Chapter Forty-Two
Forty-Two
Elsie
Gathe was a welcome addition. The tension in the room had gotten so thick that I wasn’t sure what to do, where to look, what to say.
Thankfully, Gathe showing up with his easygoing wit made things less intense.
Not that I wasn’t enjoying having Forge sitting so close to me that the sides of our bodies were pressed together while his arm was behind me on the sofa as he played with strands of my hair.
I was soaking that up like a thirsty woman in a desert.
But making eye contact with Calvin while this was happening was difficult.
While I was almost positive that Forge wouldn’t actually hurt Calvin, I didn’t want to see the questions in his gaze. Gathe becoming the center of attention, however, made it easier for me not to stare straight ahead at the screen, which was currently showing thoroughbred racing.
“How’s LA?” Gathe asked Calvin when the current race ended and went to a commercial.
“Uh, it’s good,” Calvin replied.
“You’re working on a television set, right?”
“I was, yes. We wrapped up the filming this week. At least for the season. It’s a short one, only four episodes. Not sure if there will be a second season yet, but we have hopes it will do well,” he explained.
“You ride?” Forge asked, leaning in close to my ear.
My body was already tingling with all this touching and closeness. Having his voice low and warm breath tickle my ear only added to it.
“Uh, horses?” I asked, feeling flustered.
He chuckled. “Yeah, Pickles, horses.”
I nodded. “I have yes. A couple of times.”
“As soon as we have the nod to break you out, I’ll take you to ride,” he told me.
Going anywhere with him sounded nice, but I wasn’t sure I could handle the kind of horses they raised. “Um, thoroughbreds are big,” I said, cutting my eyes to him.
He smirked. “You’re so scared of big things,” he teased. “But I wouldn’t put you on a thoroughbred. We have some Tennessee Walkers, quarters, and paints that you can ride.”
I bit my bottom lip, holding back the grin from his comment about big. I knew exactly what he was referring to, and I wasn’t sure I was so scared of that anymore. Or I wanted him so much that I was willing to try it. The idea of Forge being my first made my heart flutter in my chest.
“Earth to Forge,” Gathe called out.
Forge’s gaze, which had darkened as he looked at me, lifted slowly to glance over my head at Gathe.
I took a deep breath and hoped I didn’t look as worked up as I felt. We weren’t alone.
“Yeah, I’m working the games tonight,” Forge replied. “And Elsie is helping me if she wants to.”
I hadn’t even heard Gathe ask him. I’d been so zoned in on Forge that everything else faded to the back.
I nodded my head and glanced over at the other two, only to catch Calvin watching me. Smiling reassuringly at him, I turned my focus back to the screen. He was going to have so many questions, and I didn’t know how to answer any of them. I wasn’t sure he would like my answers anyway.
Forge hadn’t let me out of his sight the rest of the day. He’d included Calvin, if you could call allowing him to stay in the same room with us including. Perhaps tolerated was a better description.
Gathe had left an hour ago, but Oz and Winslet were here now, along with Halo, Hawkins, and Bane.
Tonight was Ransom and Noa’s first night sleeping in their house, so they wouldn’t be returning.
Kash and Cressida were staying at his parents’.
It was just those of us here now for the rest of the evening.
Oz was sitting over by Calvin, talking, and that helped me concentrate more on the game. I’d been worried about him feeling comfortable with everyone, which was ironic since Oz and Forge were his family, not mine, yet I was the one who had a place here. Three weeks had changed a lot of things.
“Hawkins!” Halo sounded exasperated.
I glanced over to see him grinning at her as he held a crayon in one hand while standing proudly in front of the artwork he’d just drawn on the wall.
“Hawks,” Bane said, and the first small sliver of guilt crossed his face. “Come here.”
His little shoulders dropped, and he walked over to his father.
Bane leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, and looked his son in the eyes. “What do we color on?” he asked him.
“Cowuring books,” he said softly.
“And is the wall a coloring book?”
Hawkins shook his head.
“Then why did you color on the wall?”
“I fowgot,” he replied.
“You did, huh?” Bane asked him.
I glanced over to see Halo pressing her lips together, trying not to laugh at her son’s response.
Hawks nodded his head, wide-eyed.
“All right, well, you know what this means?” Bane asked him.
“No,” he whispered.
“You’re gonna have to help me fix it,” he told him. “I’ll buy the paint, and it’s gonna be hard work.”
Hawkins straightened. “We awa gonna paint the wall?” he asked, not even trying to hide his excitement.
“Got to,” Bane told him. “Now go apologize to your momma and be good.”
He nodded his head vigorously and rushed back over to Halo. “I’m gonna fix it, Momma,” he told her proudly.
“He’s a cute little dude,” Forge said near my ear, and I jumped, not realizing he had come up behind me.
“Yes,” I agreed. “He is.”
“Halftime adjustments,” he said, then reached around me to tap on the keyboard of the laptop I was using.
I inhaled and savored his scent even if, tonight, there was the barest trace of nicotine. I found that I liked it.
“Gotta set a new point spread and draw in some new bets.”
I knew this, but I let him pull up the proper screen for me. He could do it all himself if he would continue doing it right here. I had no complaints.
“Hey, Elsie,” Calvin called out.
I shifted my gaze from pretending to watch what Forge was doing to my best friend.
“Go with me to the kitchen. I don’t want to get lost,” he said, standing up.
I felt Forge go rigid behind me.
“It’s not hard. Straight down that hallway,” Forge told him, not taking his eyes off the screen or moving back so that I could go anywhere.
“We can handle the updated spread,” Oz told Forge. “Let her have a break.”
Forge still didn’t move.
Calvin’s eyes darted from me to Oz. I knew I should do something, but I wasn’t sure what to say exactly to make Forge let me go.
“Forge.” This time, it was Bane’s voice that spoke.
Forge stopped typing and muttered a curse, but he lifted his arm that he had around me. “If you want to go,” he said simply.
I lifted my eyes to look at him. “He’s my best friend,” I whispered. “It’s okay.”
Forge shot a glare over my head, then turned back to the screen.
I was torn. He didn’t want me to go, but that was ridiculous. I’d barely had a chance to speak to Calvin since we got back from the picnic. Every time I began to feel bad about it, Forge would touch me or get close, and I’d forget. He was a distraction and had been since day one.
Deciding that it was going to make a scene if I stayed, not to mention be rude, I turned toward Calvin, plastering on a smile I did not feel, and headed in the direction of the kitchen. “This way,” I said, my voice sounding too chipper.