Chapter 21
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
BO
I know she’s coming tonight, and the anticipation is making me crazy. I’m wearing a hole in the carpet, and I’m probably driving Charlie nuts. But I think something else is going on because Casey is acting a little squirrelly too. He and Charlie have been doing a lot of whispering today.
Silas has noticed it, too, but he just shrugs and shakes his head.
“Dude, settle down. She’s coming. Come watch TV with us.” Silas waves me over to the couch, but I sit in the chair I’ve basically claimed as mine.
Aston and Ace Griffith are on the other side of the couch anyway.
“Yeah, what’s your deal, Callaway?” Ace asks me.
I ignore him.
“I know she’s coming, but I want her to be wearing the PJs I bought for us. But what if she doesn’t?” I sit up in the chair and rest my elbows on my knees and lean toward Silas.
“Then she doesn’t, and you keep trying.” He looks at me pointedly. “Right?”
“Okay.” I nod. “Yeah, you’re totally right. But what do I do if she doesn’t?”
“Callaway, you’re killing me. I’ve never seen you this nervous, even in a playoff game when the championship is on the line.”
“Well, that’s because I have some control over the outcome. This? It’s all up to her. She’s it for me, you know?” I flop back in my chair.
“I get it. I mean, I haven’t experienced that yet, but I get it.” He nods, smirking at me.
But he looks over his shoulder toward Brooke, who’s in the kitchen with Charlie, Arbor and Lily, wearing pajameralls, like he is.
“Oh yeah?” I tip my head toward the kitchen.
He holds his hands out. “What?”
The front door opens, and Noelle comes into the house first, and then … she’s here.
“Hey, y’all!” Noelle says, holding some packages.
“Happy birthday, Noelle!” everyone shouts, except me.
My eyes are locked on Chelsea. Who’s wearing my PJs.
Thank fuck.
“Aww, thanks!” she says, handing Casey the packages to put under the tree.
“Charlie, it smells so good in here,” Chelsea says, walking into the kitchen.
“Hey, girl. Thank you so much, and I agree! The food will be ready in just a few minutes. We have snacks that Silas helped with, and Bo made some apps if you want to eat something before dinner.” Charlie turns to look from the oven and looks at Chelsea.
“Love your PJs, Chels. Looks like you have a match in the house, huh?” Charlie glances over at me and gives me a wink.
I can’t hear what she says because something is happening with Noelle and Casey, and then Charlie is yelling at Casey about not ruining her plans, and it’s all too much for me to follow because all I want to see is her.
“Holy shit, is he proposing?” Ace whispers loudly and pulls out his phone.
“Shut up, dumbass.” Aston elbows him.
“Ow, asshole. I’m telling Mom.” Ace shoves back.
“Would you both shut the fuck up?” Silas glares at them.
Brooke looks over at Silas and smiles.
I look back toward the kitchen to look for Chelsea and see she’s standing near Casey and Noelle, her hands covering her mouth, and it looks like her eyes are a little glassy. She looks over at me, and I can see her smile behind her hands.
If I didn’t want to ruin Casey’s moment, I would run over and grab my girl, but I’m polite. I’ll wait another few seconds for them to wrap this up.
Between the chatter from the twins and Charlie’s friends, I can barely hear what Casey is saying, but then they’re both kneeling, then kissing, so I’m gonna go with my gut and say we have a newly engaged couple in the house.
Everyone stands and cheers, running over to congratulate the couple.
Charlie is going on about Casey ruining her plans, but then they all start laughing, and Charlie announces that we’re having birthday cake before dinner.
Chelsea is still looking at me, and when I stand and she sees my PJs, she smiles softly at me.
I walk toward her and stop close enough that she can hear me over everyone singing happy birthday to Noelle.
“Hi.” I reach out and loop her pinkie with mine.
“Hi.” She tugs my hand toward her body. “I like your PJs.” She nods toward my shirt.
“Thanks. I like yours.” I tilt my head toward the direction of my room. “Can we talk?”
She nods and lets me lead her down the hall. I release her hand just so I can close the door. When I turn back to her, she’s sitting on my bed.
“When you said we had matching PJs, I was picturing yours also saying everything, but this is much better.” She tugs at the hem of my shirt. “I Have Everything I Need.”
“It’s true.” I kneel down in front of her, and she opens her legs so I can fit between them. “You’re everything to me.”
She puts her hands on my face, then pushes them through my hair. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve been here, waiting. You didn’t have to miss me.” I take hold of her wrists. “But I missed you too.”
“I know.” Her thumbs brush over my cheeks. “I’m sorry, Bo. There were a lot of feelings rolling around, and it was … uncomfortable to me because it scared me. And I know we have a lot to talk about, but I’m here. And I’m ready to give you everything.”
I drop my head and let out a rush of air. “Thank fuck.”
“Can you kiss me now?” She cups my face and traces my bottom lip with her thumb. “I really missed these lips.”
“They’re yours.”
We lean in at the same time, and our mouths crash together. I slide my hands under her shirt just so I can feel her skin.
We break apart, panting.
“Tell me you’re staying tonight?” I rest my forehead against hers.
“Yes. Besides, I imagine Casey and Noelle will want some privacy tonight, right?” She laughs.
“Yeah, I’m sure they do. He’s probably ready to throw her over his shoulder by now.” I stand and hold my hand out for her to take.
“Oh, for sure.”
We walk out of my room, hand in hand.
Brooke looks over at us as we come into the room. “Nice of you guys to join us. Now, can we open presents?” she asks Charlie.
“Y’all have ruined all my plans for tonight, so do whatever you want to do. But I want it on the record that I had an amazing night planned for us. And I’m not cleaning the kitchen, so, Griffith boys, you’re both on dish duty after presents.” She points at them.
“Wait, why do we have to do it?” Ace asks.
Aston rolls his eyes. “No problem, Charlie. We got it.”
Silas raises his hand. “Even though I helped with food prep, I’ll help too.”
The guys look at me, and I look at Charlie. “I made the appetizers.”
“Bo, you get a pass tonight so you and your girl can make up.” She winks at me.
Silas stands up and walks over to the tree. “Who wants to go first?”
All the girls, except mine, yell, “Me!”
After presents, we ate and watched Elf. Casey and Noelle ducked out before the movie started though. And Arbor, Lily, and the twins just left. Then Charlie went into her room. But Brooke is asleep on the couch, next to Silas, who is also asleep.
“Do you think we should wake them?” Chelsea asks, tilting her head to see me.
“Nah, I’m sure he’ll wake up soon and go to his room. And Brooke won’t leave this late. She’ll probably just go into Charlie’s room. You ready for bed?” I kiss the tip of her nose.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” She wraps her arms around my neck as I start to stand.
I carry her bridal-style down the hallway toward my room. “You need to go to the bathroom or anything?”
“Actually, yeah. You didn’t throw away my toothbrush, did you?” She winces. “I probably should have brought a little bag with me, I guess.”
I bark out a laugh. “No, I didn’t throw away your toothbrush.” I set her down in the bathroom. “I had to believe I would get you to come back to me.” I give her a peck on the lips.
She grabs my shirt and pulls me down to her face again. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Chelsea, I will never give up on you. I will always stand by you; you just have to let me.” I cup her face and kiss her again, deeper this time.
She pulls away first. “Let me brush my teeth, and then we can talk?”
“Can I brush mine too, or do you want privacy?” I smirk at her.
She nods. “I think we can brush our teeth together.”
We both prepare our brushes with toothpaste.
I watch her in the mirror and smile. “I know you’re gonna tell me I’m cheesy, but I love doing life things with you. Brushing our teeth together is a little thing and probably weird, but it’s also pretty personal, and I like doing it with you.”
She smiles around her toothbrush. “That is cheesy, but I love it.”
When we finish, I leave the bathroom so she can finish doing what she needs to do in private. Chelsea said we’re not quite at the stage where we can pee in front of each other. She said we need to have a little mystery, and we both laughed.
I take off my shirt as I walk into my room, then pull the covers back on the bed.
I sit on the edge of the bed and take my socks off, then climb in, leaving the covers off for now.
I’ll get too hot in these pants. But also, I’m dying to get my hands on her, but I’ll let her set the pace.
We do need to talk. I want to understand where her head is, but I also want to know that she’s not going to change her mind about us.
She walks in a few minutes later and closes the door behind her. Chelsea never gets nervous, but she seems a bit timid or something about getting into bed with me, so I pat the spot next to me and smile at her.
“I won’t bite. Well, unless you tell me to.” I wink at her to try to make her laugh and ease her nerves, and it works.
She sits on the bed and faces me, sitting crisscross. Her elbows rest on her knees, and she nervously picks at her fingernails. So, I sit up and face her, mimicking her position, even though it’s not really comfortable for me with my long legs. I reach over and take her hands in mine.
“Talk to me.” I bring one of her hands to my mouth and kiss her fingers.