"Go on a date with me." Ryder is sitting beside me on my couch, eating the ramen noodles I made for him. I know, that's such an easy thing to make, but I actually made them on the stove, not the microwave like usual. It's a huge step for me.

I roll my eyes at him, having asked the same question five times now. "I already told you, idiot. No, I will not go on a date with you. I'm not all about the getting dolled up and going out in public. I'd much rather do what we're doing right now, sitting on the couch in our pajamas and have a movie night."

"But Corina," he pleads with puppy dog eyes. "I want to! I want to get all dressed up and show you off!"

"Show me off?" I scoff. "What am I, a trophy?"

"No," he replies seriously. "I want to show everyone how lucky I am to take such a beautiful, sweet girl out to dinner." He ends with a charming smile, and I blush. "Now, will you please go on a date with me?"

"Fine," I give in. "But with one stipulation." He nods, asking me to go on. "You have to drive."

"Well obviously," he says laughing. "I'm the one taking you on a date, not the other way around. Plus it's going to be a surprise for you, idiot."

"No, idiot," I start, laughing evilly. "You don't understand. You're driving my car." His eyes go wide, indicating panic. Over the past few weeks, we've been able to practice his driving a lot, and he's doing really well. I think he's ready to take it out onto the streets, but he's not so convinced.

"I'm not ready, Corina. I'll wreck! I'll kill someone! I'll stall in the middle of traffic!" He's so scared, but I can't help but laugh.

"You idiot! You're going to be fine. You've been ready, you just don't believe in yourself."

He slumps back with a sigh. "Fine, it's a deal. But if we wreck, it's on you."

The next night is date night. Ryder won't tell me anything, not even what I should wear. He's being so secretive and it's stressing me out. What if I dress up and he ends up taking me to McDonald's? But then again he could be taking me to a beautiful, luxurious restaurant and I don't want to underdress! But he also didn't even mention dinner, so maybe I should eat now....

"Corina. Stop it," I sternly tell myself. "I guess I do talk too much when I'm stressed." I attempt to calm myself and walk over to my closet, staring for almost 5 minutes before coming to the realization that I have nothing to wear and can't go on this date. This thought makes me panic even more than before, so I call Gina for help.

She shows up a few minutes later and immediately starts sending me questions and tearing through my closet. "Corina, you've got so many bike clothes but hardly anything dressy! Why do you need all of these?" She asks while pulling out three leather jackets.

"Well," I start, glad to show off my leather collection. "That first one there, in your right hand, is my go to jacket. It's perfectly broken in and fits just right. I bought the second one because it came with a liner jacket and I liked it. The third one was a hand-me-down from my mom." Smiling, I think back to the day my mom gave me her favorite leather jacket. She told me that she would always be there to protect me.

"Sweetheart, you need to calm down on the leather," she laughs, pulling out my chaps. "This is starting to look like a sex room with all of this leather sitting everywhere."

"Or," I reply, trying not to get embarrassed. "It could be a Harley Davidson room. Now, let's please decide on clothes. I'm panicking more and more as time goes on."

"Who knew you could actually act like a girly girl instead of the badass biker chick you always are," she says with a laugh, continuing throwing my clothes everywhere. "It's really adorable." I just roll my eyes, attempting to help her.

Soon enough, she pulls out the one thing I had hoped she wouldn't find; a coral maxi dress my mom bought for me when I first moved down here. She took me to one of the little boutiques and instantly fell in love with the dress, unlike me. I much prefer my jeans, leather boots, and a tight shirt, perfect for any unexpected ride that might come my way. She understands that, but also is the girliest person I know. She always tried to push dresses and heels onto me, but I just can't push myself to wear them.

"Gina, no," I say as she walks over to me, holding it up to see how it would look.

"Corina, yes," she replies, holding eye contact. "It's just so beautiful. Dressy, but not too much. You'd be gorgeous whether he takes you to McDonald's or the fanciest restaurant in Daytona. It's perfect."

"But what about these?" I ask, pulling out a pair of my Miss Me jeans. "I can always wear a nice shirt and some flats or something."

"Corina. You are going on a date, not a bike ride," she says rolling her eyes for the millionth time tonight.

"Hence the nice shirt and flats," I retort.

"No, and that's final." Wow, thanks Gina. She's definitely going to make a great mom at some point, but not to me. I can't handle another mom forcing me to wear dresses.

"But please!" By this time I'm begging, but failing. Before I know it, I'm in my bathroom, sliding into the God forsaken dress, some terribly tall heels Gina dug out of her closet, and putting on more makeup than I've ever worn in my life.

"Everything okay in there," Gina asks, knocking on the door.

"No! I have no clue what I'm doing!" I'm staring down at the makeup in front of me, completely overwhelmed. I know what most makeup products are and what to do with them, but I have no clue how to make it look good. "Please help." She laughs, then walks in, ready to make art on my face.

30 minutes later, and I look different than I ever have, but in a good way. My eyeshadow is very natural, with a very thin line of brown eyeliner on top of my lash line. She contoured and highlighted my cheekbones flawlessly, something I thought only the Beauty Gurus on YouTube could do. Everything else looks like me, just enhanced, and I couldn't be more grateful.

"So, you can thank me whenever you're ready," Gina says, laughing at me gawking in the mirror. "I know I'm amazing, but I like the reassurance."

"I don't know what to say, Gina!" I run and hug the generous woman. "Thank you thank you!"

"Sweetheart you're so very welcome," she says, still laughing at me. "Now get off before you smear your makeup all over me." I look up apologetically and back away. She says her goodbyes then heads off before Ryder comes over to pick me up.

At 8 o'clock on the dot, Ryder is at my door, smiling sweetly with roses. "Okay, going on a date is already so much, but flowers too?" I say, hiding my excitement. I take the roses and put them in a large cup in the kitchen. "Sorry, I don't have any vases." Looking back, I see him chuckling at my makeshift vase. He then leads me out the door to the garage, opens the passenger side door to my Subaru, and quickly heads to the driver side, nerves evident in his facial expression.

"You look beautiful," he says, gripping tight to the steering wheel. He stares at the shifter, then slowly pushes the clutch in, starting the car with ease. His expression softens, but he's still nervous.

"You look amazing, Ryder," I say, gripping his hand on the shifter, guiding him to put it into reverse. "And you're going to drive amazing. You can do it." He smiles, reassured, and soon we are out of the driveway and on our way to whatever destination he's picked out for us.

"I hope this turns out okay," he mumbles, breaking the silence. "I haven't been out on a date since before I moved to Daytona."

I look at him sweetly, seeing the vulnerability in his eyes. "I haven't been on a date in awhile either, but I'm sure it'll be fun no matter what we do!" He quickly smiles back at me, then puts his focus back onto getting us to our date.

"Ryder, where are we?" I ask, staring at our surroundings.

"It's a very small park," he replies, slowly slipping his hand into mine as we walk. "Not many people know about it. It's secluded. I used to come here all the time to just get away. It's a little cheesy to bring you to such a special place on our first date, but I thought you'd like it."

"I love cheesy, idiot." I lay my head onto his arm, taking in the beauty of the tree branches hanging overhead of us. I then notice a small picnic table set up with a checkered tablecloth, plates, and silverware. "Is that for us?"

"You know it!" Ryder is now beyond excited, pulling me to the table. "I made spaghetti, your favorite."

"Wow, how romantic," I say, rolling my eyes and laughing, but genuinely excited for the night to come. "Come on, I'm hungry!"

Sitting down, Ryder removes the lid covering our meal, and serves us each a plate, then pulls two Cokes out of a cooler beside of the table. "A toast," he says, holding up his can.

"To what?" I giggle, holding up my can to his.

"A good night and me not wrecking your car." We both laugh, clinking our cans, then start digging into the delicious spaghetti.

The night went amazingly, easily one of the best dates I'd ever been on. We ate dinner, joking around and just talking like we always do. Then, Ryder brought out a blanket and we laid down on it, looking at the stars through the trees. Neither one of us know anything about astrology, so we made up our own constellations. It was such a fun night that as I now lay in my bed hours after it ended, I long for it to happen all over again.

"Go to sleep, Hamilton," I hear from the wall.

"Goodnight, idiot," I reply before I slowly drift off into happy dreams.

—————

Hey guys it's been a few days! But I'm now officially married! It was a perfect wedding with some of my favorite people, and it was so much fun but I'm so damn glad it's over lol weddings are stressful.

I wrote this whole chapter in the comfort of our personal hot tub in the room we booked for our honeymoon so I'm feeling pretty good!

Updates should get more regular again now that the wedding is over! Thank you all for being so patient with me the past few days!

Byeeeeeeee