Tempest (Royce/Winston)

084

Jacob's P.O.V.

I don't want Winston to leave me.

I don't want him to get tired of me or to find someone who's better than I am. Even though he says there's no one better than me, I don't really think that's true. I'm sure Winston could get anyone he wanted, so I'm worried that he's not going to have a problem leaving me and finding someone new.

"Jacob, you didn't have to do this, you know?" Winston asked, "you didn't have to take me on a date".

"I know... But I wanted to. We haven't been on a date in a while, the last time was when you took us to the drive in movie" I explained quietly, staring down at our linked hands.

We were at the park, but we were making our way to the man-made lake that was on the far side of the park. I thought it would be nice to go on a paddle boat and then grab something to eat from one of the food trucks that were at the park today.

Winston gently squeezed my hand which caused me to look up at him. He offered me a small smile and I weakly gave him one in return.

"Jacob, we can just go home, you know? It's okay if you're not up for anything".

"What makes you think I'm not up for it?"

"You sent me a sad face this morning, you've been sending me sad faces for the past few days".

I shook my head, "I'm okay".

"Don't lie to me".

"I'm not" I reassured, "really".

Winston didn't look very convinced. I leaned into him and he instinctively lifted his arm and wrapped it around my waist. We continued to walk along the sidewalk, the lake beginning to come into view.

"So what exactly are we doing again?"

"We're going to rent a paddle boat and go out on the lake".

"That sounds dangerous, what if we tip over or something?"

I managed to laugh a little, "we'll be wearing life jackets, Winnie, and I doubt that we'll tip over. You have nothing to worry about".

"Hmm if you say so".

We kept walking until we got to the area where the paddle boats were available for rental. I decided to rent one for an hour and a half, and I placed a packet of duck food on the counter too because why not? After paying, we received our life jackets and put them on, then we were lead down to the lake and given a paddle boat.

"Are you okay?" I asked curiously once I noticed how tense Winston looked once we were in the boat and paddling. "Have you not been on one of these before?"

"I have, I was little though. I'm not very fond of boats now, but I'm okay".

"Oh". I stared at Winston before speaking again, "I'm sorry, I should've asked you if wanted to get in a paddle boat. We can go back?"

I felt bad now, I wanted Winston to enjoy the date. I was already feeling insecure, so this whole situation wasn't helping at all. I should be able to plan a date that my boyfriend would enjoy.

"No, it's okay. Just don't let me drown" Winston stated. "My life is in your hands right now".

"You're so overdramatic" I rolled my eyes before smiling some, "but I promise that you're not going to drown, okay?"

"Okay".

Winston and I paddled the boat around the edge of the lake. I opened the packet of duck food and shook it some so I could get some of the duck's attention. I'd never fed ducks before so I have no idea how this is going to work out.