MIKE'S POV

I got out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my waist as I looked around my closet for some clothes to wear. My closet was purely dominated by skinny jeans - black or gray - some stretched tanks and a couple of t-shirts and hoodies so there wasn’t much of a choice but I wanted to look good. Today was the first time Sarah and I would be going out just us two on a ‘date’ you could say. I took my favorite black jeans and a black tank I’d gotten when we toured in Amsterdam the last time which had really fun colors and my usual snapback and headed towards the mirror.

“What are you doing?” Vic asked me raising an eyebrow as he passed by my door, seeing me fix my hair.

“Fixing my hair,”

“Holy shit you’ve gone insane,” Vic yelled in half a laugh as he walked into my room. “You really like this chick don’t you?” he was now standing next to me in front of the mirror.

“You don’t even know what I’m doing,”

“Mike, I’ve known you for thirty years, and I don’t remember ever seeing you fix your hair much less put on cologne” he added taking a sniff.

“Okay, yes we’re going out for dinner and I’m going to take her to El Matador Beach,” El Matador Beach was one of the nicest beaches in Los Angeles and it was great to watch the sunset.

“Damn, that’s gonna be one hell of a first date, Mikey” Vic said patting me on the shoulder “use protection,” he reminded me as he left the room with a chuckle. I wasn’t expecting to get laid tonight really; I was trying to make sure Sarah understood that I wasn’t in it for the game anymore.

Just as I finished getting ready, I got my phone out and saw a text from Sarah.

Sarah: How formal are we talking - dinner wise?

Me: Something chill don’t overthink it haha

Sarah: How chill?

I could sense she was so nervous and it made me feel a little better, seeing that she was interested in this too.

Me: Chill enough that there’s no need for fanciness

Sarah: Okay, good! :)

I took some time to make sure I had everything with me and since I had some extra minutes I was also able to fix the mess around my room; Vic was going to be so happy. I am quite a messy person but at least I kept my mess in my space so there’s just so much shit Vic could give me for it. I finished at 5:45pm which was a good time to leave and so I texted Sarah.

Me: I’m leaving in a couple of minutes so be ready ;)

A couple of seconds later she responded.

Sarah: So demanding huh? :P I’m ready when you are!

I smiled. This was the first time Sarah and I were going to out just us two and I was excited to see where things were taking us. This was all so new to me, it gave me this very strange yet comforting sensation. I didn’t know what to think of it yet, but so far I was liking it. I took the keys of my car and headed downstairs ready to pick her up

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SARAH'S POV

My phone rang as I got out of the shower so I simply put it on speaker as I rushed out with my towel around my body and the other one over my head like a turban, drying my hair.

“Hello?”

“You haven’t sent me a picture of what you’re wearing,” Lisa complained from the other side. Lisa had been insanely giddy over this whole thing for the past week and couldn’t believe that this was actually happening; sometimes I didn’t know who was more nervous: her or me.

“I’ll send a picture when I’m wearing the clothes, I just got out of the shower”

“Okay, are you excited?” she asked the million dollar question. Was I excited? Yeah, definitely. Mike and I had hit it off two weeks ago and our constant bickering over text was fun. Was I nervous? Hell yeah. Compared to the other girls I felt so normal. Lisa had shown me pictures of his ex and I had to tell her to stop because besides the fact that I didn’t want to be that creepy girl who stalks the ex, I felt so inferior to her in many senses to the point where I was thinking why on Earth would he settle for someone like me.

“Yeah I am,” I responded shyly.

“Sarah, don’t tell me you’re still hung up on the whole ‘I’m not good enough,” I didn’t respond “Repeat after me Sarah: I am hot.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes! Say it!” she retorted.

“I am hot,”

“I’m stunning, beautiful and confident,”

“I’m stunning, beautiful and confident,” I chanted after her. Too bad it was so hard to believe all of those things; I tried to pretend I was super confident, especially when it came to flirting with Mike but in reality, I was self-conscious half the time.

“Okay, now go finish getting ready and send me a picture,”

“I will, hun” I said hanging up and headed back into the bathroom to do my make up. I didn’t do anything too elaborate so I did my eyebrows since they were pretty much non-existent and kept a nude and simple look makeup wise: pale and warm browns for my eyes with a very thin black liner just for definition, a couple of layers of mascara and a nude matte lipstick. After I was done there, I began to work on my hair. My hair was relatively long but thankfully it was super low-maintenance, so just by spraying my silky-smooth mist and blow drying it, my hair already looked pretty decent so I was able to move on to the hardest part of getting ready: my outfit. I had so many sets of clothes however I didn’t have enough because I didn’t know what to wear. Crop top, tank or t-shirt? Jeans, leggings, shorts or a skirt? This was going to be the first time Mike and I went out and now that things between us had begun to evolve, you could say, I wanted to look good so I took my phone and I texted him.

Me: How formal are we talking - dinner wise?

Mike: Something chill don’t overthink it haha

Me: How chill?

He was being such a stereotypical guy; super vague and really not giving me the clues I needed to know what to wear.

Mike: Chill enough that there’s no need for fanciness

There it was okay, nothing fancy.

Me: Okay, good! :)

I took my original outfit which was a crop top with a lacy detail over the front and a pair of dark blue high-waisted jeans, a long flannel to top it off and my favorite black booties. They made me almost four inches taller which was a great plus - I hated being so short, and Mike was very tall as well so I needed something to make up for that.

Mike: I’m leaving in a couple of minutes so be ready ;)

Shit okay he was ready which meant I had to hurry up myself.

Sarah: So demanding huh? :P I’m ready when you are!

I closed my phone and gathered the last of my belongings before taking a selfie in front of the mirror to send to Lisa.

Liz: Shit you’re hot!

I laughed.

Me: Thanks, hun. Love ya xoxo

She knew how to make me feel better and after staring at myself for a couple of minutes I gained a little confidence in myself. I looked good and I just had to tell that to myself constantly. Mike felt something for me - at least there had to be something for him to kiss me the way he did that day - and I just had to keep believing that.

Notes