couldn't have done anything. The situation was out of your hands."

Carden sighed, resting his chin on top of her head. "I know, Zo. I know."

They stayed there for a moment, the breeze softly billowing through the trees. It would be the perfect moment to say the L word but...would she say it back? She'd raise her eyebrow at him in that cute confused way and back away from him. Then he'd have ruined their relationship right then and there.

"Car?"

"Yeah?" His heart pounded as if she were going to say something important.

Zoë sighed quietly. "Thank you for this." She leaned back and kept her fingers twined behind his neck. "I mean it. I needed to get my mind off of the stuff that's been happening right now."

He gently traced a finger along her cheek where a tear gently trailed. His voice was quiet as he looked into her eyes. "Anytime, Zoë. Anytime."

They stared into each other's eyes for so long, the world seemed to fade around them. The only thing that mattered was them. Zoë leaned forward, eyes flicking to his lips then back to his eyes. They both leaned forward and...

"Hey Zoë!"

Carden groaned loudly and leaned away from her to see Dean Hamilton walking towards them with his hands in his pockets and a look of satisfaction on his face.

Zoë sighed under her breath. "Hey Dean. What's up?"

"Nothing much." He ran a hand through his hair and flashed a cocky smirk. "Just taking a walk. What about you?"

She smiled tightly at him. "Just going on a date with my boyfriend."

Does this guy even get it?

Dean looked at Carden like he'd just noticed him standing there. "Oh, sorry. Well care on." He winked at Zoë and walked off, humming a victory song loudly.

"What is it with that guy?!" Carden muttered once Dean was out of earshot. "He always turns up to ruin a moment."

Zoë sighed again, resting her head against his shoulder. "I know, I know."

He wrapped his arms around her again, glancing at his Apple Watch.

Crap.

Nine fifty shone brightly in the dark and instantly ruined Carden's good mood. He'd promised Amber that he'd have Zoë home by ten and he was one hundred percent sure she'd report to Amelia.

"I should get you home," Carden said with a deep sigh. "Amber'll kill me if you aren't home in time."

Zoë's beautiful face contorted into a scowl. "Do we have too? I can escape Amber's wrath with a couple good threats."

He laughed. "Yeah. Besides, I want your mom to think I'm good enough for you. Plus Amber might ruin my gorgeous hair and that scares me." He shuddered.

"Oh please, she knows you're great. Knows you wouldn't hurt a fly." She paused as they started walking back towards the boardwalk. "Unless that fly is on a defender."

He snorted. "Thanks."

They climbed into his truck, Zoë twining her fingers with his after he put the truck in drive and they set off through town.

*****

"Oh my gosh," Zoë muttered as they pulled into her driveway. Amber was standing on the porch with her arms crossed, glancing at her phone with a scowl.

"It's 10:01," she snapped with a frown. "You're a minute late. I said ten."

"He can't control the traffic, Ambi!" Zoë shot back as she stepped out of the car.

Amber stalked forward and wrapped her fingers around Zoë's arm. "Well, he should've left earlier! Now, let's go inside. I need to get the razor."

Carden's eyes widened.

"But-"

"Zoë Amelia Alina, come on!"

Carden leaned against the hood of his truck once he released Amber was bluffing, a teasing smile on his lips. "Now I know your middle name."

She gave him a look. "Don't you dare."

He winked. "Don't worry. I won't use it against you...too much."

Zoë faked a frown. "I'll ask Cam so I can find out the dirt on you."

"You wouldn't dare," Carden teased.

"Would I?"

"Can you stop with the flirting?" Amber sighed as she attempted to drag Zoë away. "I hate being a third wheel."

Zoë snorted. "Fine." She turned her soft gaze to Carden and offered him a grin. "Thank you for tonight. I'm serious."

"Anytime, Miss Dedicated." He watched as her eyes lit up brightly. "Good night."

"Night Captain Flirt. See you Monday." She finally let Amber drag her away and into the house.

"See you Monday," he whispered into the lonely darkness. He raised his eyes up toward the sky and smiled as the stars glittered endlessly. Tonight had been a glimpse into the peace Carden could feel. And it felt great.