Page 82 of Side By Side

He looked down at their joined hands and repeated, “Together? You said you needed to get some sleep.”

“Griffin, who I sleep with or don’t isn’t any of your business. You have a good night,” she said.

Belle pulled the door open, and Chandler led her through it. When they got to a solid wall instead of the glass ones of the gym after turning the corner, she stopped walking and turned to Belle.

“You look like you want to punch something.”

“Not something; just that guy.” Belle hooked her thumb in the direction of the gym.

“He was a little much, wasn’t he?”

“A little much? Chandler, he was obviously hitting on you. And when you said no a million times, he kept trying.”

“Well, thank you for walking in and putting a stop to it, Princess Charming. I had it handled, though.” Chandler squeezed Belle’s hand and let it go.

“Did you?”

“Yes, I was about to leave.”

“What if he would’ve followed you?”

“To my room?”

“He could’ve said he was just going up in the elevator, too.”

“Then, I would’ve asked for his floor to press the button before I hit it myself. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

“With him?”

“No, in general. I have been hit on before, Belle. Did you not think that was possible?”

“No, of course, it’s possible.” Belle looked down. “You’re beautiful. Of course, guys would hit on you. I just… I don’t want anything to happen to you. Maybe you didn’t need a rescue in there, but it looked like you were trying to get away, and he was basically between you and the only way out. If you wanted to stay or take him up on his offer, you could have. You could’ve told me to go.”

“I didn’t want to stay. And I don’t want to go out for a drink or coffee with Griffin. I honestly didn’t even remember the guy until he reminded me who he was. He’s Cat’s age, and she thought he was cute. So, no, he’s not my type. And I wanted to go, so I’m not mad at you for stepping in or anything. It was… sweet.”

“Sweet?”

“Yeah, sweet of you to want to protect me like that.”

“Well, I guess that’s better than you being mad at me.”

“Wait. Why are you even down here?”

“I had a late dinner in the restaurant. I was sitting at the bar, watching a game, and I lost track of time. I was just on my way back up to my room to get some sleep when I saw you and Griffin through the glass. What kind of name is Griffin, anyway?”

“You have a problem with his name, too, now?”

“Just his whole… vibe, personality, name, hair… everything, really.”

Chandler laughed and said, “Come on. We both need to get some sleep.”

“Are you feeling better about tonight? We skated well, Chandler.”

They started walking toward the bank of elevators, where Chandler pressed the up button.

“I know we did. I just hate that the ancient judges are holding the fact that we’re two women against us when we skated better than every other pair tonight. The second-place pair had a fall, Belle. We saw it.”

“I know.” When the door opened, Belle put her arm out to hold it and let Chandler walk in first. “But we’re okay, right?”

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