“And this is your table,” the hostess said, gesturing with an open palm to a table beside the water. “Enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you,” I said as I pulled Madison’s chair out for her.

She looked around with interest. “This is much nicer than I thought it would be. I expected a tacky tourist trap.”

“Most people do, and it has a little bit of that, but I really like it.”

Madison suddenly sat bolt upright and tapped my arm. “Carter, look!” she hissed.

At a table only twenty feet away sat the couple whose boat we’d almost collided with.

“Ahoy!” Madison called. The pair looked in our direction and Madison waved excitedly as if we’d unexpectedly run into her best friends.

The woman threw the dirtiest look I’d seen in years, and the man gave us the finger before they turned back to their meal.

“I don’t think they like us,” I noted.

Madison frowned. “Are we assholes?”

“Maybe. But they could stand to lighten up a little.”

After cracking a bottle of wine, we clinked glasses and took advantage of the incredible view to look over the lake we’d just spent hours on. The sun was approaching the horizon and colored streaks painted the clouds to the west. The pastel colors reflected in the still waters, as picturesque a scene as possible in the city.

“You know, I’ve never been here before, but I heard you have to reserve tables weeks in advance for peak times,” Madison said. “I could have sworn sunset would be a peak time.”

There was a question in her voice, but I was curious what form it would take. “You heard correctly.”

“Did you already have this reservation before we met? Carter, did you take me on this date instead of another girl? I would say I’m insulted, but it’s been a pretty sweet day.”

Somehow, she always brought a light touch to everything, and my smile was an easy response.

“Now that’s an unfounded accusation. I know the manager, and I treat him to free tickets now and then, so I called in a favor.”

“Your band must be good if tickets can get you swanky perks like this. You know you still have to take me to a show, and you only have one date left.”

That was a terrible thought. Madison had been a breath of fresh air, a revelation. Still, it was better to have her for a short time than not at all.

She was sure of herself, one of the traits that made her so interesting. But she had the habit of leaping to conclusions and missing things. I couldn’t wait to disabuse her of her assumptions, but I had to play it right for maximum effect.

“I’ll take that under advisement, but maybe I’m too self-conscious to play in front of you.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment.”

I tipped my head at the called bluff. “It wouldn’t even count as a date if I’m performing the whole time. There’s no rush.”

Madison shook her head. “No way. No bending the rules, mister. That’s a slippery slope. After tonight, we have one day left together, no matter what. No seeing each other except for the final date.”

“Fine,” I said. “No guarantees, though. I don’t have any shows scheduled right now, so it might be a few weeks. Do you really want to wait that long for a third date?”

That flummoxed her. “Huh. That might be a problem. Well, it was a fun idea, but there’s no way I want to wait that long to fuck you.”

It had been a long time since I’d dated anyone, but even then, none of those women were like Madison. She didn’t seem to care what I would think about what she said.

“You know, I admire your confidence,” I said. “You’re one of the most straightforward people I’ve ever met, man or woman.”

Madison gave me a strange look as she sipped her wine. “I wasn’t always this way.”

“What happened?”

She took another swig, draining her glass. “After my parents died, I had to build myself into a self-sufficient and competent woman, but it took a lot of time, and work, and mistakes. Sometimes, I thought about ending it all.”

The comment was thrown out so casually, it took a moment to sink in.

“That’s hard to imagine. Whatever it took, you succeeded. You’re amazing.”

“Thank you, Carter. That means a lot. You wouldn’t recognize me ten years ago. When I was a kid, I was a total nerd. I had top marks in school but no friends, no boyfriends—no one except for my parents, my books, and my video games.”

The conversation was trending in a dark direction, and I wanted to lift the cloud from Madison’s face. “I used to be into video games when I was younger, too. It got harder and harder to justify the time as I grew up, but I still have a Super Nintendo at my apartment.”

Madison’s eyes grew wider. “No way. Seriously? Do you have Mario Kart?”

I chuckled. “The cartridge is in the system as we speak.”

In all my life, I never thought a love for old video games would get me laid, but the look in Madison’s eyes suggested that I may have been mistaken.

“We have a lot of things to do on our third date,” Madison said.

“We do?”

She nodded, a serious look on her face. “If you aren’t playing a show, then you have to at least play me a few songs. Then we need to play Mario Kart. Maybe we should play a strip version, because after that, you’re going to fuck my brains out all night long.”

I choked on my wine. One of these times, she’d stop surprising me with how she cut straight to the point.

After I recovered, I met her eyes.

“That sounds like a perfect date.”