Chapter 371

There were two primary spots that were classic stops for sightseeing and fun whenever I talked to someone about visiting Vegas. Sure, there were lots of smaller spots, little nooks and crannies in the city, that could be explored based on personal preferences, but the two main ones in my mind started with the Strip, which we’d done at least in part but really required a few days (or multiple trips) to see fully, and Fremont Street.

And of the two, I really thought Freemont Street was the better of the two locations when it came to dates. Depending on the night it could be a little more chaotic than the Strip, but it frequently had a carnival atmosphere along with heavy doses of Vegas history. It also happened to be filled with a lot more live entertainment (although anyone attending had to be careful not to get hooked by a scammer), and places that were a lot easier to stop in at and have some fun.

Cattie’s face as we walked up to the bright lights was child-like joy, and we walked and took in all the sights of both the locations and the various buskers with her clutching one of my hands with both of hers most of the time. And if not that, then I had my hand resting on her hip as she leaned into me, occasionally glancing up with that brilliant smile on her face. We stopped for drinks first at the Gold Spike, which was a fun spot with giant versions of drinking games, and rubbed elbows with some tourists from Virginia for a game of Giant Beer Pong. That ended with the other couple getting asked to leave as the girlfriend (who had spent a significant part of the day drinking) flashed us guys to distract her boyfriend.

Then we hit the Pizza Rock for dinner, a block off the main street, which happened to be packed that night for some reason so we couldn’t really have a deep conversation with any sort of privacy. We did have a great time, and delicious pizza as we flirted hard. I was tempted to get another one to go that we could share later with Cass, but carrying it around wouldn’t be great for the rest of our night out. The thing that really stuck out to me was how comfortable I was with Cattie, but I still got those nerves of newness being on a date with her even though we’d been so intimate over the last week, and friends for years before that. Every time she turned to glance at me, smiling hard at something going on or some new flavour in her mouth, it sent thrills through me. Holding her hand, touching her waist; they were so much less intimate than sex and yet doing it so publicly, just us, had that First Date feeling of nerves behind each gesture that I remembered from when Cass and I started dating way back in high school.

The flirting was so relentless between us that I caught people watching - though I told myself the first couple of times that it was just guys glancing at a hot girl. It wasn’t until the waitress at Pizza Rock offered to take our picture for us to memorialise our First Date that I realised it was both of us, and we were making it pretty damn obvious that we were a new, and obsessed, couple.

And we did get that picture, with Cattie surprising me by both turning and kissing me on the cheek for it, but also secretly grabbing my crotch under the lip of the table. She got exactly what she wanted though, and laughed at the look on my face in the photo as she sent it to the other girls.