Chapter 8

My mind was definitely not on the drive, on my way home that night. I'd only spent a little bit of time with Nicole that night, but it had gone well. In fact, it'd gone more than well. A little making out and things had progressed to me feeling her up, and, eventually, her jerking me off. I was by no means an expert at reading women, in fact probably just the opposite, but she seemed to have enjoyed it as well. If I were to hazard a guess, I might even go as far as to say she was turned on by the fact that she'd made me cum.

I had other things on my mind than just the sexual aspects of things. I'd be having lunch with Nicole tomorrow at her house. Lunch ... and it was with her parents. She'd told me that her parents wanted to meet the guy that was taking her out that day. I usually did well with parents. Adam's parents were practically my second parents. Adam's parents were different, though. His parents didn't have to worry about any more than the two of us getting into typical teenage guy troubles. Nicole's parents could have a lot more to worry about with the guy that was taking their daughter out.

It wasn't just them that had to worry, either. I legitimately liked Nicole, and wanted to make a good impression with her parents. It may not be hugely important for a boyfriend to be liked by the girl's parents, but it would certainly make things easier. Granted, most guys didn't really want to be liked by the parents, and that wasn't a set goal of mine, but, if it happened, it couldn't hurt.

When I did actually get home, the typical night routine started. Letting my parents know I was home, getting the dog walked, and music turned on (the Eagles for tonight). I'd been hearing a little about a new CD they'd be putting out in a few months, "Hell Freezes Over". I was a fan of the group already, so I was looking forward to it. It didn't hurt that it was also getting good hype.

The Eagles were also a good suit for the mood, nice and mellow, with a tinge of the romantic. It wasn't the cool thing to admit, but I did have a touch of the romantic in me. It was also that romantic in me that liked the thought of putting a blanket in the back of the car, for when we got out to the island. With the Great Salt Lake situated west of the city itself, it put us away from the lights of the city. To the west of the lake, there wasn't really much to see, but the water did make a nice background for the setting sun. With the blanket laid out, we could watch the sunset together while doing some cuddling. To me, that sounded like a good way to hopefully show her that I wasn't just interested in the sexual aspects of things. Granted, I definitely was enjoying what we had done, but there was more to Nicole that I liked than just what she did, or how she would look with her clothes off.

It didn't hurt my opinion any, as I thought about it. I'd heard a lot of the female friends I had at school complain about the guys that just tried to treat them as pieces of meat. Sure, there were a few girls who did enjoy that kind of treatment, but in Utah, it seemed the vast majority of girls liked to be the good girl type. I could understand it, most people in Utah were LDS, and that was what the church taught. Other churches taught that sex should wait till after marriage, of course, it was just that the LDS church was so prevalent here. My family and I were just some of the few that weren't members of the church.

To finish the night, I ended up climbing into bed with the Eagles still on. It was nice and peaceful music to be going to sleep to, I thought. I did go to sleep with thoughts of how the next day's date would go. It was a mix of nervous excitement, but the combination ended up working to help me slip into sleep.

I was awakened the next morning by the thumping of the dog's tale against the floor. Opening my eyes I saw that, in my sleep, I'd rolled to my side, and was facing him. I probably had shifted recently too, he was a friendly dog alright, but wasn't usually the type to start showing it just at someone facing him and being asleep. Granted, I knew he wasn't just happy to see me, so I rolled out of bed, and slipped on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, to take him out for a walk.

I did have a little company on the walk other than the dog. This morning's company was just in the form of some Jethro Tull music. Music was something that I had always enjoyed, and, with something like Jethro Tull, it was obviously music that was older than me. I'd gotten my taste for classic rock from my dad's music influence. Jethro Tull was only one of the classic rock groups that I enjoyed, but they were a big one. The music could switch from upbeat to some mellow stuff, as well, and I, personally, enjoyed the way the flute playing was worked into the music. It wasn't often that you'd hear flute in any setting other than an actual orchestra, so it made things interesting, I thought.

Once I got back from walking the dog I had a few other things to take care of; a little light clean up and my own shower for the day. I took a little extra time making sure I was being thorough with my preparations. With the shower done, a quick look at my watch showed the time to be 11:30. I took a moment at the mirror, while I was brushing my teeth, to debate whether I'd go with cologne or not for the day. I was the type that for just a normal day I'd only occasionally use it. Since I had a date starting shortly, I decided to go with it, but in a light, subtle amount. My cologne of choice was Cool Waters; it was something I'd gotten the Christmas before from my two sisters.

Like most siblings, my sisters and I didn't always get along. There were, of course times, we spent arguing, if not outright fighting. I would have to say that we got along well in general, though. There was just over a two year gap between each of us. My closest sister pointed out that it was actually two years and eighteen days, between each sibling. Once we'd found that out, we'd always thought it was rather amusing that it was that exact. It did make remembering the dates a little easier, too. My birthday was first, with the eighteen days between each of the next two. I did trust their opinion though, and in this case agreed that the scent of the cologne worked.

With the cologne in place and my other personal preparations complete, I did a last inventory to make sure I was actually ready, before heading out to the car. I'd finished the shower at 11:30 and was getting into the car at 12:00. It definitely wasn't the quickest I'd gotten ready, but for a 'first' date I figured it didn't hurt to make sure I was squared away a little better than usual.

With the directions I'd gotten from Nicole the night before, I did a rough estimate that it would take about a half hour to get to her house. I was leaving at noon, though, to make sure that I had ample time to get there. It was following one of the pieces of advice I'd gotten from my grandma, in talks we'd had about how to treat a woman. I'd been taught to always treat her with respect, and to make sure that whenever I had told her that I would be somewhere, to make sure I was on time, or, preferably, a little early. It probably went without saying but my grandma's advice on how to treat a girl/woman hadn't included the sexual aspects of things. However, I personally took that to be covered within the 'treat her with respect' portion. It was my opinion you could still have fun and do it while being respectful about it. I just had it in mind that it was my job, as the boyfriend, to make sure that everything we were doing was what we both wanted, not just something I was pressuring her for.

Driving to Nicole's house I ended up taking I-15 south towards and, eventually, into Salt Lake City. It was the major highway for Utah, running from the north to south borders, and going basically down the center of the state. In this case, since I was just heading to north Salt Lake, I got off at the Beck Street exit, and started heading in the general direction of the capitol. While I drove, I took a few looks at the directions she'd written down for me, making sure that I wasn't missing any of the steps. Granted, with the way Salt Lake was laid out, I could find it, but the directions she'd written down should have the quickest way through.

I was finally pulling onto the street where she lived, and, after a minute of comparing house numbers, figured out which side of the road hers would be. One thing that was making this easier for me was that I was going there during the summer. In the winter months you couldn't park out on the street because it would block plow access to the roads, but, since today's high was in the low 90's, snow was the last of my worries.

It only took a minute or two, once I was on her street, before I pulled up in front of the house. Parking along the curb, and putting the car into park, I just sat there for a minute. I let a long exhale out, trying to relax myself a bit. I wanted to try to be at ease around her parents, and acting at least mostly normal, for me. I had the thought that it would better to be disliked for who I was, than to be liked for who I wasn't.

Deciding it wouldn't do to be this close and sit in the car, I climbed out, locking the door behind me. While I walked towards the house, I took a minute to get a look at it. The neighborhood itself was a basically middle class area, and Nicole's house wasn't an exception. It was a gray two story house with a two car attached garage. The yard was well taken care of, with a flower garden on either side of the front steps to the door. I made a mental note that I could see the mowed lines going in a straight line across the yard, back and forth. In my experience someone that was meticulous enough to do something like that was probably going to be meticulous in other things as well.

Reaching the door, I rang the door bell, and then stood waiting. Since I didn't want to fidget, I ended up placing my hands together at the small of my back, with my feet about shoulder width apart. (The irony of this pose, being what the military called parade rest, would be lost on me at 16, though it would definitely come up years down the road. Although that, dear reader, is a different story). In the background I could hear a deep voice, though the words weren't audible followed by a dull thunder of footsteps quickly approaching the door. When it opened, I was pleasantly surprised to see Nicole there greeting me with a smile, then reaching for my hand, and using it to draw me into her house.

"Good, you made it on time." She said that after having taken a quick glance at her watch. I had made it on time, and, to give myself a little credit, I was even about ten minutes early, in fact. "Mom and dad are in the kitchen, they want us to go ahead and join them in there." Leading the way to the kitchen she kept hold of my hand.

The kitchen had an open design to it, with a separate dining room that had a circular table with six chairs placed at it. The kitchen area, itself, had what looked to be a good amount of counter space, and with it being in the corner of a house, went along two walls. There was a half wall that would act as, at least, a visual break between the kitchen area and the dining room, while still allowing for easy traffic between the two. Mrs. Potter was in the kitchen, at the stove, over a pot, wooden spoon in hand. Mr. Potter was at the sink, a quick glance indicating that he appeared to be straining what was, probably, spaghetti judging by the smells that were coming from it.

"Mom, dad ... Ryan's here." The two parents turned briefly from their work, brief smiles given as a friendly greeting. Mrs. Potter took a second to turn the dial on the stove; an audible click was heard as it was turned off.

"Welcome to our house, Ryan. The food is just about ready. We just need to get the table set, and then we can have lunch. Go ahead and grab a seat at the table, it'll just be a couple of minutes." This came from Mrs. Potter, her husband was busy pouring the noodles from a strainer into a white serving dish, and then setting it on the counter next to a stack of plates and silverware.

Stepping into the kitchen, I went over to where the stack of dishes was. Releasing Nicole's hand, and taking hold of them, I walked over to the table. "You'll have to excuse me, Mrs. Potter, but my grandma would probably throw a fit if she were to hear I'd eaten at someone else's house without helping out at least a little." I said that as I set the stack of plates on the table. Seeing that there were four place settings, I began to set the table. Thankfully, with it being a circular table, I didn't have to wonder about placement very much, just setting the plates down at chairs in what looked to be equally placed sections. The configuration I was using would basically allow each pair to sit beside each other, with the other two across the table from them.

"You don't need to do that, but I can understand it." This was from Mr. Potter as he moved from the sink to set the serving dish with the noodles at the center of the table. "My parents were a little old fashioned as well, so I know where you're coming from, on that." "Yeah, that's how my grandparents are, for the most part. Old fashioned and of the firm belief that you need to respect your elders, Mr. Potter." I said that as I started setting the silverware out around each plate, looking up to make eye contact with him as I did so.

"I would say there's nothing wrong with that. Please though, call me Earl and my wife Jeanine. We're fairly informal here, Ryan." Once he had the noodles on the table, he moved over to help his wife with the sauce. At that point, Jeanine let him take over there, and went to the oven, pulling out a loaf of, what looked to be, garlic bread.

"Yeah, we're fairly informal, and I don't think we bite too often, so feel free to relax. I hope you like spaghetti, since that's what I've made for lunch today." Jeanine had a grace about her as she moved about the kitchen. She obviously knew what she was doing, and, unless I was mistaken, enjoyed doing it, as well. She also seemed very systematic, as she went about her work. I could tell she had a pattern for how she did things, and guessed she was consistent in how she did it. "It's not anything too fancy, but it usually works out fairly well. I think the garlic bread helps out, also." "I do like spaghetti, Mrs ... I mean Jeanine." I would have to work on that, or at least concentrate on it, to actually use first names with her parents. "It smells and looks delicious." While I'd been working on the plates and silverware, Nicole had been busy in the kitchen herself, bringing several cups to the table for us, and going back to return with a bottle of apple juice and one of Coke. "We usually drink pop here, but I had heard that some runners try to avoid it, so I brought juice out as well, Ryan." Her dad looked over at me with a little interest, bringing over a bowl of salad as the rest of the family started sitting down. I took that as a fairly obvious clue that the preparations were done and it was time to sit down to eat. I took a seat next to Nicole. This placed me directly across from Earl.

"So you're a runner, hmmm?" Earl asked. I nodded my head in response and he continued. "I used to do a little swimming myself, when I was your age. Do you have a specialty?" "I do, yes. In track I do the 1-mile and 2-mile runs, with the 2 being my best. In the fall, I also run cross country. I probably do better the longer the distances. In cross country our races are 5k's, that's roughly 3.2 miles, though the courses can vary, from place to place." It was the truth, at least in my opinion as well as my dad's. The pace I did my 5k races at was only about ten seconds per mile slower than it was for my 2-mile run. Most of the people that ran track and also cross country had more of a drop off with the added distance.

Both Jeanine and Nicole watched the interaction back and forth between Earl and me. For my part, I was trying to handle this much like I would a meal conversation around the table with my family. It helped, so far, that her parents seemed to be trying to make things easy as well. They were polite and friendly, asking questions to find things out about me, but not grilling me like I might have expected.

The spaghetti was good, too. The sauce, I'd been told as the meal went on, was a family recipe that Jeanine had gotten from her mother. The garlic bread had a light layer of cheese over the top of it, and had been baked in the oven, to allow the cheese to melt, and the bread to turn a golden brown.

We stayed at the table for about an hour total, allowing time for the food to be eaten, as well as time for the conversation. With the meal finished, each person ended up collecting up their own plates and rinsing them off in the sink. The small group moved out to the living room, talking there for a few minutes, before Nicole and Jeanine went upstairs, for her to finish getting ready, for us to actually leave. I was sitting on the couch, with Earl across the room in an arm chair, looking over at me.

"So, from what I've heard, the plan is a double-date for you guys to go out to Antelope Island, right?" Getting my confirmation nod in response he continued. "Now, I understand that things aren't the way they used to be when Jeanine and I were dating, times have changed. She's still my daughter, and there are a few things I expect from the young man taking her out tonight. Those two will be upstairs for a minute so I want us to have a talk face to face and man to man. She likes you. I know that and I can see it in how she acts around you today. If I'm not mistaken, you like her as well. I want you to keep that in mind with how you treat her tonight, and anytime going forward." I sat relatively still while he spoke, sitting forward a bit as I listened, and making sure he knew that I was not only hearing but listening to what he said as well. "I think I know where you're going with this. You're right. I do like your daughter. She's a beautiful young woman. I also respect her as a friend, and as a potential girlfriend." I didn't know if she'd told him that we'd already agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend but thought that keeping it a little vague couldn't hurt.

Earl let out a little bit of a chuckle as he listened to me end with calling her a potential girlfriend. "Sounds like you can keep things quiet, and not tip your hat. It's ok for me to know she's your girlfriend. She told me that already. It may be a good thing you're able to be a little discreet. I remember being young, enough to know there are some guys that feel the need to spread their own business around to more people than need to know. That being said, I have to say I'd prefer anything not happen between the two of you physically, since I think you're too young. Unfortunately for me, my daughter is a head strong young woman who'll do what she wants, regardless of my thoughts on it." "I appreciate and respect you talking to me like this, Earl. So I'll let you know I intend to treat your daughter with respect. It's how I was raised. I'm not the type of guy that will pressure her into doing anything that she doesn't want to, or isn't ready to do. I also respect her enough that if anything does happen down the road, it's no one's business except the two of us." Earl watched me for a moment after I'd stopped talking, seeming to think about what I'd said. I silently hoped I hadn't said too much. "I suppose that's about all I can realistically ask for. I also have to trust you wouldn't try to intentionally hurt her. You seem like a nice young man. I will say this though." He was silent for a moment, just staring at me. I could see the intensity in his eyes, as he watched me. Whatever was coming next, he definitely meant with conviction. "If you hurt her physically, you'll have lost the respect that I think you deserve so far. Not only that, but I'll personally see to it that you pay for anything you do, to physically hurt her." I couldn't help it. I had to take a moment to actually swallow before I was able to talk. Earl was a nice guy, from what I'd seen so far, but he was definitely showing the side of the protective father here. "Sir, as I said earlier, I like and respect your daughter. While I may not be able to promise that I won't hurt her emotionally, I definitely won't be hurting her physically. I was raised to treat all women with respect, regardless of their age." Once more he just leveled that gaze at me, and I locked my eyes on his, giving him the courtesy of letting him see my expression. I didn't think I had the intensity that he did, but what I'd told him was the truth, and definitely how I felt. "I'm glad to hear that. It makes me feel a little easier about the two of you going out. With what I hear from Nicole, she's been looking forward to this. Jeanine and I both like you, so, since this is something of a special date between you, she can have longer out tonight than her usual midnight. You are to have her back no later than 2 in the morning." I nodded my head in response. "No later than 2 am, that's understood, sir." One thing I'd learned from my family was that it was good communication to let the person know that you'd heard and understood by restating what they had said to you. It helped to eliminate any confusion or misunderstanding. "I'll make sure she's back earlier than that, Earl. I appreciate your confidence in me and your understanding." At that point, I was 'saved' by two pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. Looking up I saw Nicole and her mom coming down the stairs. She was dressed as she had been for lunch, but, with a look, I could tell that her hair and makeup had been touched up. She was wearing a pair of denim Girbaud shorts that hugged her figure, accentuating her narrow waist and curves. She had a t-shirt on over it, white with a few flowers across the front. It brought a smile to my face, simply seeing her, and knowing that it was me she was going out with. "Nicole, you look beautiful." I stood up from the couch and walked over to the bottom of the stairs. While she walked down towards me, I realized how almost cliché it was, the date waiting by the door like that for his girlfriend. I was sure it'd happened countless times before, and would continue for a long time to come. It did make it nice though, since I knew we'd be able to head out soon, so that we could actually start our date.

Nicole's mom and dad escorted us to the door, moving out to the porch as we started walking down the walk towards the car. I opened the door for her, closing it after she'd climbed in, and walked around to the driver's side. "Remember what we talked about, Ryan. I expect you to keep to what you told me." I nodded my head in response, opening the door and giving the two of them a wave. "I will, Earl. Thanks for lunch. You two have a good night." I got a wave from them in return as I climbed into the car, and started heading out of Salt Lake. Looking over at Nicole, I took her hand, glad I was driving an automatic. "Well, that wasn't as bad as I might've thought it would be. Though, you can probably guess, your dad did give the obligatory warning out about treating you right." "Yeah, he's not really all that bad. I think it helps that they seem to like you so far, I'll just make sure I don't tell them what we might do in specific detail tonight. I don't think we want to give my dad a reason to be upset with you." I could definitely agree with that one.

"Yeah, I'd have to say I agree with you on that one." The rest of the drive into Layton was pretty much casual conversation. A good part of the focus of it was what we would actually do while we were out on the island, letting her know we had a few blankets, the food, as well as some of the balls and mitts. I also let her know that, depending on the mood of things, we could always figure out something to do after the island closed, which was shortly after sunset.

Josh and I had already decided that we were each responsible for our own food and entrance to the park. When Nicole and I pulled into the parking lot at the KFC I didn't see his car there yet, so we ended up going inside to order our food. We ended up deciding on a small bucket meal deal that had a mix of a few different pieces of meat, biscuits, and mashed potatoes and gravy. It wasn't anything fancy, but we both liked KFC food.

We still had a little time before 4:00, when Josh was supposed to meet us. Since we did, we just sat out in the car, letting the AC run to help keep the temperature down. With the way today felt, summer had definitely hit. The temperature was probably in the upper 90's for the day. The talk was mostly casual as we sat there, my right hand spending most of the time intertwined with her left. It was simple contact, but for me it was nice. I'd always been the type of person to enjoy contact with someone else, whether it was a hug or just a simple touch like hand holding. It was how my family was, it didn't matter whether it was male or female, greetings and partings were done with a hug.

It was about 3:45 when Josh pulled into the parking lot, giving Nicole and me a wave, before heading into the restaurant to get his food. He came out a few minutes later with his bag of food; his girlfriend had stayed in the car waiting for him. With the food still in hand he headed towards my car, so I rolled the window down.

"You good to head out, or do you need to make a stop anywhere before we go?" I leaned out the window a little bit, as I asked him.

"I'm good to head out. I'm just not sure exactly how to get out to the island. I don't remember what road it's actually on." I could only chuckle at that. It hadn't even occurred to me that he'd suggest an island to go to, when he didn't know how to get there. That, and that he hadn't bothered to find out before he'd left. "Follow me, it's pretty easy. We'll just head north on Main Street until we get to Antelope Drive, that's the light just past Crown Burger. It has Burger King at the north side of the intersection on the left hand side. We head west from there and it's a straight shot out to the island, off Antelope Drive. After all, that is the reason it's called Antelope Drive." Josh at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed by that fact, hanging his head a moment before he started laughing. "Ok, so I hadn't realized that was why it has the name that it does. So just straight out on Antelope, I can do that. I'll still go ahead and follow you out there." I nodded my head in response as he started back to his car.

I looked over at Nicole, laughing and rolling my eyes as I rolled the window up. "I would've thought he'd know how to get there, being the one to suggest it. Oh well, I'll get us there." "Well, hopefully he won't feel too bad about it. I didn't know how to get out there until you just explained it. Course, I'm not really spending as much time in this area as you guys do, since I live down in Salt Lake." "Yeah, I can understand that. I've never actually been out on the island, myself. I just know where it is. My grandpa used to help run a garage that's out west on Antelope Drive. It's just a couple of miles from where the island is. Though I guess technically it wouldn't be an island, since there's a road that drives out to it, but everyone calls it Antelope Island anyways." It was ironic in my opinion, but Antelope Island having road access out to it made things much simpler. The Great Salt Lake was a big lake, easily the biggest in Utah and one of the biggest in the west. It wasn't really traditionally used for recreational use with its salt content, but it had been in the past. There had even been a water park on the lake called Saltair. One of the attractions it had was that the salt content was high enough, at that point, that you were able to float very easily. The lake also had its drawbacks though. The salt water was a breeding ground for brine shrimp and that, combined with the lake itself, created an unpleasant odor. Part of the plan to offset the smell was the simple fact we'd probably be out there for a few hours — you grew accustomed to it in that amount of time.

It took about fifteen minutes from where we'd been, at the KFC in Layton, to get out onto the island. There was a little shack that was run by Fish and Game, since Antelope Island was considered a state park. After paying the admission fee, I continued out, starting down the road that led to the actual island itself. Following the signs to the main parking lot, I pulled in and shut the car off, going around to the other side to open the door for Nicole, before popping the trunk, to get the rest of our stuff from the back. Along with the food we'd brought I had a couple blankets, a softball, and a couple of mitts.

In case we didn't feel the mood for any of the sports related things, I'd also brought my radio with me. Nicole took it upon herself to carry the food, while I gathered the rest of my things, and bundled them into the two blankets. The spot we'd gone out to was on the west side of the lake. It had a few picnic tables, as well as a little bit of the shore line and sand. Out on the lake there was also just a touch of a breeze. Nothing much, but with it blowing from the west, it brought a little coolness to the day.

We started by setting the blankets out, the two I had as well as two that Josh had brought. Once we had those out we set the food out, using the various balls and mitts we'd brought to make sure the corners of the blankets stayed down. At this point, it'd been just a few short hours since Nicole and I had eaten, and a brief discussion with Josh and his date, Linda would confirm about the same for them as well. The general consensus was to go ahead and wait a little while before we actually ate. Since the food was just chicken, we decided that having it out for a couple hours would still be safe. In the mean time, we paired up to play a little catch.