Page 60 of The Longshot

As I straighten her back onto her feet and into my chest, we sway back and forth. For a while, I can't help but wonder if she can feel the way my heart is beating out of control.

Christ. I don’t know how or why I decided to start dancing with her. I can’t dance to save my life, but at this moment, I want to dance with her, sing with her, and do whatever it takes to never let this night end.

“You know, all night long...” I finally break the silence between us. “I’ve been staring down at that face of yours, thinking to myself...” I cautiously drag my thumb along her lower lip. “How you’ve got the most perfect lips I’ve ever seen.”

I watch her swallow. The once-fresh air of the fields has since become tainted with desire as I rest my forehead against hers.

“All the while…” I lose track of my hands as they intertwine within her softly waved hair. “I’ve been dying to resolve a simple question. Mind if I ask you, Chelsie?”

With some reluctance she nods, shying away, but somehow, I can still see this wonderstruck look in her eyes, it compels me to continue.

As I lean in, just about ready to open my mouth to ask her the question I’ve been desperate to know, a loud clap of thunder echoes throughout the sky, and not a second later, large droplets of rain come pelting down on us.

Fucking England.

“We should get back.” Chelsie decides, breaking free from my grasp as she reaches for her purse and uses it as a shield to block out the rain. “We should get back before it gets any worse!”

She speaks too soon. By now, the rain is absolutely pissing down, so much so that I can hardly see her face as she stands in front of me.

“C’mon, Gary,” she shouts, waving her hand for me to follow as she begins her decline down the hill. “Let’s go!”

I’m left frozen in time, basking in the way the water splashes beneath her legs, soaking her dress within a matter of seconds until finally, I come to my senses and race after her through the grass.

“Chelsie!” I shout, struggling to stay upright as I tread along the slippery dirt beneath my feet. “Slow down! You’re… you’re going to fall, love.” Worry consumes me. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, Gary.” She briefly turns around to face me, using her hands to project her voice. “Now c’mon, slow poke! How am I faster than the captain of Crawfield?”

I shake my head in laughter, droplets of rain flying everywhere as I steady my footing until finally, I watch Chelsie reach the bottom of the hill and make her way back onto the street.

By the time I catch up with her, Chelsie’s managed to reach Ruby’s, where she’s taken shelter beneath a small nook underneath the window ledge.

“Come, quick,” she instructs, resting her head back against the brick. “Take cover.”

“What’s the point?” I cry out with the faintest bit of laughter. “We’re both already soaked. Just embrace it.”

“I’d rather not embrace pneumonia, Gary.” She wraps her exposed arms around her chest, attempting to warm herself. “I’m freezing…” Her teeth chatter. “Aren’t you… cold?”

The look of distress on Chelsie’s face compels me to join her beneath the shelter, and within a matter of seconds, I immediately clutch onto either side of her trembling frame.

Without a jacket, I’m left with no other choice but to use my body as a source of warmth. I lean into her, guiding her so that her back is up against the brick of the house, hopeful that the heat that she’s completely electrified inside of me will find its way to warm her.

“Better?” I ask once the sound of her teeth chattering comes to a stop. I can feel her swallow as I rest my forehead against hers.

“Better.”

With a single glance downwards, I swim in the ocean that is her blue eyes—that is, until my attention is drawn even lower, onto the once-point of conversation… her lips.

“Hey.” I peel away at the damp strands of blonde hair that have stuck to her cheeks. “You know, I never got the chance to finish what I was saying to you earlier.”

Chelsie’s eyes light up. “Right.” She seems to remember. “And uh—what exactly were you going to ask me?” she hums.

The vibration of her mouth sends a sudden, unnatural wave of mixed emotions through me as I start to question: do I continue with my original thought, or do I steer off course? Yet, as I watch her tug down on her bottom lip beneath with her teeth, the answer becomes clear as day.

I can no longer contain myself.

“That all night long, I’ve been wondering…” I nestle in close, my lips hovering over top of hers. “What your lips…” I’m millimeters away from making contact. “Taste like.”

Chelsie parts her mouth before she speaks, a sense of nerves masking her face—she fights it as she peers up at me. “I guess there’s only one way to find out. Isn’t there?”

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