17 Dating

I saw Ashley glance at Ruby and then back at me, "Why not? Of course you can."

I gestured toward Jack, who sat quietly at the back of the class. "What about this guy?"

Ashley seemed a bit confused. "Do you know him?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's kind of my bodyguard," I explained casually.

Ashley's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I'm finding out a lot about you, Gray. I heard something about you being a Mafia member?"

I did not want to get into that topic.

"Where exactly are you planning to camp?" I asked, changing the subject.

She mentioned an area west of Boston around Weston.

"It's under the jurisdiction of the Clown Mafia, so I needed to get permission," she explained.

Her words made me a bit uneasy.

"I'll ask someone if I can go, just in case, and send you a message," I promised.

"Alright, see you then, hopefully," Ashley replied with a smile.

As soon as I finished talking with her, I messaged Susan, letting her know that I was on my way home.

I picked her up in the limousine, and we headed straight to the bank.

I still didn't have access to my account, and I was going on a date later that evening. I would definitely need some money.

The bank assistant found time for me right away. With their help, I got everything set up on my phone so I could access my bank account on the go. It felt good to have that sorted out.

It turned out I had over $60,000 in my bank account, which caught me slightly off guard, but considering that I owned a house in Boston, it didn't seem that strange.

We drove towards the shopping mall, and as we entered through the ornate entrance of one of the exclusive clothing stores, Susan immediately got to work, helping me pick out some outfits. She knew exactly the type of clothes that would suit me.

At first, I gravitated towards more casual options, but Susan had other ideas.

"Make it look fitting for a man in your position," she advised, and so we shifted our focus to more elegant clothes.

We found a set of clothes perfect for a date situation—nothing too extravagant, but still stylish and sophisticated. It included a well-fitted blazer in a neutral color, paired with tailored trousers and a crisp button-down shirt.

Susan also suggested adding a subtle pocket square and a stylish watch to complete the look. 

As I browsed through the selection of suits, I realized that I didn't actually own one. I thought it might come in handy someday and chose to buy a nice dark-navy suit.

While passing through the women's section, an idea struck me. I approached Susan and asked if she'd like to pick out a dress for herself.

At first, she was hesitant, saying she couldn't accept it since she was already being paid. But I insisted that she at least try it on.

After some persuasion, Susan reluctantly agreed, and we found a beautiful green dress with a stylish cut on the bottom and an alluring neckline.

When she changed out her blouse and pencil skirt into the dress and showed it off to me, I couldn't help but admire how stunning she looked.

The bottle-cut dress emphasized her trim figure. , and the cleavage... I was at a loss for words. Plus, her thigh and some of her long, shapely legs could be seen through the cut.

"How do I look?" Susan asked with a smile, breaking the spell.

"You look... well..."

I looked over at the shop worker walking by and called, "I am sorry! We want this dress!"

The shop worker, a middle-aged woman with a warm smile, walked by and complimented Susan on her choice.

Turning to me, Susan shook her head and said, "Hey! I told you I don't want you to buy me anything."

"It's too late now," I replied with a grin. "Take it off, and let's get out of here."

Susan rolled her eyes but she couldn't hide the smile that tugged at her lips. Reluctantly, she agreed, and we headed to the checkout to make our purchases.

As we left the store, bags in hand, Susan and I made our way back to my house.

Along the way, I took a moment to text Emily, letting her know that I would be at her apartment in about an hour and that I would like to have dinner with her before we watch the movie.

As we arrived back at my house, I quickly remembered the camping trip Ashley had invited me to. Turning to Susan, I asked her to find out if I could join, considering the camping site was in Clown Mafia's territory.

After she assured me she would take care of it, I headed out to pick up Emily.

I drove my McLaren, but someone told me that a black car would be following me from a ways away. After a few minutes, I was at Emily's place.

I walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell. Emily opened the door, looking stunning in a wide white dress with spaghetti halter straps and white sneakers.

"Hey!" she greeted, giving me a hug. "You smell good," she remarked.

Well.. that's a strange compliment.

I chuckled. "You look great." I returned the compliment.

Together, we walked down to my car and got in before driving to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

We settled on a sushi place, which Emily seemed to really like. The hostess led us to a bar-like table where we could watch the sushi chef prepare the food right in front of us.

It was clear this wasn't a cheap place, but I was excited for the experience—it was my first time trying sushi.

Emily was eager to introduce me to it, and I have to admit, it wasn't bad at all.

However, I struggled a bit with the Japanese chopsticks, much to her amusement. After a couple of failed attempts, she couldn't help but laugh.

A few pieces in, Emily surprised me by picking up a sushi roll from my plate and holding it out to me. I hesitated for a moment, unsure, but then I opened my mouth, and she fed it to me with a smile. 

After that, she put her chopsticks down and looked at me with those adorable puppy-dog eyes.

I couldn't resist.

Even though I was having trouble with the chopsticks, I lifted a piece from her plate and fed it to her.

It made me feel warm all over.

As we enjoyed our sushi, I couldn't help but notice a few curious glances from people around us. It seemed our playful exchange had caught their attention.

After finishing our meal, we left the restaurant and I drove us to the cinema. Along the way, I brought up the idea of going camping over the weekend with some people from my class.

I mentioned that I still needed to get permission for it to happen, but I wanted to know if she would be interested in joining if it worked out.

She was all for it.

We arrived at the cinema and purchased tickets for "Love Lies Bleeding," a new action romance movie. I figured it would be something both of us could enjoy, especially since it had received high scores online.

With soda and popcorn in hand, we entered the surprising, nearly empty theater, taking seats towards the back, behind the other few couples.

As the previews began, Emily and I held hands. It was quite cold in there; fortunately, I wore the white long-sleeve shirt and black pants that I bought today.

However, just as the ads were about to end, I felt Emily's hand leave mine and move up to my crotch.

Startled, I turned to her and whispered, "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Her deep blue eyes just looked deep into me. Her hand placed gently on my crotch, rubbing the bulge in my pants.