(May 18th, 2009)

I don't know how long we had been standing here, all I knew was I didn't think I would ever get enough of kissing him.

It was Murphy that broke us apart, apparently he'd had enough of waiting and was barking his displeasure.

Gabriel leaned down for one more quick peck and whispered,"happy first date Hailey!"

Then like he knew he was the most schmoopy he laughed at himself and carefully kicked off his shoes and peeled off his socks.

How did he make the simplest of things sexy? I wondered, as I did the same. He stepped on his board carefully, so he didn't knock Murphy off.

I stood there for a second taking in the man and his dog, it was an incredibly attractive sight.

I got on my own board, repeating what Gabriel had just said in my head," we owe it to ourselves to explore it."

Was the potential for heartbreak higher than ever. Absolutely! But, I would never forgive myself if I didn't give this a chance right now. It had always been Gabriel, if he felt even a smidgen of the magic that I felt, I needed to give him a chance.

We got moving and he gave me a smile saying, "I really want you to see the boathouse from the front", and then led me around so that I could have a look from the water.

"Jesus Christ!" I said, "if this is the boathouse what do you have planned for the main event?"

He laughed, "Li and I have wanted to design our own places for a while."

He gave a little shrug and said, "I'd love to show you the plans if you want?"

I wasn't lying, when I responded, "I'd love that!" I found what they were building fascinating but more so how they had made this into a profitable business.

Then I pointed down the lake and said I'll race you to my Dad's place and took off. I was impressed with how fast he could go with a dog sitting at the front and every time I looked over, the two of them had the biggest smiles on their faces.

Funny, I had ever noticed that a dog could smile before, but Murphy was absolutely beaming.

I was too and when I beat him to my Dad's place, he asked, "do you want to see Lee and Addy's property?"

I nodded and he took us across the lake and down a bit. Pointing out his place as we passed it again.

When we reached their spot we sat down straddling our boards with our feet in the water and he pointed out what Li and Addy were dreaming up.

Being home, here, on the lake, like this, had me completely in my feels. Rather than hiding my feelings I figured he had shared with me, maybe it was my turn to share.

I used my hands to pull myself closer to his board and when I was next to him his hand shot out and grabbed mine, holding on.

He shot me a look of curiosity and so I shared , "I don't think I knew how homesick I was until this moment."

He stroked my hand, and gave a sad little smile, "I knew as soon as you left, nothing felt right anymore."

I didn't know if I would get used to him sharing this way, I sighed and said, "Sorry, I felt like I needed to put some distance between us because I didn't think you felt the same way and I didn't know how to handle it."

He gave a short humourless laugh, "you have nothing to apologize for neither of us communicated how we felt. I did a shitty job of showing you how much I cared."

He kept stroking my hand, "but if we're going to try this, I think that's what we change this time around? Think you can handle that?"

It was crazy to think about because I had always tried to hide my feelings. I couldn't help but feel that letting them loose would be freeing.

Gabriel kept going, "I'm not always the most upfront but my goal is to share how I'm feeling with you as often as I can because I want you in my life Hailey. In any way I can, but preferably as my partner."

I couldn't help responding, "for someone who doesnt often share how he's feeling you're pretty fucking great at it... partner eh?"

He gave me his most winsome smile, "well I mean are you shocked? I'm great at most things Hailey. Yah partner... girlfriend... whatever you want to call it. I want to be with you. You're home for the summer. Will you be with me for the summer and then we can figure it out from there?"

I gave him a nudge for his arrogance but then smiled and said, "I'd really like that."

His smile was brighter than the sun as he stood up and said, "perfect! Race you back to the boathouse!"

It took me a second because I was still in a daze from our conversation but I yelled out, "you filthy fucking cheater" as I raced to catch him.

His giggle carried across the lake and I couldn't erase my own smile. We were a couple of hours into our date and it was hands down the best date I'd ever had. It made me curious about what else I had in store for me today.

A/N- ummm can't stop won't stop???? 😂

Sorry how are you feeling about this days? I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am because it's most definitely NOT over yet. 🤪💕