Page 64 of The Longshot

Realization makes Ruby’s eyes widen. “Did I say eager touch?” She picks at the polish on her nails before peering up. “What I meant to say was ‘super rush’.”

“Super rush?” I raise a suspecting brow. “Seriously? You realize that doesn’t make any sense, right?”

“Well, sometimes I don’t make sense.” Ruby raises her hands in defense, her face transforming into a bright shade of red. “Oh, did you hear that?” She looks back over her shoulder. “I think that was the timer. I have cookies in the oven. Better go check on them?—”

“Ruby,” my voice brings her to a halt before she can sprint back inside. “Can you just talk to me? Please?” I plead. “Chelsie… what did she tell you about last night?”

Ruby sighs out in defeat before she leans her forehead against the doorframe. “If I tell you, this stays between you and me.” She gestures back and forth. “Do you understand, Wilks? You don’t say a word to Chelsie!”

I nod with absolution. I'll hold onto this secret for an eternity if I have to. My lips are sealed.

“She likes you a lot, Gary,” Ruby reveals. “Trust me when I tell you that. But Chelsie, she’s… she’s been through a lot with her ex, okay? Things that aren’t my place to tell you. But from what she did share with me about how she reacted to things last night, well, it’s because deep down… she’s scared.”

“Scared?” I ask.

“Yes, scared.”

I don’t understand. “Scared of me?”

Ruby rubs her evidently clammy hands along her colorful pajama bottoms. “No, not of you. She’s scared that she’s falling for you so quickly.”

She’s falling for me?

The revelation only makes my heart wince that much more as I’m tormented by the way we left things last night. I knew something was off, yet I also knew something was on. The two of us… we’re electric, unlike anything I’d ever felt before.

“Just…” Ruby softens her voice. “If I can give you any advice when it comes to Chelsie, it’s that you’ve got to let her take the lead, Wilks. You’ve got to. Over the past little while, she’s lost all control in her life. And this? You. Well, this is just another thing on her plate.”

Her words make me wish I knew the truth about things with her and her ex, but at the same time, I know it’s not my place to pry. I have to accept that when the timing is right, Chelsie will share everything with me. Until then, I suppose I have to be patient.

Fault #6: I hate being left in the dark.

“Now, I’m sure you have girls fawning all over you left, right, and center,” Ruby sings my praises. “But if your end goal with Chelsie is just another mindless hook-up, then I’m sorry to say, Wilks, you’re sadly mistaken. Chelsie isn’t the type.”

“It’s not like that at all, Ruby,” I assure her. “I like her. I like her a lot. This isn’t about just a hook-up to me. I want to get to know Chelsie. I need her to know that.”

Ruby stands up straight, and pulls back from the doorframe. “Well then, it looks like, for the first time, you’re going to need to take a backseat.”

I jerk my neck back like I’ve never heard the word before.

I haven’t.

“A backseat, you say?”

“Yeah,” Ruby laughs. “You know, learning how to work at someone else’s pace. You want to win Chelsie over. Let her take the lead in all of this. She’ll come around eventually, Gary,” hearing her call me by my real name makes me wince. These Windsor girls sure know how to hit me right where it hurts. “You picking up what I’m putting down here?”

Sucking in a deep breath of understanding, I nod, hopeful that when I breathe out, it’s the bad omens that have clouded my mind. I needed someone to give it to me straight. Lay it on thick. It’s how I learn. It’s how I grow. The strategy reminds me a hell of a lot of Coach, and if I know one thing about his teaching methods, it’s that they work.

Ruby’s right. She’s so right that it pains me. Things got too heated last night between the two of us. What should’ve been a simple kiss escalated way too quickly.

Fuck.

It’s like I can feel gravity burdening me with the thought that I’ve just blown my chance. One that I fear I won’t get back…

“Good things come with time.” Ruby attempts to alleviate my worry with an encouraging smile. “And Chelsie? Well, I can promise you that she’s more than worth the wait.”

CHELSIE

“Mum… Dad!” I’m quick to greet them both the second they swing open the front door and pull me into their warm embrace.

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