Chapter Seventeen
“Take the damn shot, you dummy.” - Garrett
DEREK
Holding Elizabeth in my arms feels like a prize hard won.
I can’t believe I’m here, dancing with her in a club, all of my friends surrounding us, and her eyes are completely on me. Not once has she pulled away, looked away, or taken her attention off of me.
I feel this weird warmth spread through my body as she moves under my hands, my body takes over to the beat—thank God—because my brain is having a hard time functioning properly right now.
She twists, her hair flying, and laughs when the music catches her up, moving her body for her as she lets go.
I’ve seen Elizabeth happy and relaxed, she’s like that nearly every time I’m with her, but I’ve never seen her look this free.
Music seems to make her throw all her cares out her proverbial window, and I owe Nora and Enzo a big-ass thank you for making this night happen.
I was on the verge so many times of asking her out, every time we got together, it felt like that missing something clicking into place.
Now, with my hands on her waist and her body moving fluidly beneath mine, I can make the move I’ve been dying to.
With her back to mine, our bodies slow with the music. Our heart rates rise as we move together, and I move her hair off of her bare shoulder, letting my mouth come down to rest there. Not a kiss, not quite, but something that has me desperate to spin her around and finally taste her lips.
Her hand comes up to the back of my head, and for a moment, we stay locked in the intimate position, our bodies still swaying in a natural rhythm, and everything around us ceases to exist.
She grabs onto one of my hands and turns, my head lifting up just enough to look into her eyes, and I see that same fire burning there that I feel deep in my gut.
For a moment, as our hands rearrange themselves around each other’s bodies, we watch each other closely.
Elizabeth swallows, licking her lips, and waits for me to take the next step.
Tilting my head slightly, I start to lower my mouth to hers, my arms gripping her tighter and tighter around the waist until I have her flush against me.
She can feel every part of me, and she lets out a soft gasp right before I’m going to press my lips to hers.
Then, I feel it. Vibrating.
Coming from her purse.
I pull back and grab it, ripping it open. For a moment she’s confused until she sees her mom’s name on the screen, and I watch as panic spreads over her face. I grab her hand, dragging her out of the loud areas of the club and to the front, where she can somewhat hear.
While she talks, her expression turns from that sexy, lustful look I was just staring at to the look of a worried mother.
I take a moment to breathe, to calm down, and to let myself come back to earth.
I had been so damn close to finally kissing her.
“Okay, okay, I’ll be right there, just don’t move her.” Elizabeth hangs up and looks at me, her expression concerned and sorry. “I have to go. Rora’s having a night terror.”
Immediately, all thoughts of lust on the dance floor leave me and I grab my phone, pulling up the car service app and getting a car. “Let’s go,” I state, grabbing her hand and pulling her out the front door with me.
“Derek,” she says, following me willingly. “You don’t have to leave your fun night. I can just go.”
Once outside, we’re able to breathe in the cool night air, and I see a shiver run over her.
I wrap an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to me and trying to give her some of my warmth.
“It’s not my fun night if you’re not there,” I state simply, watching a pleased smile spread across her lips.
“Plus, I’d like to make sure Rora is okay and that you get there safely. ”
“Are you sure? You’ll end up meeting my parents.”
I click my tongue. “See, that’s not a bad thing. I can get all the skinny on their eldest daughter and how I can officially woo her.”
Elizabeth looks at me with surprise. “Woo her, huh?”
I walk her forward when my phone pings with a notification that the car is here, and I find it, walking us to it and opening the door for her. We slide in and I greet the driver, approving the address when Elizabeth gives it, and I lean back into the seat, sliding her close to me.
“And yes,” I continue from where we left off. “I very much would like to woo her.”
Her words are a whisper when she answers, “I think you already are.”
Elizabeth’s folks’ house is in a suburban neighborhood just outside of Littleton. It looks like one that’s been here for a while, at least twenty years, but every bit that I could see was well-maintained.
I follow Elizabeth out of the car and up to the main door, which she enters without knocking, and I keep pace with her.
“Is she okay?” she asks the minute she sees a beautiful woman who looks just like the woman I love, if not for a few more wrinkles that are barely noticeable.
“She’s calmed down some, never woke up, poor thing.” Her mom has blatant concern in her tone, and though it’s dark in here, I can tell she looks like her daughter when she’s worried. “I’d go on up, hon. I laid some sleep clothes out for you, maybe just stay the night.”
“I will.” Elizabeth starts up the stairs, then stops. “Oh, Derek! I’m sorry. I have to take care—”
“Don’t even worry about it, go. Let me know if I can do anything,” I interrupt, giving her a smile I hope she can tell is genuine.
She smiles back and is off, racing up the stairs to her main purpose in life. If anything, it makes me fall for her harder.
A throat clears, and I turn my attention back to her mother, whose father is now standing behind her.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I’m Derek Fowler.” I reach out a hand to her mother, who takes it gently.
“Valerie. This is Birdie’s dad, Roger.”
Shaking his hand, I give him a nod. “Pleasure to meet you both,” I wave a hand at the stairs. “Wish it wasn’t for this reason.”
“You and us both.” Valerie waves a hand down the hallway and says over her shoulder, “Come, have a cup of something.”
Unsure if I should make myself scarce given the late hour or follow Valerie’s orders, I stand there long enough that Roger gives me a nod. “Come on, son. You earned a drink.”
I follow, not sure how I went from clubbing with friends to immediately meeting Elizabeth’s—the woman of my dreams—parents.
Their house is absolutely gorgeous. Since it’s built in a generation that used real material, there are wood fixtures on everything, all shined and sparkling like someone took great care of it.
The kitchen looks custom with white granite countertops and a large island, and barstools slid underneath the edge. Roger gestures to one and takes one a couple down from me.
“Thank you,” I say to Valerie, who hands me a beer.
“Thank you for bringing her home. I’m sure that’s the last thing you wanted to do.” Roger’s words sound like a bit of a threat, or a question I’m not sure how to answer, so I try honesty.
“I have no problem with it. The minute she saw your name on the phone”—I nod at Valerie—“I knew I’d do what I needed to get her to Rora.”
“Rora seems fond of you,” Valerie answers, looking me over. “Says you let her stay up past her bedtime when you babysit.”
I smirk a little and say, “Well, yeah.”
“Babysitting is supposed to be fun,” Roger says, agreeing with me.
“What’s your intention with our girls?”
I blink at Valerie’s serious expression, wondering how I got Elizabeth 2.0 interrogating me, or rather, Elizabeth 1.0.
“Well, I very much like Birdie, she’s important to me,” I start, thinking back over the last few weeks.
Every waking moment is filled with thoughts of her.
“Rora is a bonus, in my opinion. But I’ve been taking it slow.
” My rush to comfort them on not pushing their daughter doesn’t seem to work when Valerie shakes her head.
“Derek, I say this with love, honey.” She leans against the island, and I glance at Roger, who’s watching her with fondness. “If you wait for Birdie to make a move, you’ll be old and gray before it happens.”
For a few long seconds I absorb what she just said, and then I blink in confusion and say, “So you… want me to pursue her?”
“For weeks we’ve heard nothing but ‘Derek this’ and ‘Derek that.’” She scoffs, waving her hand in front of her. “And now we finally get to meet this infamous Derek, and it’s not because she made the move. It’s because you were man enough to come here and take care of her tonight.”
“Birdie needs a push,” Roger states, looking at me. “If you’re serious about her, if you think that you can handle her and Rora, the package deal, then don’t let her string you along. Take action and take a chance.”
It’s the words I’ve been needing to hear. My friends may needle me constantly about women, and Birdie in particular, but they do it all with such frequency that I never know when to take their advice. I was the one who gave advice, not the one who took it.
“I appreciate your blessing,” I start, my hand spinning my beer bottle slowly. I’ve yet to take a sip. “Birdie means a lot to me, so I haven’t wanted to push her.” I swallow and say the truth that’s been haunting me. “I haven’t wanted to push her and have her leave my life completely.”
Roger and Valerie look to each other, and for a moment, they have some silent conversation between the two of them that seems to confirm something.
That’s what I want. I want that deep connection with someone so that we can communicate by just looking at each other. I want to be able to be so intertwined with one another’s souls that nothing and no one could ever break the connection.
“I think,” Roger starts, rising from his seat. “You should sleep on the couch. No sense wasting more money on a car. We’ll go get yours in the morning.”
Roger claps me on the back, and Valerie fusses over making up a couch before I have a chance to even argue, and for once, I feel part of a real family again.