Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Colter
Lisa:
Good luck tonight!
Colter:
What am I doing that I need luck for?
Lisa:
:eyeroll emoji: It’s a first date. Everyone needs luck for a first date.
Colter:
I haven’t been out of the game that long.
Lisa:
:GIF of Dr. Evil saying Riiiight.:
Colter:
Rude.
Lisa:
I’m just saying, we’ve got your back. I owe you for all the time you gave me and Faith when we were dating so we could figure us out independent of my being a package deal. More than happy to return the favor.
Colter:
Slow your roll. It’s just a date.
Lisa:
Yeah, we all saw that kiss. It’s not just a date.
I shoved my phone into my pocket. I didn’t need my best friend getting in my head about tonight, or I’d end up doing something incredibly stupid.
What I’d already done might actually blow up in my face, but it was too late to back out now.
I was a go big or go home kind of guy. Better to find out now if that didn’t work for the woman who’d been occupying my sleeping and waking thoughts since I’d first had her in my arms at Thanksgiving.
Shrugging into my coat, I caught a whiff of something floral.
I’d only just gotten this one back from Swayze, and it still smelled like her.
I found myself turning my nose to the collar and inhaling.
If I had some of that luck I professed not to need, I’d get the chance for an up-close-and-personal perusal of the woman herself to determine if that was her shampoo or perfume or simply the scent of her skin.
I’d been fantasizing way too much about that skin since Christmas Eve.
I already knew the silky smooth feel of her cheeks beneath my palms, and I wanted to run my hands over every inch of her, listening for the catch of her breath as I slowly took her apart.
Aaaaand, that was getting way ahead of things. I wasn’t setting out for an adult repeat of the mistakes of prom night. No matter how much I’d been dreaming of getting Swayze naked.
Once I was sure I had my libido under control, I locked the door and headed around to Swayze’s apartment.
She answered a few seconds after my knock, wearing trim black pants and another form-fitting sweater that molded to her curves in a way that had my hands itching to touch.
Her caramel hair was loose around her shoulders, and she’d done something to her eyes that made them all deep and dark.
Her lips just had a little bit of gloss that said, kiss me.
Yes, please.
I swallowed. “Hey.”
“Hey.” She smoothed her hands down the sweater and pants, and I wanted to do the same. “Is this okay? You didn’t tell me where we were going.”
“It’s absolutely fine, so long as you’re comfortable.”
“Then I guess we’re good. I’ll get my coat.” She slipped on a bright blue ski jacket and shoved her wallet into one of the many pockets. “So where are we going?”
“That is a surprise.” I pulled a blindfold out of my pocket, which she eyed with great suspicion. “Not a fan of surprises?”
“I mean, can you blame me? I like to know what I’m getting into.”
“Fair. But I promise you’ll like this one.” At least, I hoped she would.
“Okay, fine. I’ll put it on in the truck.”
Once we were buckled in, I leaned over to fasten the blindfold around her eyes and got another whiff of that sweet floral scent. Easing back, I wiggled my hand in front of her face. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“I have no idea. Blindfold, remember?”
“Good. Just sit tight. We’re not going far.”
I drove the short distance into town. In case Swayze had a really good sense of place, I took a couple of unnecessary blocks before parking near the theater, where everything had already been set up.
I’d recruited my brothers to help me with the whole thing.
Had they given me shit? Absolutely. It was the price I paid.
But they’d gone above and beyond, so I’d take the razzing and be grateful.
“Stay put. I’m coming around to get you.”
Was it necessary for me to lift her out of her seat by the waist?
Probably not. But it was a hundred percent worth it for the way her hands braced on my shoulders as I eased her down to the ground.
She ended face tipped up, and I nearly gave in and kissed her there and then.
But tongues were already wagging enough about us since the Christmas Eve party.
No need to feed the gossip mill directly on the sidewalk.
So instead, I took her hand and led her inside.
Because I didn’t want to give away the surprise too early, I took her a different route into the theater proper. We entered by one of the side doors.
“Where are we?”
“You’ll see. You’ve got some steps coming here. Take your time.” I helped her up the short flight of steps onto the stage. Our footsteps echoed in a way that couldn’t be hidden, and she angled her head, listening to the giveaway that we were in a larger space than she’d probably first imagined.
Pulling her to center stage, I positioned her just so and removed the blindfold.
Swayze blinked, looking around at the sets we’d dragged out of storage to create the sense of a lakeside cabin.
It was set in front of a hastily painted backdrop that showed a big stone lodge in the distance.
That was Gunner’s contribution. He had a shockingly good hand with a paintbrush.
In front of the cabin porch, which had been set with a pair of Adirondack chairs swiped from Fletcher’s house, an astroturf rug had been rolled out, and on it, a picnic blanket was spread beside a massive hamper of food.
Because she still looked confused, I pulled out my phone and hit play on the playlist I’d curated for the occasion. The Ronettes rolled out of the hidden speakers. “The night we met I knew I needed you so...”
Swayze’s lips twitched. “Did you create Kellerman’s for our date?”
A sense of victory shot through me that she’d recognized my effort to recreate the resort that was the backdrop of Dirty Dancing. But it was quickly overshadowed by doubts.
“Yeah?” It came out more like a question, as if I could somehow backpedal from this decision in the moment. “Do you hate it? I can stop. I just thought it would be fun. I was trying to be flirty and romantic, and there’s a picnic—”
She interrupted my rambling excuse with a kiss that stopped my barely functioning brain in its tracks. Before I could do more than cup her elbows to draw her closer, she dropped back to her feet with a smile. “It’s very sweet. Ten out of ten for effort.”
I blew out a breath and finally let my shoulders drop. “I figured since you’d mentioned the Dirty Dancing thing, you weren’t sensitive about it, but then I started second guessing myself.”
Swayze glanced around again. “I mean, from some people, I probably would hate it. But you committed to the bit. Gotta give you props for that.”
“I had help.”
“The Sasspatch Society?” she asked.
Curling my fingers around hers, I tugged her over to the picnic blanket. “God no. They’d be so excited, they’d probably have a preacher on speed dial. They can’t be trusted with this. No, I asked my brothers.”
She stripped off her coat and sank neatly onto the blanket. “Ah. They’ve already proved they’ll go the extra mile for you with shockingly coordinated 90s era boy band choreography and killer harmonies. It absolutely felt like you’d done that before.”
I toed off my boots and joined her on the blanket. “Because we have. Many, many times when Oakleigh was a baby.”
“There’s obviously a story there.”
I opened the basket and pulled out the wine and corkscrew I’d stowed there.
“She was a fussy little thing when we got her home. Had her days and nights all mixed up for the longest time. We got desperate trying to figure out what would make her settle down. Turned out she was a huge fan of all things boy band, so we learned basically everything recorded from that era. And then some.”
Swayze laughed. “Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah.” I handed over a glass of wine. “To this day, if anybody busts out with Boyz II Men, Oakleigh immediately starts to fall asleep.”
“That is adorable.”
“Never thought I’d do it in public, though.”
She settled back, gazing up at me through those long lashes. “Why did you?”
“When I saw your face after Faith kissed Lisa, I figured out what you must’ve thought, and I wanted to do something that would clarify. I thought a public serenade would make my point.”
“It certainly did that.” She sipped the wine. “Are you willing to tell me the story of you and Lisa?”
I stretched out with my own wine. “Sure. It’s no secret—which is why it didn’t occur to me to tell you.
Lisa and I have been best friends since middle school.
She’s my absolute ride or die. Neither of us wanted to go off to college virgins, so we’d made a pact years before that if we made it to senior year without crossing that bridge with anyone else, we’d do it together.
Figured it would be easier since we were best friends, and we trust each other. ”
“Was it?”
“Yeah. No regrets on that front. We’d planned, used protection.
But the condom broke, and suddenly everything we’d planned went up in smoke.
Lisa’s parents threw her out of the house, so she moved in with my family.
We stayed there for a while after Oakleigh was born, until we could get on our feet.
Had lots of help that we can never repay.
And ended up with the world’s most awesome kid in the end. ”
“Y’all are obviously still close.”
“We are. Faith came into the picture about six years ago. Our relationship gave her a bit of a shock, too. But they figured themselves out, got married, and now we have a big, blended family.”
“I confess, I’m kind of fascinated by your whole family. Not just the situation with you and Lisa doing the co-parenting thing, but the whole Gibson clan. I can’t really imagine what it must have been like having so many of you so close together.”