* * *

"Endless options?" I asked skeptically, as I stared at the neon sign for the entrance we were about to step into.

Jaxon turned to smirk at me which then slowly turned into a full grin, showcasing his small yet evident dimples. He playfully bit his bottom lip before leaning in to whisper, "Do you trust me?"

'Do I trust him?' I thought to myself as my eyes roamed quickly over his features. This time around, I knew the answer to that question in an instant. I let out a suppressed giggle before nodding slowly at Jaxon.

In the car on the way here, Jaxon made a comment about taking me out on the biggest "cliche" date according to him and I couldn't have been more excited. I was expecting something with water but was surprised when we ended up at the Carnival.

Grabbing a hold of his hand, we walked into Endless Options together. There were four rooms to explore, it started off with a room full of mirrors and laser lights and it was up to you to find the hidden door which led to the second room, a room full of bouncy balls. This was my favourite room so far because I got to dive in, feeling like a child again, playfully throwing the balls at Jaxon.

After several minutes, Jaxon had to practically force me out of this room because we had already spent way too much time in there, what we didn't expect was the next room to be a jumping castle. Literally the floor, walls and ceiling were covered, forcing us to jump across the room to the exit. We both laughed as we jumped around like fools, forgetting about all of our worries and just enjoyed each other's company.

We walked in to the final room which was a dead giveaway to a disco room, with the room black except the disco lights flashing and my favourite song blaring through the speakers. I instantly fell in love with this room, there was something about music that always connected to me emotionally.

I chuckled as I let go of Jaxon's hand, jogging ahead of him before stopping in the middle of the room. I stretched my arms out and tilted my head back, letting my hair roam free against my back, I couldn't help but let out a carefree laugh as I spun around playfully. When I stopped and looked back at Jaxon, he had a smile tugged at his lips as he watched my antics. I ran up to him before jumping on him, luckily for the both of us he had quick reflexes as he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me protectively. He let out a chuckle as he playfully spun us around really fast, my giggle echoing as it vibrated against us.

Our spins began to slow down until we came to a complete stop, everything was truly slowing down for me as I looked down and studied Jaxon's features. My hair was tickling the sides of his face but it appeared to be the last thing on his mind, steadily he raised his hand and placed the strands of my hair behind my ear as his eyes alternated between my eyes and my lips. I became very aware of the proximity between us and that was enough for me to become nervous. I could feel the electricity pull me towards him, tempted to taste his soft lips against mine.

I didn't know if I was ready to kiss him though, the whole idea brought butterflies to my stomach. Quick thinking I lightly pushed at him so that he could drop me to my feet, reluctantly he did so. He watched me as I nervously giggled before grabbing his hand, moving us towards the exit. I was glad that he didn't force the situation on me or force something I wasn't ready for, he just held onto my hand and walked alongside me. We made our way to the exit before we started on our mission to find something else to do.

"Thank you, that was so much fun!" I found myself smiling as I said those words.

Jaxon chuckled as he nodded slightly, "You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

We continued to walk in a peaceful silence, looking around for the next destination, both of us not wanting to talk about what almost happened just a few minutes ago. I needed a distraction and I needed one now. I looked around in desperation for another room or ride to go in but instead started to see quiet a few people with body paint on, creasing my eyebrows in confusion I couldn't help but wonder what that was all about.

"A Penny for your thoughts?"

I let out a chuckle before shaking my head, "Considering we don't use pennies, I feel like I'm getting robbed."

Jaxon laughed as he squeezed my hand playfully, "I'm sure I can make it up to you somehow."

I shook my head before laughing, "I was just curious about where all this body paint is coming from."

"That's the fluffy room."

"I'm sorry. The what?"

Jaxon stopped in his tracks before smirking at me, "I believe we found our next destination."

* * *

Every time I looked at Jaxon, I would notice him flicker his eyes to our hands as we walked side by side. I couldn't ignore how perfect our hands hit within each other and made me wonder if he was thinking the same thing.

We were on our way to this so called "Fluffy Room" which Jaxon knew what it was all about, but apparently he didn't have it in his heart to ruin the surprise for me, no matter how much I begged. Instead, decided to lead me to this room so that I could get a feel of it myself. Every time I looked at him, I could see he was deep in thought and made me want nothing more than to probe at him and see what he was thinking about.

I refocused my attention as we walked inside to meet the girl at the counter. After signing us up, Jaxon was given a key to a locker for us to dispose our belongings in. "This is your locker key, don't lose it otherwise sucks to be you." The girl responded in monotone.

I bit onto my lower lip as I repressed a giggle when I looked at the girl and how bored she seemed with her job. I looked up at Jaxon and it appears as though he was thinking the same thing because his lips were pressed together in an attempt not to laugh. He lightly grabbed my hand again before turning towards the locker room, and then towards our designated locker. He smiled at me as he opened the locker before unbuttoning his shirt, revealing nothing but skin. My eyes immediately widened in shock as he became topless, throwing his shirt inside the locker.

"Jaxon, what are you doing?" I asked nervously, trying to remain eye contact but found my eyes involuntarily moving down his chest and torso.

"Getting Naked." Jaxon responded as seriously as he could but started laughing when my jaw dropped. He placed his index finger alongside my jawline before he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, "Take your clothes off, Avery."

I tried to remain calm but my palms were getting sweaty. I knew he was only referring to my clothes and I knew this was the reason why I had to wear my swimwear. It was all beginning to make sense to me.
I immediately put blame on the raging hormones and a topless Jaxon when I thought about how demanding he was when he told me to take my clothes off. Just the thought alone made me blush. I shook my head lightly as I removed my shoes and then my playsuit, revealing my swimwear. I wanted to smirk as I saw Jaxon's eyes flicker down my body. I could tell he was trying hard to divert his eyes everywhere except towards the woman currently in front of him, me.

He waited until I placed all my stuff in the locker before securing the lock on it and then placing the key into the pocket of his shorts. He grabbed a hold of my hand before exiting the locker room. The further we walked down the hallway, the darker the lights began to dim as the fluorescent lights took over. I couldn't help but tighten my grip on his hand, it's not like I was scared but I was most definitely nervous. I didn't know what to expect the further I walked.

As soon as the double doors opened, I couldn't contain my excitement as I took in the large room, there was a huge dance floor directly in the middle of the room that took up 80% of the space. To my left, away from the dance floor was the bar and to my right, on the other end of the room was the DJ Booth. The DJ booth gave the illusion that it was floating in mid air but looking closer, I could see the glass staircase that led up to the booth.

"Come on." Jaxon spoke up as he pulled onto my hand and led me to the back of the room. I followed in awe as I took in the room and how everything appeared to be glowing in the dark. We came to a stop at a workstation that had glow in the dark body paint. Before I could question what was about to happen, Jaxon dropped to his knees and started to draw a flower in the middle of my stomach on top of my bathers. Just as he finished the flower he added swirls and dots extending past to the sides of my body, making me squeal from the coldness of it all. Once he was satisfied with that design, he went on to add some swirls to my left arm.

I let out a giggle as I looked at how pretty the glow looked. I grabbed the brushes off Jaxon before reciprocating the favour, drawing a sugar skull on his chest before surrounding it with random swirls of different colours. As soon as I was done, I decided to copy him by adding more swirls to his right arm instead. I smiled as I placed the brushes down on the table when I was satisfied with my artwork.

"One minute until take off!"

My head turned towards the DJ who made the statement. I was about to question what he meant by that but didn't need to as Jaxon grabbed my hand and we walked towards the dance floor.

"What's happening in a minute?" I shouted over the music.

Jaxon smiled at me before responding, "You'll see soon enough!"

I couldn't help but look around and admire the scenery and how amazing everyone looked as their entire bodies glowed in the dark. My attention was redirected towards the DJ who began counting down, everyone following suit.

"3"

"2"

"1"

It went quiet shortly after, feeling confused I looked at Jaxon to question what happened but was stopped in my tracks when soapy foam and bubbles began to fill the room at a rapid speed. I chuckled as my hands grabbed onto the bubbles from the soap before blowing at them.

Jaxon raised both his hands up mid-air at his side, "Welcome to the fluffy room!" He yelled over the cheers as he smiled at me.

"I was not expecting this!" I said in between laughs as I attempted to pop the bubbles that consumed the room. Jaxon bit on his bottom lip to suppress his smile as he kept a close eye on me. Ignoring his seductive shirtless ways I distracted myself by spinning around and cover myself in bubbles.

I could feel his eyes on me as I ran my fingers through the soap that now filled the air. I gathered a big ball of soap until I was satisfied with the pile. Grabbing them into my palm I quickly directed it towards Jaxon, before blowing them in his direction. The smile slowly appeared on my face as I saw his entire face covered in soap. He looked at me, stunned by my actions.

"You're so dead." he playfully threatened before attempting to wrap his arms around my waist. Quick thinking, I dodged his hands and ran around him, not before adding more bubbles to his head.

"You look like Santa Clause" I said, with my hands on my hips admiring my work.

"Wanna be Mrs Clause?" He said. I couldn't help blush at the thought, maybe it was because of how husky his voice sounded when he spoke the words. Sensing my embarrassment he opened his arms to hug me, I took a step forward to hug him but groaned when I felt soap land on my head, followed by his evil chuckle.

"Rude."

His laughter got louder when I tried to push away from him but he quickly grabbed me by the waist, wrapping his arms around them. I let out a sequel before laughing as I tried to fight him off, eventually giving up and securing my arms around his neck. My laughter echoed through my ears as he spun us around faster and faster, almost losing his footing. Our spins came to a slow stop until we were just staring into each other's eyes. I could feel it at that point, how perfect and protected I felt in his arms. I felt slightly nervous before about a potential kiss but now, I wanted to embrace it.

And that's exactly what I did, I wasn't going to wait for him to make the first move. Quickly leaning down, I placed my lips softly over his. I knew it was a bold and daring move that stunned Jaxon for a moment, until I felt him open his mouth wider welcoming in my kiss.

For the first time, I felt clarity. I knew what I wanted.
I knew who I wanted and he was a damn good kisser.

* * *

A/N: I think this is one of my favourite chapters! 😍
What do you guys think? Don't forget to hit that star button before you leave xx

Next Chapter: Thought I'd get you out of your misery with an early update. But don't worry, the dates far from over.