C h a s i n g D r e a m s ➮ C a r r i s o n

• 16 •

Carrie knew she was going to lose the bet. The color Dawson picked out was absolutely her favorite out of the 20 she brought home and there was no way to change her mind.

She had no idea what she was going to do about the 'date.' Was Dawson actually serious about this 'date.' Carrie already tried to get the paint from another store, and tried to order it online but with her luck it wasn't available at any other stores or online. She had to go in and buy it.

There was no getting out of going to get the paint either because she showed Harrison over FaceTime and he loved it. So Carrie headed back to the store today to pick up the paint in hopes that Dawson wasn't working today or that he wouldn't see her. She really didn't know what to say to him. A bet was a bet and one thing she learned with Harrison was to always own up to when she lost. And he did the same with her.

This whole 'date' idea made her so uncomfortable. He hardly knew her and there was also the part where she was engaged. He didn't know that and neither did Harrison at the moment. Carrie didn't know what to do about that. She thought that it might be a better idea just to keep it to herself and let this embarrassment play out and hopefully end today. Nothing was going to happen between her and Dawson, she would have to simply go hang out with him for a few hours and never come back to the store.

He came right up to her as soon as he saw her. "Hey Carrie!"

She smiled and headed towards the paint isle. "Was I right?" he asked as she grabbed the paint. Once he saw which color she was grabbing, he asked, "when are we going on our date?"

"Thanks for the help, but I really don't want to go on this date."

"Why not?" he asked. "We agreed on a date."

"I can't go."

"Not even for like two hours? Tonight?"

"Come on Carrie. I just want to hang out and have a little fun."

"Like what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, go on a picnic or something. Nothing too special."

"Okay. But that's it."

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Carrie met him at the park that night for their 'date.' He was already waiting for her by the pond and it looked like he picked up food from somewhere. "I'm glad you actually came," he told her.

"You didn't think I would come?"

"Not really."

"Well I lost a bet," she answered. "I have to own up to it."

"I got us Olive Garden," he answered. "I wanted to get something a little fancier but I had a feeling you wouldn't want that."

Carrie sat beside him. This already felt so awkward. She did not want to be here. And he knew that.

"So what do you do?" he asked.

"I play professional softball," she answered. "For the Bandits."

"I didn't even know there was professional softball."

"Yeah, a lot of people don't know about it."

"That's cool though. What position do you play?"

"I play centerfield," she answered proudly. "Sometimes the corners but mostly center."

"I play football for Illinois," he said, "I'll be going into my senior year this fall."

"What position?"

"Quarterback. A lot of coaches are telling me to switch too wide receiver if I want to play in the NFL. But I'm a quarterback. That's what I do."

"Why do they want you to switch?"

"My downfield accuracy isn't the greatest," he explained. "I've been working on it all summer."

She noticed that he'd brought a football. "Not to brag or anything, but if you can hit me on the run you'll be fine this season."

"You want to run some routes for me?"

"I'll do a few." She added with a smile, "I'm pretty fast so you're gonna have to put it out there."

"I can do it."

"Throw it how you normally would. I'm not the size of a receiver but put it where you would and I'll get it."

Dawson quickly figured out how fast Carrie was when he under threw her the first time by over 10 yards. "Come on."

The next throw she actually had to run for. "That's better."

For the next half hour, Carrie just ran routes for him and let him practice his throwing. They did everything from deep throws, too short throws, to even jump throws where she got to show off her ridiculous vertical jump.

On the last throw, he really made her run for the ball, enough that she actually had to dive and make the catch. She was able to turn herself in mid air to land on her back and roll to a stop. He then came running over.

"You good?" he asked as he knelt next to her.

Carrie was laughing. "I'm surprised I caught that. I didn't think I would," she said, barely able to get all the words out.

"That was a pretty nice catch," he said as he helped her up.

"Thanks, now that was a pick and I'm gonna take it back for a touchdown."

He caught her before she could even start to run. Carrie was positive that neither of them saw this coming, especially herself, but he leaned down and kissed her. And she let him...