30. W I L K S

THIRTY

W I L K S

“Chelsie!” I can’t help but run after her as she pushes her way through the crowd, through the back doors, and down the garden. “Chelsie, please. Stop. Wait up!”

It takes me a few more attempts to catch up to her, but finally I’m able to, and as soon as I do, she collapses into my arms.

Her body is weak, tired, and as she steadies herself against my shoulders, I take the liberty to bring us both down to the grass, pulling her into my lap as I delicately kiss on top of her forehead.

I can’t believe what just happened—I can’t believe how all of that happened. I never intended to get so mad, so heated, but seeing her with him as I walked in through the entrance made my blood boil.

The game ended on time, but it took forever for me to pile the boys back onto the bus, call for a ride myself, and make my way over to the venue.

Turns out your average driver doesn’t want to make the commute across the country—I don’t blame them. Then my phone died before I could secure anything, leading me to call for a taxi on a payphone instead. I would’ve called Chelsie, but I’d failed to remember her number. That’ll be my job for the next few days, memorizing those eleven digits like my life depends on it.

There’s genuinely nothing worse than feeling the way she sobs into my chest. It pangs me with an immense amount of remorse— guilt . I should have been here from the beginning. I made her a promise. A promise I couldn’t keep, and now look at what happened.

All of this is my fault.

All of it.

“Baby girl, I’m so sorry.” I rock back and forth with her as we sit in the dew of the grass. “I’m so, so sorry.”

It takes her a second, but finally, she pulls back from my chest. Her eyes are red, and her face is swollen as she speaks. “Where… where were you, Gary?” She hiccups as she tries to catch her breath. “You said… you said that you’d be here!”

“I know, baby. I know I did.” I wipe away the tears as they run down her cheeks. “And I’m so sorry I wasn’t. Everything was looking good. I was going to be on time, but then Delaney went into labor. Coach had to leave and I was left with no other choice than to fill in as coach. One thing led to another, and…”

“Fuck…” Chelsie cuts me off. “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to believe him.”

“Believe him?” I can’t seem to comprehend exactly what she’s saying. “What are you talking about?”

“Simon.” She shakes her head, visibly betrayed by herself. “He convinced me that you hadn’t shown because you were off with someone else.”

I jerk my neck back in disbelief as I’m reminded of Simon’s accusation, the only real accusation of the night.

I would never cheat on Chelsie. I’d be stupid to. I made her a promise when I said that I’d never hurt her. That I’d never ever let anything happen to her, and that’s the truth. That will always and forever be the truth.

“Cheating?” I’m almost at a loss for words at this point. “I would never… you know I would never…”

“I know.” Chelsie falls off my lap and wipes away her tears. “I… I know you wouldn’t, Gary. I know.”

“Then why did you believe him?” I question. “What did Simon say to you, Chels?”

Chelsie shakes her head, and she can hardly look me in the eyes as she rests a hand on her forehead. “I knew better than to ever trust anything Simon says, but before he said anything, I was at the train station where I saw a group of girls all wearing Crawfield shirts, saying things about you… ”

“About me?” I raise a suspecting brow. “Things like what?”

“Things about your past,” she clarifies. “About how many girls you’ve been with. About how you were recently just with one— Felicity .”

My stomach drops to my feet at the familiarity of the name, but before I can clarify that that “fling”, if that’s even what you want to call it, was before the two of us even got together, Chelsie continues.

“I didn't want to focus on it, Gary, but then Simon had this picture of you. A picture of you kissing another girl. He said it was recent. Felicity said your thing was recent. I got scared, worried. I felt like I had no other choice than to connect the dots. I know you’d never hurt me, but… what was I to think?”

“Oh, Chelsie.” I pull her back in, soothingly rubbing up and down her spine before I whisper against her forehead. “I never cheated on you, I swear. Whatever Simon showed you would’ve been taken before we were ever together, I swear, baby girl.”

I look directly into her doe eyes.

“But the truth is, yes, I did spend a night with a girl named Felicity. That was the night I was going to Tenners with the lads. The day we had that conversation outside of the bakery, and I blew my chances. I was a mopey mess at the bar and one thing led to another, and Felicity and I started making out. By the end of the night, I don’t know how it happened but somehow, she ended up coming back to my place, but we didn’t sleep together. I can promise you that. Christ, that morning, all the two of us did was speak about you .”

“Me?” Chelsie tilts her head to the side. “What do you mean you spoke about me?”

I run a hand through my hair. Shit, I really just admitted that, didn’t I. Well, here goes nothing.

“I couldn’t help but talk about you, Chelsie. All I could do was think about you. Hell, I was on an internet deep dive that morning trying to figure out why I was such an idiot when we were talking. I felt like I’d blown it. I wanted you, Chelsie. I wanted you so badly. I always have. From the moment we first met, I felt it. I knew it.”

The way Chelsie’s eyes soften is enough to make me believe that not only is she hearing what I’m saying, but she’s feeling just how sincere my words are. It’s not enough, I need her to know .

“The fact is, I don’t care what people call me. If they want to say I was a man-whore then let them. I was. But it was never about sleeping with the most women, Chels. It was always about one thing—finding the person I belong to.”

I run my hands along her face before they trail down her arms, and finally, they secure themselves around her waist.

“And the truth is, I belong to you, Chelsie. I’m yours, baby girl. I’ve been waiting for the day where love found me, but in reality, I found love. I found you, and I don’t care if it’s too soon, or terrible timing. I can’t hold back from telling you any longer. I love you, Chelsie,” I finally admit those three words that I’ve been dying to say. That I’ve been saving to say to the person that they were always meant for.

Her.

“I love you when you smile. I love you when you laugh. I love you even when you’re mad at me. I love you on your good days, and I love you on your bad. Christ…” I brush away a single tear that rolls down her cheek. “I love you when you cry, even though…” My heart sinks. “Nothing pains me more.”

She lets out the faintest laugh as a flush shade of pink rises to her cheeks.

She’s perfect—she’s beautiful—she's mine .

“I love you, Chelsie.” I press my forehead against hers, kissing the tip of her nose softly. “I. Love. You.”

Without skipping a beat, she presses her lips against mine. I can feel the residual dampness of her cheeks as our lips move in sync, yet all I can think about is how long I’ve waited for this moment.

I’ve waited for that someone who wakes you up in the morning and puts you to bed at night.

I’ve waited for that someone who consumes your thoughts every hour of every day.

I’ve waited for that someone that when you look into their eyes, you see your whole world and more.

That’s the kind of love I'd been searching for.

That’s the kind of love I found .

“I love you, Gary Wilkinson,” Chelsie murmurs into my mouth. “I love you so much.”

I want to keep saying “I love you” back and forth over and over, because hearing her tell me she loves me in return is the greatest gift I could have ever asked for. It is. It really is.

“I knew it would be you,” she murmurs. “I just knew it.”

I only half pull back. “What? What do you mean by that?”

She smiles. “I knew that one day, I’d find my hope again. My safe space, and I did. I found it. I found it in you .”

I’ll be damned, I suppose there are things better than saying I love you, and just like that, we lose ourselves in each other’s embrace.

All at once, time stands still, and the world stops until finally, I’m the first to pull back, ready to ask her the one question I’ve been dying to know the answer to from the moment we met.

“So, tell me, Chelsie Windsor. Do you regret letting me in the bakery that day?”

She laughs, biting down on her bottom lip before drawing me back in and whispering into my lips.

“Not one bit, Gary Wilkinson. Not one bit.”