"Grayson, this is beautiful!"

The first thing that catches my eye is the sparkling blue-green lake that seems to extend for miles. After walking through the forest with no clear path in place, an opening in the trees revealed the breathtaking scenery. The way the sun reflects off of the water created sparkles that glimmer so brightly that it's hard to believe that it's not man made. However, the sweetest thing about Grayson taking me here is the perfect picnic already set up.

A checkered picnic blanket lay in front of the view of the lake, and a brown woven basket sits on top. This set-up could be a scene from a movie with how perfect it is. I almost feel unworthy of the sweet gesture, but one look at Grayson and all I can feel is appreciation. He looks so vulnerable standing here, the most open he's ever been around me. I can tell that he's worried about what I think of his gesture, but I can't reassure him right now because I am literally speechless.

My eyes begin to water and my bottom lip quivers. I use my hand to cover my face in an attempt to hide my emotions from Grayson.

His eyes soften and he turns to me with a small smile. "So, I'm guessing these are happy tears?"

I can only nod, which I do, and I probably look like a bobble head with how fast my head is moving up and down. He places both of his hands on my cheeks to wipe away any stray tears, then he places his forehead against mine.

"It's perfect," I mumble, then hiccup while trying to collect myself. I say the picnic is perfect, but what I really want to say is that he is perfect. No guy has ever even attempted to get to know me at a deeper level. I've been living the life of a recluse until now, and Grayson is the reason I'm opening up and becoming a more outspoken version of myself. Along with that, he treats me so well in the short time I've known him, and every moment I spend with him only makes me crave more.

Grayson gives me a quick kiss on the lips and a peck on the nose before holding my hand once more and lowering us down to sit on the blanket. "I thought we could watch the sun set over the lake and have dinner. I know we had dessert first, but I thought you might like it. If not, we could wait until later to-"

Now it's my turn to stop his rambling. I quickly lean over and place my hands on his shoulders to steady myself as I kiss him with everything I have. I push all of my feelings of gratefulness, happiness, and awe into the kiss, and he happily returns it. He places his hands on my waist and grips so tightly that it almost hurts, but it's exactly what I need right now. I need to feel closer to him, to show him how happy I am.

Just when I feel Grayson is about to take things one step further, my stomach thinks it's a wonderful time to demonstrate the sounds of a whale's mating call. It's at this moment that I wish the earth would swallow me whole so that I don't have to face this embarrassment.

I quickly break off the kiss and widen my eyes. I cringe away from him but Grayson doesn't allow me to go far. He continues laughing as he pulls me into his chest, my face hiding in his neck. I can feel the vibrations from his laughter traveling through his chest, and it only makes me feel worse.

"You're cute," he laughs, then he releases me and begins to open the picnic basket. The first thing he pulls out is a large silver thermos, which he hands to me. I open it and the most wonderful smell wafts out of the bottle- coffee! It smells like cinnamon and sugar, and I immediately blow on the steam to cool it down before I take a large gulp.

"Is this... Cinnamon Dulce?"

Grayson sheepishly looks at me, pausing his search for food in the basket. "Actually, I don't know. I remembered you liked coffee, but since I don't drink it I asked Cooper to get some for you. I hope it's okay..."

"It's amazing! Anything with caffeine and sugar can't be bad!" I reason.

He nods, relief clear on his face, and he begins pulling out cheeses and sandwiches and fruits. I keep thinking he's done unloading the basket, but just like Mary Poppins' magical bag, more keeps magically appearing. When he's finally done, he looks at me with creased eyebrows.

"Just so you know," he begins, "I didn't make any of this. I enlisted help from other people. I can't cook or prepare food or anything... so yeah."

"It's amazing that you thought to do this all for me. I can't really cook either, to be honest." I grab a piece of cheese and pop it into my mouth. "I like to pretend that I can, but my mom loves to remind me that I almost burned the house down when I was twelve, attempting to make her a surprise breakfast. She awoke to quite a surprise when the smoke alarm woke her up instead of her phone alarm."

We began talking and laughing, sharing stories of our lives while we ate and enjoyed the view. Grayson made fun of me as I made a mess of the food, as always. I pouted until he took pity on me and gave me kisses. I still became flustered when he kissed me, but I also enjoyed it more and more every time- if that were possible.

By the time we finish eating, the sun is just beginning to set. The sky is a mixture of bright pink and orange hues, and I can't imagine a more perfect date. As I'm leaning my head on Grayson's shoulder, watching the reflection of the sun in the lake, I jolt up and face him with a smile on my face.

"I almost forgot! The present!"

At first, Grayson tenses when I move away from him so quickly. But, as soon as he sees how excited I am, he lets out a light chuckle and reaches over to the other side of the blanket and hands me the present.

I give him a toothy grin before diving in and ripping the lavender paper off of the box. I am not kind to the present as I shred the paper in an instant with my excitement to see what's underneath. A small part of me feels bad about ruining the wrapping job Grayson worked so hard on- only a small part, though.

I finally open the box, and inside I find a small snow globe. The base has the Canadian flag surrounded by ceramic greenery and a mountain scene while in the actual globe rests a red and orange maple leaf. It looks like one of those tacky trinkets one would buy in the airport or in the tourist shops- exactly what my mom buys me every time she brings back a souvenir from one of her jobs.

I don't even attempt to stop the tears from falling down my face as I look at the priceless gift.

"Ugh, I'm crying again." I release a dry laugh as I wipe the insides of my eyes in a failed attempt to stop being such a baby. I'm for sure an ugly crier, so this is just great!

"Grayson." I look into his eyes, and in this light they seem to be almost glowing. He looks at me as if I'm the most important person to him, which is a nice thought but is far from the truth.

"I- This is- I don't even k-know how to-" I try and fail to complete a sentence to convey how appreciative I am for this gesture. He obviously remembered that this was a tradition me and my mother upheld, and he was kind enough to think of me while he was away and contribute to my collection of useless globes. It means more than he'll ever know.

I basically leap into his arms, and he is so surprised by the action that I completely knock him over so that he is lying on his back on the blanket with me squeezing him with a hug. I let out a shriek of surprise when he twists out from under me and rolls so that he's on top of me.

He plays with a piece of my hair, then gently tucks it behind my ear before smiling down at me. "I love how excited you are for a cheap trinket. Just wait until I buy you diamonds and pearls and jewels."

Before I can comment on how ridiculous and exaggerative his claim is, he kisses me. My hands instantly grip the back of his neck, the snow globe lay forgotten on the blanket beside us. Grayson places his hands on my waist as he continues to kiss me. His hands don't stay in place, though. They travel down to my hips, down to my thighs, then back up again; Up my sides, across my back, then back down again. I can feel the heat from his hands, the friction a burning bliss against me. He remains respectful, though, his hands never straying to my breasts or bum. I almost want to tell him it's okay, but I'm way to inexperienced and nervous to say anything. And... what if he doesn't want to?

While his hands are moving, I use my own to grip at his silky black hair. The moment I saw him, I really wanted to know if his hair was as soft as it looked. Let me tell you- it is. There's no greasy hair gel in his hair, it is purely smooth and soft. Any time Grayson grips me tighter in a spot, my grip on his hair would tighten, which always resulted in a groan from him and a subsequent moan from me.

I eventually decide to get risky and move my hands- shyly- to his shoulders and down his back. I trace the tough, hard muscles, which brings out a breathy sound from Grayson. His tongue instantly enters my mouth, and my tongue meets his in the middle for a battle for dominance- which he of course wins.

Grayson's kisses go through a perfect pattern- bite, lick, suck, repeat. My brain melts into a pile of liquid mush as he continues his assault on my mouth- not that I'm complaining. At this point, I can'e even remember my own name. I thought that I was feeling amazing now, but that is nothing to how I feel when I notice something hard against my stomach. At first I think nothing of it, but when my nails sink into Grayson's back, the hardness jerks forward.

That's when I realize that it's his... thing.

I pause. I've never felt... THAT before. This is something entirely new to me. It's not bad, in fact it's quite good, but I don't really know what I'm supposed to do now. Does he expect me to have sex with him now?

Grayson notices my hesitation and stops kissing me to back away and see my face.

"Hey," he whispers, concern etched on his face. "We won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

My teeth sink into my already swollen lips as I look up at Grayson, who looks so attractive as he stares down at me. I nod, then give him a soft kiss and a quiet 'thank you.' We continue kissing for a little bit longer, but the hardness only seems to get harder the more we kiss. I wiggle slightly against it to get in a different position, to which Grayson groans and lifts himself off of me.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. Look at you- you're beautiful." His blue-gray eyes are glazed as they pass over me, my clothes rumpled and my hair a knotted mess from laying down.

I blush and attempt to push down the hair that is most likely spread in many directions. Then blush some more.

I feel something wet against my cheek and my hand goes to feel it. What is-

More drops fall on my face, my outfit, my arms, and then I realize that it is raining. I share one look with Grayson and I quickly begin packing up the supplies. He only grabs my hand, tells me to grab the snow globe, and has us running through the trees, back in the way we came. Grayson says that he'll send people to clean it up, which sounds a bit strange to me but I focus on staying dry so I'm not too upset.

The canopy of the trees offers us a bit of a reprieve from the sudden storm, but as soon as we reach the park, we make a run for it to his car. By the time we slam the Tesla doors shut, we both are soaked as if we just came out of the pool.

"Oh my god!"I shiver as look down at my soaked self. I look up at Grayson and it really isn't fair. How come I look like a wet rat while he looks like he's ready to pose for a photoshoot. His hair is dripping wet, yet still manages to look sexy. My eyes drift down to his black shirt which is sticking to him like a second skin.

Apparently Grayson notices the same thing about my outfit because his eyes darken to almost black. His eyes always seem to change, which is really strange. I don't think it's normal, but I'm too shy to bring it up. What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, Grayson. Your eyes change colors a lot, are you a vampire?' I actually wouldn't be surprised if he were one, he's that perfect.

Grayson reaches into the back seat and pulls out two fresh shirts and a pair of sweats and a pair of joggers. "I have dry clothes if you want to change? I promise I'll close my eyes. I just don't want you to freeze to death."

It's such a sweet gesture that I don't even question him on why he has not only one, but two full outfits in his car. I don't want to think about why they're in here. I take a black shirt and the black sweats and give him a sheepish smile. He turns his head and closes his eyes while I change. I decide to keep the wet underwear on- gross, I know but I'm not going commando- but take off my bra.

When I'm in dry clothes, I inform Grayson that he can look again. His eyes travel up and down my body, now dressed in his clothes. His eyes zero in on my nipples, which have hardened significantly from the combination of the cold and his lustful staring. He clears his throat and quickly looks away suddenly as if he came out of a trance, then began stripping off his wet t-shirt.

"Oh my-" I quickly shield my eyes from his body, not before seeing his six-pack and insane amount of defined muscles that I don't even know the names of. I sure do appreciate them, though.

Grayson lets out a gruff laugh, but continues changing until he's in dry clothes as well. He grabs my hand and pulls me close, kissing me slowly as he savors the moment. We part from one another and I smile as he tightens his grip on my hand. He pulls out of the parking space and heads back to town. I distractedly grab my phone out of my purse, which I haven't looked at since before we got ice cream.

And that is why I am completely freaking out when I see twenty missed calls from my mother and array of colorful text messages telling me to get home.

I'm in trouble.