Chapter Four
Austin
“Say what now? You have a date with who ?”
I felt Marcus’s shocked stare follow me as I moved to the nearby elliptical machine and started a session. He was my best friend, and even he couldn’t believe my story.
Not that I’d told him all the fine details.
Like how Holly gave me a blatant once-over that had me practically panting for her. Even thinking about it now, left me with an ache in my chest and a partial boner.
No woman had ever looked at me like that.
Like they wanted me. Like I was their first choice, and not a backup plan.
But I couldn’t tell how serious she was. She was playful, that much was clear.
I liked that about her.
But it was possible that she just liked to flirt, and it didn’t mean what it felt like it meant.
What I wanted it to mean.
“Let me get this straight,” Marcus said, stepping up to the machine next to mine. “You tackled her to the ground—”
“I didn’t tackle her.”
“Okay. You ran her over, you both ended up on the ground. What would you call it?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“No, it was a helluva lot funnier if you ask me, Mr. Boot-in-a-bucket.”
My mouth twitched at that. It was only funny now because it led to something good.
“So, you got her on the floor—”
I jerked my head around to give him a warning glare, but he was too busy messing with the machine to notice.
“—and then, instead of being mad about it, she asked you to take her out?”
“That’s the gist of it.”
“Now, are we talking about the same Holly James? Dark hair, 5’6 or so, sister with a bangin’—”
He stopped himself, just shy of revealing what I already knew. Marcus was most definitely into the other James sister.
Good. Because Holly was mine.
Whoa .
The thought lodged solidly in my mind before I could warn myself to be careful. I didn’t know where our date would lead. Maybe nowhere.
But if I had my way, it would take us straight down a road that ended with her in my arms.
Maybe even forever.
Stop doing this to yourself, asshole.
It was true I had a bad habit of hoping for things too far outta my reach. But I was tired of living the solitary life.
And maybe it made me soft, but fuck it, I wanted someone to spend my days with. Someone to smother with affection and dote on. Someone to love , because I had it in me to do that.
Someone who could love me too.
Holly would be easy to love. I’d only needed ten minutes with her to know that. But even if she wasn’t, I’d had practice loving difficult people.
Don’t think about Nana and Pop right now .
They were gone. And even though it had been four years, I still missed them like hell. Hard as it was to be raised by grandparents who were two generations my senior, it was even harder to go through life without them.
But they taught me a lot about living and love, and the importance of finding someone who’d never walk away.
Too much . This was all too heavy for a first date.
A first date that might only be a joke.
I hit the button to make the machine go faster.
Goal: go so hard that my mind would have to divert its energy from chaotic thoughts to lung function in order to keep my body breathing.
Marcus cleared his throat. “So, this is real?”
I sure hoped it was. I’d find out in a few hours.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“I’m going to take her out, what do you think?”
“No, I mean, what’s your game plan? Dude, you gotta have a plan. Don’t you dare just wing this. It’s too important.”
I shook my head at his assessment. “How would you know if it’s important?”
He shot me a smirk. “Come onnnn. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
“Oh? Any similarity to the way you look at Ivy?”
His smile slipped and he smashed a button on his machine, speeding up. “Everyone looks at Ivy,” he muttered. “What’s new?”
Okay. Sore subject apparently.
When we’d both worked out our frustrations and cooled down, I decided getting Marcus’s help couldn’t hurt. It’d been… well, forever… since I’d dated. I needed all the help I could get.
“I was thinking I would show up with flowers, a bunch of them. Is that too cliché?” I knew Holly liked them because of the unique design for the front of the salon.
“Nah, flowers are a win, bro. You know what kind she likes?”
I shook my head, and he tossed me a devious smile.
“Want me to find out for you?” He darted a glance to the back of the gym where Ivy was working with a trainer.
“You’d do that just for me, huh?” I goaded, knowing full well he was looking for an excuse to talk to her.
He shrugged shamelessly. “Sure. And for a reason to get Eric and his perfectly sculpted abs out of Ivy’s line of sight.”
I had a chuckle at his expense, but deep down I felt his pain.
“What else are you planning?” he asked.
“I thought maybe dinner at Mario’s—”
“Reserve one of those giant-ass booths in the back. The ones with the curtains. It’s dark back there. More romantic and shit.”
“Good idea.”
“What else?”
“I don’t know. Maybe end the night at the lake? When it’s clear, the stars are nice from the end of the pier.”
Marcus frowned in thought.
“Friday night though. It’ll be busy there.”
“Yeah, so?”
He rolled his eyes before dragging a towel over his face to mop up the sweat.
“Swear to god, you got no game.”
“I don’t want game. I want…” I want her to like me .
He tossed the towel aside. “What? You want what?”
Shit.
He didn’t need to know what made my throat close up. It was none of his business what I wanted.
“Maybe I should cancel,” I said, more to myself than to him.
“What?” Marcus stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Fuck no, are you kidding me? You’re not cancelling. All I’m saying is you wanna take her somewhere more… private.”
“No, I want to take her somewhere that will make her happy.”
He blinked. “That’s what I said.”
“You’re no help at all.” I launched my towel at his head and he caught it before it hit him. “I wanna get this right. If you don’t have anything helpful, then why am I telling you this shit?”
I pushed past him to head for the locker rooms, and he fell in line beside me.
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, the stars are a good idea. But… what if you could watch them from a boat?”
I snorted. “I don’t have a boat, Marc.”
He grinned like a shark. “Ah, but we know someone who does. I bet he’d let you borrow it now that he’s not living on it anymore.”
“You talking about Vance?”
The man was a Chub Club trainer who’d recently settled down with a lady of his own. He’d lived on a pretty sweet boat until they built a house north of town. I’d done all the brick work for it and the adjacent dog rescue complex.
“Yeah, Vance.” Marcus glanced over my shoulder, an annoyed frown dipping his brow. “Hit him up. I’m sure when he finds out what you need it for, he’ll be all in. I’m gonna go see about those flowers. Catch ya later.”
“Sure. Good luck,” I called after him.
The boat wasn’t a bad idea, but I wasn’t about to tell another one of these yahoos about my date with Holly. All I needed was them running a pool on my odds with her.
Or worse, her finding out about such a pool.
I pushed into the locker room and collapsed on a nearby bench to catch my breath.
Marcus was right about one thing. Cancelling was not an option. That was just nerves making me doubt myself.
I closed my eyes, remembering her playful grin when she suggested she’d collided with me on purpose. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made to get a man’s attention .
Was that what this was?
Had she been looking for a way to get my attention, never knowing she’d had it all along? That I eavesdropped on her sister's conversations any chance I got, just so I might learn something new about her. What made her laugh. What she liked to drink. Whether or not she preferred rainy days over sunshine.
Yeah, she wouldn’t know any of that because I’d put myself at the back of the proverbial line of suitors, never thinking she might wonder those same things about me.
Hell, I’d waited for her to make the first move.
And whether it was a joke or not remained to be seen, but if this was my only shot to show her what I was all about, bet your ass I was going to take it.
She knew my last name .
I could do this.
One date. Show her who I am. And then let the cards fall where they may.