Dreams Or How I Live My Life in Daydreams

Moonlight

***This chapter contains racy content***

Tossing his crumpled napkin onto his plate, scraped clean, Maddox rubbed his belly. "I'm stuffed."   Autumn took a final slurp of her chocolate malt. 

He pointed. "You sure that was all you wanted?" 

She smiled.  "Yeah. I'm sure."

He dug in his pocket and set his phone on the table, his dog featured on the lock screen wallpaper.

"What a cute doggie," Autumn said. 

"Her name is Rue," Maddox said, grinning with pride. "She's a handful."  

Autumn chuckled. "I bet."  

Maddox eyed her curiously. "Do you have a pet?" 

Autumn paused before answering. "I did. Not anymore."

"Why?"

The atmosphere turned somber. Her eyes misted. "I'm allergic to pet dander. We couldn't keep it."

His face fell. "You're allergic to pet dander?" Playing with her straw, Autumn nodded. Maddox sighed inwardly. There went his plans for inviting her to his home.

A melancholy laugh pulled him from his woeful thoughts. "What is it?" he said, hating the sadness that emitted from her eyes. 

Autumn sniffled. "Bear," she gestured her hand in the air, "That was my dog's name." 

"Bear?" Maddox repeated. 

She nodded. "He loved humping my leg."

Maddox pursed his lips, attempting to suppress a chuckle. Unable to keep a straight face, he let loose a loud guffaw. 

Autumn joined in on the laughter, her shoulders shaking while tears of mirth streamed down her cheeks. "I don't know why he did that," she said hiccuping and snorting. "He'd jumped on my leg, paws wrapped around tight, and go to town with the most serious face I've ever seen."

His cheeks as red as the bottle of ketchup on the table, Maddox slid down the seat, clutching his side. "Please stop!" he pleaded. "My stomach hurts!"

Autumn grabbed a napkin from the holder to wipe her eyes. "Okay," she teased.

Grateful for the reprieve while catching his breath, Maddox glimpsed a movie poster, an idea formulating in his mind. "What do you say about watching a movie at the drive-in?"

Autumn's eyes lit up. "I think that's an awesome idea."

"Cool," Maddox said. He called for the waitress to collect their bill along with a generous tip. Smiling, the woman tucked the tip into her ample bosom.

The twosome departed the restaurant, ready for their next adventure.

*********

A bundle of nervous energy, Maddox bounced to Rock Around the Clock to calm his nerves.

"Hey," Autumn said, closing out a search engine app on her phone. "The closest drive-in is thirty minutes away."

Maddox shrugged. "It's cool," he said. 

"Are you sure?"  

The prankster smiled confidently. "Yeah," he replied. 

"Okay," she said. "Don't say I didn't warn you." They climbed inside the Escape and buckled their seatbelts.

He fired up the engine and cranked up the volume on the radio. "Let's rock," he said, pressing his foot on the accelerator. 

Autumn gripped the armrest. "You drive as crazy as Nara!" she yelled over the music.