This was dangerous. They were so close. She wanted to move away from him to put space between them, but they were this close because she was cold and the night was perfect. Wiggling slightly, Maleena shifted to better see the stars above that formed perfect constellations. She and her boyfriend, Cody, were laying under a blanket in the bed of his truck stargazing. Crickets and bullfrogs chirped and croaked noisily around them, but Maleena hardly heard them.
     A soft kiss on her cheek drew Maleena out of her stargazing. Looking to her left, Maleena could just barely see Cody under the dark sky. His sparkling white teeth formed into a smile was pretty much the only thing Maleena could make out in the moonlight. "Are you gettin' warm?" Cody's deep, caring country drawl asked.
     "Yes, I am. Thank you." Maleena said, returning the smile.
     Cody moved away slightly, just to put space between them, and to better look at the stars. "Isn't God amazing? To think that He placed each and every one of the stars in the sky just right so they form perfect constellations. Just think about how much time and planning that had to take. But at the same time, He is God. He spoke the world into existence."
     "He is pretty amazing." Maleena replied, staring up at the stars. Just as she looked up, a shooting star flew across the sky. Turning back to look at Cody, she said, "There was a shooting star! Make a wish."
     Maleena could see Cody obnoxiously squeeze his eyes shut as he made his wish. She did the same. Her wish must have been longer than his, because when she opened her eyes, Maleena saw Cody staring at her and smiling.
     Maleena's lips curled up into a grin as she leaned her head against Cody's shoulder and grabbed his hand that was resting on her shoulder. "Tonight is the perfect night for stargazing. Thank you so much, Cody."
     "You're welcome." He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before pulling to the side to look at Maleena's face. "What are you doin' on Wednesday?"
     "This Wednesday?" Maleena asked.
     "Yeah." Cody fingered some hair on Maleena's cheek. 
     "I believe I'm free. Especially since it is in the middle of the week, but I will have to ask my dad." Maleena smiled at her handsome boyfriend. "Why, what did you have in mind, cowboy?"
     "Well, I wanted to see if you would be interested in goin' to the orchard to pick apples with me." Cody's calloused thumb softly rubbed Maleena's hand that he was holding.
     "That would be so much fun! How do you somehow manage to come up with such creative dates? I really do have the best boyfriend in the world." Maleena smiled at Cody.
      "I have the best girlfriend in the world." Cody returned the sweet smile.
     Maleena rested her head back on Cody's shoulder as they just laid there watching the stars twinkle until a ringing in the quiet dark night rang out. Cody let out a groan and shifted to pull his phone out of his pocket. Turning off the ringing, Cody stood up, offering a hand down to Maleena.
     "What was that?" Maleena asked, accepting Cody's hand; he pulled her up so she was standing. Since she was suddenly cold since Cody was no longer laying next to her, Maleena quickly reached down and grabbed the blanket that was laying in the truck bed.
     "I set an alarm on my phone to make sure I would have you home by your curfew."
     "That's so sweet of you, but now I'm cold again." Maleena smiled. She leaned against Cody, still wrapped tightly in the blanket. Cody chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
     The couple just quietly stood there, in the bed of the truck staring up at the dark sky, until, five minutes later, another one of Cody's phone alarms went off. Keeping one hand around Maleena, Cody took out his phone again.
     "Another alarm?" Maleena asked, looking down at Cody's phone.
     "Yeah, I set three of them in case something like this happened." Cody replied, putting the phone back in his pocket. "Fair warning, in five minutes, another alarm will go off." Cody winked and Maleena chuckled. Cody just smiled down at his beautiful girlfriend. "What? I wanted to make certain I wouldn't be late droppin' you off back home. I know that you have a curfew, and I want to honor that."
     Maleena just shook her head and smiled sweetly. It may sound cliche, but Maleena knew that she really did have the best boyfriend in the world.
     Pulling away from their hug, Cody jumped down from his tailgate, then turned to Maleena and held up both hands. "Come on down." Cody said, a mischievous smile on his face.
     "What? You want me to jump?" Maleena asked, still from her spot on the tailgate where she was stood tightly wrapped up in Cody's blanket.
    "Yeah. Come on. Trust me. I'll catch you."
     "No you won't. I'm too heavy." Maleena waddled closer to the edge of the tailgate.
     "Darlin', you weigh one hundred pounds soakin' wet; I lift feed bags and hay bales heavier than you. Just trust me. Jump on down." Cody kept his hands straight out.
     Giggling, Maleena knelt down and "jumped," if you could call it that, off of the tailgate and into Cody's strong arms. He caught her, just like he promised. Dropping his arms from Maleena's waist, Cody shut the tailgate, and said, "I don't consider that little hop you did as jumping down, but I'll give you a pass since you're so cute all wrapped up in a blanket." Cody smiled at Maleena as he opened the passenger side door for her. 
     Maleena slipped the blanket off her shoulders to cover her legs once she got inside of the cab.
     "Ready to head home?" Cody asked once he was buckled in his truck. He set his cowboy hat up on the dashboard from where it was sitting on the bench seat.
     "Am I ever ready to head home after one of our dates?" Maleena asked.
     Before he could respond, Cody's cell phone buzzed it's alarm. "Well, according to my phone, I gotta get you home. I'm sorry. Trust me, Wednesday cannot come quick enough." Cody smiled and grabbed Maleena's hand as he drove his truck forward, through the pasture.
     Just a short time later, Cody's old truck rumbled its way up in front of Maleena's house. Maleena waited as Cody slipped out of his side of the truck to walk to her side and open the passenger side door for her. It was the same way when Maleena arrived at the back porch. Cody, with his long legs, stepped in front of Maleena to open the screen door for her. The back door was already opened, so the couple walked into the living room. "Hey momma. Hey daddy." Maleena greeted her parents who were watching TV. Both of them were seated on the couch, a bowl of popcorn between them. Pausing the movie that they were watching, Maleena's parents welcomed the kids home.
     "Mr. Lackley." Cody greeted, walking over to Wayne Lackley, Maleena's dad. Wayne stood up from the couch to shake the hand that Cody held out.
     Pulling Cody towards him slightly, while still firmly holding his hand, Wayne said, "Thank you for gettin' her home in time." A smile tugged on the edges of Wayne's mouth.
    Cody returned the smile. "Anytime. Thank you, sir, for allowing me to take Maleena out again tonight." Dropping Wayne's hand, Cody said, "I would like to ask for your permission to take her out to an apple orchard and dinner this Wednesday. I will have her home before her curfew."
     That smile that tugged on Wayne's mouth, now fully broke out. "Although I very much appreciate it, you do not have to ask me each time you decide to take my daughter out on a date. As long as you continue to treat her right and have her home by her curfew, we will continue to allow you to take her out whenever y'all are able." Wayne paused, his smile dropping. In a teasing voice, he added, "And you can stop callin' me Mr. Lackley. He's my father, and much older, and much less attractive then me." Wayne winked.
     "Yes, sir." Cody replied.
     Wayne chuckled. "Just call me Wayne, son." Wayne patted Cody on the back.
    Maleena was standing beside Cody, talking to her mom, but she had heard the whole conversation between her boyfriend and her dad. Cody looked over at her, giving her a look before looking back to Maleena's parents. "Mrs. Lackley, how are you doin' tonight?" Cody asked, placing a kiss on her cheek.
     "Doing well. Did y'all have fun?" Suellen Lackley responded.
     Maleena looked up at Cody and smiled. "We had a lot of fun. Supper was great, but I think that the stargazing was my favorite part."
     As Cody looked down at Maleena, the stars returned. Neither he, nor Maleena, heard the next question her parents asked.
     Snapping out of her "stargazing," Maleena turned her gaze back to her parents. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"
     Suellen just smiled, not repeating the question. "We just said that we are glad that y'all had a great time."
     Maleena nodded her head as the four of them just stood there. Cody gave her another look. "So, um...I'm gonna walk Cody out to his truck." Maleena said, breaking the awkward silence.
     Once they were on the porch, Maleena thanked Cody again for such a fun date night. "Yer welcome, darlin'. I'm glad the sky cleared up enough to see all the stars." Cody replied, looking back up to the dark night sky. Turning back to Maleena, Cody stepped closer, "I had a great time tonight, Malie." Reaching out, Cody grabbed both of Maleena's hands in his own.
     Maleena smiled up at him. "I did too. I can't wait until Wednesday."   
     "Me neither." Cody breathed out in a chuckle. Turning serious, he reached up and pushed some hair out of Maleena's face. His eyes looked down at her rosy red lips once, but Cody quickly drew them back up to Maleena's eyes. "I am so blessed to have you, Maleena Kae." Cody's sweet country accent said.
     "I was just thinkin the same thang, Cody Mason." Maleena smiled. 
     Cody stepped closer to Maleena. Maleena's eyes searched for something in Cody's face. Her fingers fingered his shirt material on the back of his shirt as her arms were wrapped around his waist.  "Maleena...can I kiss you?" Cody asked, being the gentleman he is. His voice was hoarse as he spoke; he still held Maleena's face in one hand.
     Maleena nodded, unable to find any words to tell Cody that she wanted him to kiss her. Her eyes looked up at Cody's lips once more as his head came closer to hers. After her eyes closed, Maleena felt Cody's soft lips close over hers.
     Less than two seconds later, Cody pulled back, not asking for another kiss. His hand, however, was still caressing Maleena's cheek. Cody smiled and chuckled, resting his forehead against Maleena's. "Goodnight, Malie." Cody smiled. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before slipping off of the porch, and walking to his truck, but not before he turned around twice, glancing back at a still smiling Maleena.
     Once he got to his truck, Cody opened the door and standing beside it, he raised a hand in a wave, smiling that beaming smile at Maleena. Maleena returned the smile as she still stood, paralyzed from Cody's sweet kiss. As far as first kisses went, it was safe to say that Maleena's was pretty dadgum perfect.
     That smile never faded, even slightly, as Maleena watched Cody drive away into the dark night. When she was able to convince her legs to move, Maleena shuffled inside the house, leaning back against the door and taking a deep breath. There were no words to describe what she was feeling right now. Not even "in love" could describe the fluttering butterflies in her stomach.
     Maleena walked to her bedroom, ignoring the incredibly questioning looks from her parents who were still sitting in the living room. As she got ready for bed that night, Maleena found herself humming, the smile only growing larger on her face, if that was possible.
     After being certain that that smile would stay plastered on her face forever, Maleena laid down in her bed, resting her head on her pillow. She closed her eyes, only to replay her and Cody's kiss over and over in her head.
     "God," Maleena started the prayer. "Thank you." That's all that she needed to say. Cody was a man who honored her, genuinely cared and loved her, treated her like a woman should be treated, but most importantly, Cody was a man who was content with her desire to wait until marriage to do what several other couples normally do while dating. Maleena and her family had been praying that God would give her the right man, and tonight proved that she had found that man.