Page 54 of The Longshot

Delaney pouts her lips, her eyes glazing over as if she’s about to break into tears of happiness. “Chelsie Windsor? That sounds so fancy. So royal. So… elegant. Ah, and don’t even get me started on how perfect it pairs with Wilks. Don’t you think?”

I shrug. “I suppose it has a ring to it. Although she doesn’t call me that,” I confess. “She actually never has.”

“No?” Delaney furrows a brow. “Why not?”

“Not sure.” I jut out my bottom lip unknowingly. “She didn’t say. I guess she just wanted to call me by my first name. So, Gary, it is.”

A faint smile boasts Delaney’s face as she nods. “‘Gary it is,’” she repeats, a silence following shortly after. “Hey…” She peers down at her phone. “What time did you say you were meeting her again?”

My stomach drops.

My eyes widen.

Shit.

This has been way more than two minutes.

I race for my bag and reach for my phone.

7:00 PM.

“Now,” I tell her, slinging my bag over my shoulder. “I’m supposed to be there now!”

“Shit, well, you better get a move on then!” Delaney eagerly shoves me ahead. “Go! Don’t be later than you already are.”

I nod frantically as I race towards my car. My mind, body, and legs moving at a million miles per hour before Delaney calls out, “Oh, and Wilks?”

“Yeah?” I peer out from my car door. One leg in while the other lingers out.

Delaney smiles and clutches onto the door handle. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

FOURTEEN

C H E L S I E

“I knew this would happen.” I pace my way back and forth down the front entryway. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to go out with him. I knew this would all end up being a big mistake?—”

I’m brought to a stiffening halt as Ruby steadies me in place. I hadn’t realized it until this moment, but with the ache in my calves, it feels like I’ve been walking up and down this hallway for an eternity.

Maybe I have.

“Can you stop?” Ruby’s face is deadpan as she looks me in the eyes. “He’s only ten minutes late. Maybe he’s still at practice? You did say that he had practice today, right?”

I nod agreeably. “Yeah, but he said it was at four. That was over three hours ago. I’ve never heard of a practice going on for three hours. Have you?”

“Maybe he got caught up in something?” Ruby attempts to give Gary the benefit of the doubt yet again and bring some rationality to this conversation. Thank God, given that the reasonable part of my brain has seemingly gone on vacation. “So, just relax. I’m sure he’ll be here any second, and before you know it, you’ll be on your way and out the?—”

The sound of tires rolling their way up the gravel of the driveway is enough to dart both of our heads in the direction of the door.

“It’s him!” Ruby screams, pushing past me and racing towards the entryway to peer over at him through the glass. “Act cool, act calm, act… sexy.”

“Sexy?”

“Yes, sexy!” She brings her hands up into my hair, fluffing it out before she moves on to adjusting the hem of my dress.

“How does one act sexy?” I rebut.

“Beats me,” she responds, all flustered. “I’m just the messenger! Just… think sexy and cool and?—”

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