14. C H E L S I E

FOURTEEN

C H E L S I E

“I knew this would happen.” I pace my way back and forth down the front entryway. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to go out with him. I knew this would all end up being a big mistake?—”

I’m brought to a stiffening halt as Ruby steadies me in place. I hadn’t realized it until this moment, but with the ache in my calves, it feels like I’ve been walking up and down this hallway for an eternity.

Maybe I have.

“Can you stop?” Ruby’s face is deadpan as she looks me in the eyes. “He’s only ten minutes late. Maybe he’s still at practice? You did say that he had practice today, right?”

I nod agreeably. “Yeah, but he said it was at four. That was over three hours ago. I’ve never heard of a practice going on for three hours. Have you?”

“Maybe he got caught up in something?” Ruby attempts to give Gary the benefit of the doubt yet again and bring some rationality to this conversation. Thank God, given that the reasonable part of my brain has seemingly gone on vacation. “So, just relax. I’m sure he’ll be here any second, and before you know it, you’ll be on your way and out the?—”

The sound of tires rolling their way up the gravel of the driveway is enough to dart both of our heads in the direction of the door.

“It’s him!” Ruby screams, pushing past me and racing towards the entryway to peer over at him through the glass. “Act cool, act calm, act… sexy .”

“Sexy?”

“Yes, sexy!” She brings her hands up into my hair, fluffing it out before she moves on to adjusting the hem of my dress.

“How does one act sexy?” I rebut.

“Beats me,” she responds, all flustered. “I’m just the messenger! Just… think sexy and cool and?—”

“Now, who's the one that needs to relax?” I cock a brow, placing both of my hands on my hips.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

“Fine.” She backs away, folding her arms across her chest with a pout. “Just have fun, okay? All I want is for you to have the best night ever. Think you can do that?”

“I’ll try,” I tell her wholeheartedly, pulling her into my embrace. “I’ll try.”

We stay like this for a moment, a faint pocket of peace, until a loud knock comes through the front door and peels us both apart.

“Ah, answer it! Mr. Hottie’s here!” she cries out.

“ Ruby! ” I scold her, given that Gary is standing right behind the glass. “ Shush. He can probably hear you!”

“Sorry.” She races towards the staircase, cheeks red with embarrassment. “I’m going… I’m going. Just remember what I said, okay?”

“Yes, fun, sexy, best night ever, now go.” I shoo her away once more as I place my hand on the doorknob. “Let me have my night. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“You better.” Ruby flashes me a final wink before she’s gone with the wind and up the staircase, though I wouldn’t put it past her to be earwigging in our conversation.

I roll my eyes playfully while clutching onto the door knob, taking a deep breath in and slow breath out to settle my erratic heartbeat until finally, I build up the courage to swing open the front door to reveal Gary, who, not only is out of breath but has his hands perched on top of his knees in an attempt to catch it.

“Gary?” I talk to the top of his messy brown hair, confusion masking my tone.

He instantly shoots his head up at the sound of my voice. “Chelsie,” he says my name breathlessly, eyes meeting my face before he scans me up and down. “Wow… you look… fuck. ”

“Fuck?” I say back to him—toying with his unique choice of word.

“No, sorry!” He nervously runs his hands through his hair. “I meant to say you look… shit .”

“Shit?” My voice inflates that much more as I desperately peer back down at my outfit.

Is it the dress?

I told Ruby it was likely too much, but she insisted that it was perfect.

“God, no !” Gary revokes his words yet again, scrunching his face as he profusely shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said fuck and shit. I just…” His face transforms into a flush shade of pink as he attempts to formulate the remainder of his sentence. “What I meant to say was perfect . You look perfect, Chelsie. You do. You always do.”

The heat displaces from his face onto mine as I hold out on bursting into a smile.

It’s virtually impossible.

Gary Wilkinson: the only guy I’ve ever met who can take me from confusion and concern to love and lust in a matter of seconds.

“I'm so sorry I’m late, love,” he apologizes profusely, straightening out the collar of his shirt before I can thank him for the compliment. “Practice went later than usual, and then I got caught up with Delaney and?—”

I raise a suspicious brow. “Delaney?” I question, having never heard the name before. “Who’s Delaney?”

Gary’s eyes widen as he raises his hands in defense. “Delaney’s my Coach’s girlfriend… partner… fiancé? Are they engaged? I don’t know,” he’s quick to clarify. “Regardless, she’s not some other girl I’m seeing. I… I was just helping her out with some boxes. You see, Coach forgot his briefcase and then?—”

“My word, Gary.” My voice is enough to cut his senseless rambling short as I reach for my purse that rests along the entryway table. “I was right about you.” I step outside the front door and close it shut behind me before re-settling in place.

Gary furrows his brows, toying with his hands in front of his grasp. “Right about me?” he questions. “How so?”

“That you ramble when you're nervous,” I laugh playfully. “Tell me, is the Captain of Crawfield actually nervous right now?”

Gary rubs along his angular face ever so slightly. It’s a not-so-subtle gesture that barely hides the fact that he's blushing. He’s blushing hard, and I’ll be damned, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I step in that much closer to him, eliminating the gap that separates the two of us, but all it does is engross me in him that much more as I take in his height. God, he’s tall. Alarmingly tall. So tall that if I were to stand on my tallest tip toes, I still wouldn’t be able to reach his devilishly refined face.

It’s torture in the best way imaginable, quite like the words that escape his mouth, “I mean, look at you.” He pulls his right hand out from his pocket and extends it forward for me to grasp. “How could I not be?”

The roles reverse, and now I’m the one blushing, only it’s so much more noticeable on my part, given that he’s merely inches away from my face, and I can’t find the strength to hide behind my palm.

A part of me wants him to see it. A part of me wants him to see me .

“What?” It’s apparent that Gary has picked up on the rosiness that’s found its way to mask along my cheeks. “Are you nervous, Chelsie ?”

I chew down on the inside of my cheek thoughtfully—I hate when people use my words against me, almost as much as I hate clichès, but right now, I can’t help it. I want to play into this clichè more than anything. It’s pathetic, sappy, but more than anything, addictive .

“‘I mean, look at you’,” I repeat back to him, intertwining my hand within his. “How could I not be?”

Tonight has been so many things, but most of all, it’s been unexpected.

Little did I imagine that tonight’s get-to-know-me session would mean that Gary Wilkinson would book a reservation at one of the nicest restaurants in the town. For the past two hours, rather than getting to know one another, all we’ve done is manage to study each other’s laugh. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite as comical.

If there’s one title that Gary is walking away from this dinner with, it’s the fact that he possesses the infinite ability to put a smile on my face, no matter what. Even now, as we step out of the restaurant, I can’t help throwing my head back in a playful fit of disbelief.

“Gary!” I scold him. “I can’t believe you did that!” I remark, considering he’s just given me the low-down on the real reason behind his panic-stricken visit to the bakery—which included his little white lie about his quote-on-quote sister, Delaney, “dropping the cake”.

“Ah, c'mon, Chelsie.” He tries to play it cool. “I had to convince you to make the cake somehow, didn’t I?”

I roll my eyes. “I just can’t believe you used poor Delaney to your advantage.” I frown. “I mean, I had a hunch, but I genuinely felt sorry for her for a split second.”

A devious smirk threatens to break free from behind his lips, one that I nudge out of him.

“Don’t laugh.”

“Don’t resort to violence,” he retorts. “My plan worked, did it not? You made the cake. She loved it. And I was in the clear. It was a win-win for everyone.”

I playfully clench my jaw. “You know what I’ve come to learn about you, Gary?” I speak, confidently folding my arms across my chest as I halt on the pavement in front of his car.

“What?” He mimics my actions.

“That you’re a big liar.”

With his jaw slacked open, Gary places a hand on his chest, visually offended. “‘A big liar?’” he repeats, voice full of theatrical pain. “Chelsie Windsor, that might’ve just been the rudest thing that you’ve ever said to me!”

I playfully tighten my lips, giggling as he pouts like a hurt puppy dog and storms his way over to the car.

I beat him there.

“Fine. Fine.” I cave at the sight of his bottom lip—a cynical and tempting sight. “I take it back. You’re not a big liar. That wasn’t accurate. What I meant to say is…” I allow for a gap in conversation before I speak back up. “That you’re a gigantic liar!”

“Hey!” he cries as I attempt to reach towards the car door handle in a fit of laughter, but I’m not quick enough as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me in close.

“Chelsie!” He tickles my sides. “I take back what I said earlier. That was the rudest thing you’ve ever said to me. How could you say that? Say sorry!”

I playfully fight against his touch, though I don’t want it to end. “Never,” the tears of laughter threaten to pool from my eyes. “Never ever.”

Eventually, I’m able to escape from his grasp. Once I do, I swing open the car door and fall into the passenger seat, sticking my tongue out at him as he playfully scrunches his nose and plants himself into the driver's side.

“I’m taking you home,” I hear him say as he buckles up his seat belt and crosses his arms in a huff.

“Aw, how come?” I can’t help but play along with his facade as I wipe away the tears that have dampened my cheeks.

“Because…” He ignites the ignition to the car. “You’re being mean to me, and I can’t endure this bullying any longer.”

I playfully roll my eyes. I know deep down he likes this, and if I’m being honest, I do too. Being by Gary’s side forces me to see the world through his lens. I’m positive he looks at life as if it's a stage, and he’s the main character. I have to value that about him—his undeniable confidence, his ability to light up a room, but most of all, the way that through him, I can see a beckoning of new beginnings.

“Aw, Gary ,” I pity the way I say his name. “I’m sorry.” I reach for his hand, clutching it beneath my chin. “Will you forgive me?” I speak, flashing him a doe-eyed gaze. “ Please ?”

For a second, I’m enchanted by the way his deep brown eyes carefully assess my touch as he gently brings my hand up to his lips, his voice vibrating against my skin. “You know, Chelsie, that face of yours…” He kisses my palm with such tenderness. “Makes it incredibly hard to stay mad.”

I’m silenced as he slowly places my hand back down, though it's not in my lap like I expect. Gary places my hand on top of the car’s stick shift, where he quickly overlaps it. Within a second, my touch disappears within the breath of his hand.

“Hm?” he prompts me once more for a response. I hadn't realized I’d fallen into such a trance trying to memorize the intricacies of his palm. “Did you know that, Chelsie ?”

“No,” my voice hardly above a whisper. All I know is that if he says my name one more time like that, I think I might just pass out. “I had no idea.”

There’s a glistening look in Gary’s eyes as he toys with my fingers, grazing over top of them one by one until he’s back to peering down at me in total adoration.

I can hardly accept the look as much as I can rationalize it. How is this possible? How am I here? How has this night gone so downright perfect? Is this even real?

I’d never known that you could get so easily lost in someone’s eyes, but I’ll be damned, it’s been happening all night long, yet now, with the sun setting behind him, glistening rays of light onto his skin, I can’t help but hope that I stay lost. Being lost in Gary’s eyes is the one place I’d never want to be found.

“So…” I adjust within my seat, attempting to break myself free from a spell that I don’t think can ever be broken. “What now?”

Gary smirks, shifting the car into drive as he pulls out onto the street. “I guess that depends. Did you have somewhere in mind that you’d like to go to?”

I ponder the thought. “How about we go for a walk?” I propose, searching for his eyes for confirmation. It’s hardly a challenge. Gary’s longing stare continues to make me one with the passenger seat. I want to scold him for his lack of focus on the road, yet there’s something addicting about the way he forces this sense of recklessness out of me.

“Lead the way.” Gary tilts his chin in an upright motion, gesturing ahead. “I’m at your mercy.”

Christ.