#*c:hook

Stomach in knots, Chloe spread out her family's picnic blanket, sun faded from the years of use by the Goofs and their love of being outdoors. She wasn't sure if this was even a good idea, a picnic? Somehow she couldn't picture James enjoying a picnic at the park, and yet here she was, about to see just that. She couldn't help the pounding of her heart; the man did things to her that she couldn't explain. They'd been around one another maybe a whole fifteen minutes in entirety, and he had successfully dug his hook into her.

Could she blame it on her hormones? Probably. She usually did. But there was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on that kept drawing her in. He seems pretty cryptic, Ivy had said. Mysterious. Maybe even... dangerous. That rugged edge he seemed to have. Perhaps that was it. Danger.

And she liked it.

Kicking her skateboard aside, she pulled her dad’s old boombox out of the duffel bag she’d brought everything in, then nestled it where the skateboard had just been. It was old, the cassette deck long since had stopped working, but the CD player on top still did. A mixtape disc and fresh batteries made this thing a John Cusack fan’s dream.

She stood up and checked out the area - sunset, most of the park vacant of people, strategically located streetlamp for optimum dimness as the sun would disappear, and dinner still tucked away in the bag, staying warm in a thermal pack. It was then that she spotted his familiar form down the sidewalk. 

She wondered if the butterflies would ever stop.