"What the hell am I doing?"

"Getting ready for the date of your life," Ayrton replied over FaceTime.

Poonam held my phone for me, pointing it my way so he could see the outfit. It was a cute marigold dress that evoked sweet summer memories, of which I had none, so the intention was to create them while wearing it. The problem was that I was having a mild panic attack.

I flailed my hands aimlessly and said, "Who agrees to go on an overnight trip for their first date with someone?"

Poonam rolled her eyes. "Let's not pretend you don't know the guy, in case you're intending to use that as excuse to chicken out at the last second. Besides, he's almost here."

"I can't do this." I put my face in my hands.

"Listen to me, you adorable moron," Ayrton said and as if sensing his intention, Poonam stuck my phone so close to my face that it felt like he was right there, breathing down my neck. "You're going to get up from that bed, grab your little bag full of sexy things that you're going to enjoy with the sex god who is trying his best to sex you up, and you're going to shed the coward you have been hiding behind all these years. Is that clear?"

Technically it was. That was the only way I was going to enjoy this corner I'd backed myself into in an unexpected moment of bravery. But there was old comfort in the coward I hid behind, it meant I was safe from getting hurt. That was how I'd approached every relationship I'd had since college. And those had all fit the definition of casual to a T. Casual dating and stopping when someone more interesting came along. Casual sex and stopping when we grew bored with each other.

There was nothing casual about Miguel, despite him using the term to describe what was definitely not a run off the mill date. An overnight trip was a solid test, and I wanted to pass it as much as I wanted to fail it.

I groaned.

"I need a verbal yes," Ayrton said.

"Yes," I finally said, standing up. "What if I screw up?"

"You fix it." Easier said than done, I thought but kept it to myself. Ayrton then said, "Men are very easy to please. All you need to do is show them a boob and they'll fall at your feet."

Poonam threw her head back and laughed like a witch, saying, "It really does work."

"Thanks for the mental image," I said, but I was smiling now. "Thank you, guys. I don't know what I'd do without you."

She protested as I hugged her, but I knew she secretly liked it. Poonam was the least traditional in a traditional family, the only one of her cousins not in the holy trinity of careers: law, medicine or engineering. And although she proudly lived the values her family had instilled in her, she surpassed them all in determination and vision. And also in grumpiness. But I was so thankful that we were in each other's lives.

"Stop, you're giving me cavities," she said after a moment, like she always did when we had a sweet moment.

"Where's my sugar?" Ayrton asked.

I blew him a kiss through the camera and he faked catching it mid air and putting it in his pocket. That had been our tradition ever since he moved to L.A. in pursue of his dream film career. The Californian life was doing him well, his smiles were brighter and it probably had to do with both being away from the long shadow of his father and the fact that he had a new beau. I was so happy for him, but I missed him so bad.

I was working myself up into a mood when there was a knock at our door. Poonam rushed over to the peep hole and confirmed it was my date.

"And girl, he looks fine," she said, enunciating the last word with exaggeration.

"Phew, I have no doubt." Ayrton fanned himself. "Okay listen, I don't want to hear anything from you until Monday. And then I want to hear every little detail. Do we have a deal?"

I smiled. "Deal."

We hung up and I gave Poonam one last unwanted hug before she hid herself down the hallway leading to our bedrooms. I grabbed my purse, the overnight bag and opened the door.

Someone hold me, I thought. Preferably him.

"Hi," I squeaked out, holding my overnight duffel bag in front of me like a barrier.

Miguel's smile came slow but intense, as if he knew exactly the kind of effect his white linen shirt, purposely unbuttoned to where I liked it, was doing to me. Or the way his baby blue shorts hugged the thick muscles of his thighs. I thought bringing a box of condoms was an exaggeration, but now I wasn't so sure.

"Ready?" he asked, taking the bag from me and offering me his arm.

Listen, I was all for feminism. I could carry my damn bag if I pleased. But at that moment I didn't please. So I linked my hands around his arm and got a nice feel of his skin against mine.

His car was one of those Audis that sat low on the ground and looked like they were made of precious metals. Miguel opened the passenger's door and I gladly accepted his help to get in. It was a mix between squats and crunches and I wasn't well equipped for it with my dress or strappy sandals.

After he joined me in the driver's seat I said, "Gee, that was like going to the gym."

Miguel looked at me as he turned the engine on and said, "Hopefully that's how you'll feel like on Monday."

I smacked his forearm, which of course sent him into peals of laughter. This was one of the most dangerous things of being with him, the teasing that I could never dish back in kind.

I huffed, but changed the topic so I could try to sweep this one under the rug. "So, where's our destination?"

"I thought it would be a surprise."

He put on his sunglasses and I took mine out of the cross body purse I'd put on earlier. We spent the first hour of what looked like a road trip chatting about this and that. Work took the biggest chunk of conversation. He shared a couple of stories about his life in Canada and how cold it was.

"Ironically," he said at some point. "The best way to get warm is to get on the ice and play some hockey."

"Did you get any good at it?" I asked.

Miguel snorted. "No, and it pisses me off because Charlie's way better at it than me."

"Said like a typical older brother," I said with a roll of my eyes.

He shrugged.

"Charlie's a force of nature. Someone has to keep her in check, you know?" Miguel shook his head.

I thought about that. Although he pretended to be all annoyed by his porcupine sister, as he called her, I knew for a fact that he adored her and did everything for her. Any time she needed something, he was there for her. Over the phone, in person. Even helping her boyfriend out to pick an engagement ring and organize a proposal.

That was love. The kind I couldn't fathom.

After a moment of silence he glanced at me and asked, "Why are you smiling like that?"

"You'd do anything for your sister, right?"

I thought he would laugh and say no way, but he stayed quiet so long that I started to worry it was maybe time to flash him some skin.

Then, in a low tone of voice, he said, "Yeah, I would. I'd stop a bullet for her if I could, but life had other plans."

I cringed so hard I almost turned into a raisin.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's okay," he said, giving me a smile. "Hopefully the Bernal Solis women won't ever get shot at again."

"I'm crossing my fingers and toes," I said. I'd noticed we'd been heading north all the while, and I latched onto that to steer the conversation to something less painful. "Seems like we're heading north, huh?"

"Yup."

The bright grin on his face told me that was as much as I was going to get out of him.

We made a pit stop two hours later where I attempted to question him again, but he expertly evaded by asking if I wanted a snack. My stomach betrayed me with a rumble. We grabbed something quick on the way and played some music. Whether he wanted it or not, I filled him in on the success of my friends' band.

"Multiplatinum, you said?" he asked, mouth wide open.

"Yeah, it's insane. I heard they're even planning to make a movie out of their story."

"Damn." Miguel then told his phone to play Casual Friday Funeral and a while later, as we jammed to them, I saw the Welcome to Orlando sign.

"No way," I said.

"Way," he laughed.

I recognized the streets of the city south and was still trying to guess where we were going until it became obvious. That was when I let out great guffaws. So much for a sexy escapade that would require tons of lingerie and lube.

"You like it?" Miguel asked, as though he knew exactly what I'd been thinking.

"Love it." I grinned.

It had been ages upon ages since I had last visited Universal. I was glad I'd brought a cute straw hat and that I'd had the foresight to cake myself in sunblock before leaving this morning. I tossed a compliment his way when he pulled out a cool fedora hat from his backseat and put it on. We strutted toward the entrance of the park amidst a lot of looks from the tourists around us. It might have been the hot guy, the hot dress or the fact that the girl in the couple was taller than the guy she was holding hands with. It didn't matter, because walking like a couple with Miguel felt good. It felt right. Our strides matched perfectly and I felt like we were eating the world step by step.

At the entrance of the park I was ready to pull out my credit card, but he surprised me once more by taking out the two passes he'd purchased in advance.

"You didn't have to do that," I told him once we were inside the park.

"That's true," he said, leaning closer to me before adding, "but I wanted to."

He was going to be the death of me.

We got onto the first ride, which of course had to be the most insane roller coaster of both parks. The picture they took of us during the ride was hilarious, with the skirt of my dress flying all up in our faces. We bought it, even though I normally would never have spent money on something like that.

"Let's get on the Hogwarts Express!"

As I tugged at his hand he groaned. "You're like my sister."

The benches in the train were supposed to be for at least three people, but the two of us fit in snug. We sat across a trio of teenage girls who couldn't tear their eyes away from Miguel. The way he looked at me was a clear S.O.S. Ah, what a drag, to be so beautiful that it attracted unwanted attention everywhere he went.

"Sorry ladies," I said, shrugging. "He won't be taking autographs at this time."

Every jaw in the cabin dropped. One of the girls recovered quicker, telling the others, "I knew it. He had to be an actor or something."

"That was mean," Miguel said as we climbed out of the train, tugging my hand until I was up against him. "I feel like I need compensation for the embarrassment."

I tilted my head. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

With that he kissed me in the middle of the 9 3/4 platform. Our hats bumped and fell off our heads, but neither of us cared about that at the moment. I wrapped my arms around his neck, he circled his around my waist, and it was a long while later that we remembered we should breathe and that there were kids around us. Between the heat, the excitement and him, I was sweating.

"Phew, I am thirsty," I said, realizing a second later my poor choice of words.

Miguel laughed and laughed.

"Oh, c'mon," he said at my grumpy face. "That was such beautiful comedy."

I huffed. "Well, are you coming or—get your mind of the gutter, geez!"

I giggled at the way his eyebrows rose and dipped. We got brain freezes on frozen butter beer and while we walked through the throngs of people, we established that he was definitely a Gryffindor. The confidence in himself, the fact that he loved a dangerous sport—in his case Crossfit and not Quidditch—the way he was the center of attention even without trying to be. Plus the fact that he would look great in a red and gold scarf.

"Show-offy," I said, ticking my fingers. "Fiercely loyal, the center of attention and brave to the point of stupidity."

"Gee, thanks, sunshine." He nudged me with his elbow. "And you're a Hufflepuff."

"What?" I stomped my foot. "Just because I'm dressed in yellow?"

"No," he said with a smile. "Because you're everything that is good and worth fighting for in this world."

Oh, be still my heart.

I reeled from that little casual comment for hours. It still had me dizzy that night after dinner, when he checked us into a suite at a fancy resort and he made me forget I'd packed nice lingerie in my bag. And I thought about it still as he undressed me and started to make me sing.

ATTENTION: THIS SHIP IS