My hands tugged on the stable door handles again, pulling with as much strength as I could exert. Still, the doors wouldn't budge. I turned around, only to see Liam's amused smirk.

"Liam, I'm not kidding. The door won't open," I repeated with a solemn expression, my lips pressed flat.

"Let me try," he approached me, eyeing me skeptically as he placed his hands on the door.

He pushed, then pulled and still, the door did not budge. I scoffed, watching as Liam tried again, his jaw clenching and knuckles white as he pulled as hard as he could.

"Yeah, its definitely locked. Or jammed," he turned back to face me, his breaths slightly heavier than before.

"Are you sure you're not just pretending to spend more time with me?" I teased, a smirk spreading over my face.

"You're too funny, Ophelia," Liam said, his tone dripping with sarcasm and I chuckled. "I'll go call someone to open the door."

Liam reached into his pockets, and then into his hoodie pocket. Each time they came out empty-handed.

He glanced back up at me, a sheepish smile spreading over his face, "My phone is with my cousin. I'm babysitting and she was playing games before her riding lesson."

I rolled my eyes, digging my hand into my pocket, only to find that it was also empty. I let out an irritated sigh when it finally hit me that I'd left my phone in my room. It was charging on my desk, which I'd overlooked in my haste.

"Me too," I said quietly, gnawing at the insides of my lip. My eyes widened, "Liam, what do we do?"

Liam sat down on the ground and I almost grimaced, knowing just how dirty and unkept it was.

"Nothing, we wait until someone brings their horse in," he said, shrugging.

"No way," I shook my head, gripping the door handle as I pulled on it again, as hard as I could. I groaned when the door wouldn't move. "Come on."

"Ophelia, it's fine. It won't be a long wait," Liam said behind me, chuckling. "We won't starve."

"It's not that," I sunk onto the ground in front of the door right next to Liam. I sighed in defeat, "I don't know how my mom will react. She'll get so annoyed if I'm not there."

"Does it really matter if you're there?" Liam asked, shuffling closer to me. His shoulder brushed against mine ever-so-slightly.

"Apparently it does," I grumbled.

"Well fuck her," Liam chortled next to me and I turned to look at him, incredulously. "She can't blame you for this."

Oh, but she totally would. I frowned to myself.

But I knew Liam was right about one thing. This time was no different than the other times where I'd skipped an event of hers. It was just that this one was unplanned. My mom would scold me and then get over it. I just wished that I could avoid the scolding part.

"Just a completely casual question," Liam started, breaking the silence between us. "Will you be taking over your parents' company?"

"I'm not sure," I shrugged, my eyes trained on the ground. It was covered with a mix of grass and hay. "It doesn't really matter if I do, Jackson can always step up."

"Well, yeah it matters," Liam shifted, turning his body towards me. "What's stopping you?"

"Nothing is stopping me. I don't mind taking over my parents' company," I began to explain.

I didn't even know why I was even talking to Liam about this, or why he cared. But, he was definitely the first person who ever cared enough to ask.

"It's a lot of responsibility, that's all," I said as my fingers absentmindedly picked at the grass on the ground. "I realize that when you're that high up, men outnumber women. That sorta is the only thing that makes me wanna do it, and I don't know if it's the right reason."

I'd never planned on breaking norms before. But one of the only ways to advance was to break them.

"You should. I think you should," Liam smiled, his voice soft. From the sight of his smile, my lips also curled up.

I hadn't noticed myself gazing into his eyes, and immediately I tore my eyes away when my cheeks started to grow warm. I bit down on my lip, suppressing my smile.

"So, how about that date?" Liam asked, his own smile broadening.

"What about that date?" I raised an eyebrow. The warmth in my cheeks had begun to emanate to my chest and even in the roots of my hair.

"Will you go out with me?" he leaned in closer to me, accentuating each word.

I didn't even need to think about my answer.

"Yes," I bit down on my lip, nodding. Then, my eyebrow cocked up teasingly. "If it'll get you to stop bugging me about it."

"Please," he scoffed even though he was smiling. Two red dots were visible on the apple of his cheeks.

My eyes flicked over to his soft lips for a split second. The smirk that spread over Liam's face told me he'd noticed it.

My lips parted slightly as I leaned in closer to him. Liam followed, tilting his head down to be in level with mine. My eyes fluttered shut as I waited for the intoxicating feeling of his lips on mine. His lips were just a whisper away, brushing lightly against mine.

Once again, my body jerked up in surprise when the door behind us swung open with a loud creak.

Liam and I separated, springing almost a foot apart from each other.

Sam stood on the other side of their threshold, his eyebrows raised as he looked between Liam and I, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt or—"

"No! It's fine. We weren't doing anything," I said quickly, almost groaning at the fiery feeling in my face and chest.

Liam smirked at me, turning to Sam, "The door was jammed from the inside, we couldn't open it. How did you know I was here?"

"You were gone for a while, so I came to find you. The barn was a good bet. But yeah, it was hard to open from the outside too," Sam shrugged, pushing the door open wider. It let out a ear-splitting screech that I grimaced to.

I needed to tell my mom that this place needed a new door for the stable — one that wouldn't shriek and apparently we also needed one that wouldn't get jammed.

"Well, thank you," I sat up, brushing the hay and grass off of my pants. Liam followed just as a child's piercing cry sounded from outside the stable.

Sam nodded at me and them turned to Liam, "Your cousin's being annoying again."

I chuckled under my breath, glad that I didn't have to take care of a wailing kid.

Liam rolled his eyes, groaning, "I'll be right there."

Sam nodded and walked off, leaving Liam and I alone. I turned to him, shuffling awkwardly between my feet as the thought of our almost-kiss ran through mind.

"I... I should get back to my mom before she realizes how long I've taken," I told Liam when I finally found my voice. I gave him one last smile before I turned to leave, my eyes scanning the field for my mom and Jackson.

Liam's cousin was next to the stable, sitting on the grass as she wept. Sam stood next to her, patting her back awkwardly.

Liam's hand clasped around mine, and I glanced back at him, my heart leaping out of my chest.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight," he whispered, so that it was out of the earshot of his shrieking cousin and Sam. A bubbly feeling blossomed in my chest.

I only nodded, watching as Liam headed over to where his cousin was. His cousin couldn't have been older than seven years old.

A small smile spread over my face as Liam comforted her, lightly rubbing her back as he shushed her. She immediately sniffled, rubbing the back of her hand roughly over her eyes to wipe off her tears. She brushed her tangled blonde hair out of her eyes.

"If you want, we can get ice cream after?" Liam offered quite convincingly in a soft tone.

She nodded vigorously, a grin creeping onto her face again. A way to a child was always by their stomach — especially with candy or ice cream. Liam seemed to have that down.

I bit back my smile, turning my attention back into the riding arena. I finally spotted Jackson struggling to control a pony and my mom talking to her friends.

I sighed, making my way towards them. I only had to get over today, and tomorrow's boring classes before I could finally be with Liam.

___________________________

I ran my hands through my hair, combing out the curls that I'd spent an hour on. I let out a breath, relieved that the hardest part about a date was over — finding an outfit.

I'd chosen a white polka dotted dress and a pair of beige wedges to go with it. To top it off, I slipped on a light blue denim jacket since it was getting chilly at night.

The whole day had seemed to crawl by like a snail. Each class seemed twice as long and when I'd finally gotten home from school, I could barely focus on my homework. The whole day, my leg had been bouncing in a nervous wreck repeatedly, and the butterflies in my stomach never subsided.

My own reflection stared back at me in the mirror and I took a deep breath. I didn't know why I was so nervous, I'd known Liam for so many years.
Maybe it was just that things were different now, in some unexplainable way.

The clock on my nightstand wrote 7: 58 pm. I took another deep breath, taking in my flushed cheeks. Great, I was already burning red and I hadn't even seen Liam yet.

I jumped when the doorbell sounded from downstairs, echoing through the house.

My eyes widened. I'd never thought that Liam would have come to the house and gone to the door. I'd always assumed that I would get a text from him and I'd meet him in his car.

"Crap," I cursed when I realized my mom would answer the door. I'd never told her about the date with Liam, or that we were even associated with each other beyond acquaintances. I did not need an interrogation.

I swiped my purse off my bed and sprinted out of my room, bounding down the stairs two at a time. But before I even made it down the last stair, my mom appeared at the main doors, her hand on the knob to open it.

"Mom! I got—" I started as I stepped off the last stair, but I was too late.

My mom swung open the door, blinking in surprise at who our unexpected guest was.

My cheeks grew fiery. I didn't know if it was from embarrassment because of my mom or from how handsome Liam looked standing by the door.

★★★

𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜! 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡!

𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒?

~ 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝐼𝑛𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡