Expectations

"Right. We can keep score. Besides, they won't know anyway." Dylan sticks out his tongue a little before moving on to the next hole. 

Scanning all the little blocks that were set up before the hole, he nods. "See on this one, the ball is gonna have to bounce through all those and zig-zag. Otherwise it would take ten putts just to get to the hole." 

He moves Ashlee up first and sets his club aside. Coming up behind her, he reaches around to hold the putter with her. "Okay so you have to hit the block at an angle and imagine the line where it will bounce and go to next."

Eric wasn't sure that later he would be able to describe what he felt right now. It was happy. Warm. Terrifying. Safe. Comforting. Dangerous. Hopeful. He had determined not that long ago that he would not risk his heart again after Dana. After she had taken advantage, fooled him completely and torn him in two. His love had blinded him. Was he blind now too? 

Staring into Stacy's eyes, he hoped beyond hope that what he saw was true. That it wasn't his imagination. That he wasn't falling into this blindly. They had had many quiet talks. Heart-to-heart conversations. He had come to respect her. Appreciate her. Surely it was not fake. 

Her final comment hits him down deep in his heart. Stacy adored her daughter like no other. To have her compare him to that... his heart yearned to leap at this chance. He'd felt so alone. So unwanted. So out of place and in the way. Was he truly of value to her? Was he really that special that she would honor him with a chance like this? They were far from anything serious, but even he could sense there was something more here than a casual invitation to date. It was deeper than that. How or why, he didn't know. But it was there. And he would be a fool to let it slip by.

Eric's eyes glisten in the colored lights around the golf course. Not caring where they were, he pulls Stacy into a strong hug, wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace. The feeling of her in his arms... just felt.... right. 

Kissing the top of her head, he pulls back and gives her a sheepish little grin. "You're an amazing woman, Stacy. I just hope I can live up to your expectations." Deeper, more serious words were on the tip of his tongue, but he holds back. This whole thing might just be in the heat of the moment and she might feel differently tomorrow or the next day. No, though his heart felt as if it would beat out of his chest, he had to play it safe. 

Glancing around the course, he takes a step back but leaves one arm slung around Stacy's shoulders. "I suppose we should move on before we're accused of making a scene," he teases.