Page 80 of The Longshot

When I eventually fall back into my seat, he frowns. “Why did you stop?”

“The light.” I gesture forward with the brush of my hand. “It turned green. I didn’t want to distract you while you’re driving.”

“Baby.” He runs his hand along his bottom lip. “You act as if being in this car with you while you look like that isn’t already distracting enough…”

Butterflies unleash in my stomach once more without a care as I recklessly kiss him, holding out on my escalating desires as I whisper, “You’re adorable, Gary Wilkinson,” into his ear. “I hope you know that.”

His cheeks flame red as I settle within my seat. “Adorable?” he questions. “I’m sorry, but are you flirting with me right now, Chelsie Windsor?” He bites down on his swollen bottom lip, pulling the car immediately over to the side of the road before shifting the gear into park.

“So what if I am?” I toy nervously with my hands. “You have a problem with that?”

Gary pulls me in close. “No problem here.” His hands get tangled up in my hair as I sink into his embrace. “Do you have a problem, Chelsie?”

Fuck. It’s so hard to answer. So hard to focus when the only thing I can focus on is the way his lips work their way down my neck and kiss onto me tenderly.

I shake my head, leaning in closer. “No.”

I can feel his lips rise into a smirk as he switches to the other side, and a faint moan escapes my lips. “Didn’t think so.”

Under his trance, somehow, a logical thought manages to break through. “Where uh—are we?”

“My parents,” he murmurs, lips trailing towards mine. “I wasn’t lying about that part. My brother's gift is in the boot.”

“Don’t you want to go inside and give it to him?”

“I will in a minute.” His lips vibrate against mine. “But at the moment, I’m a little busy with my girl.”

“Your girl?” I remark, curiously pinning my bottom lip between my teeth as I do.

“Mhm.” With the softness of his thumb, he pulls down on my bottom lip to release it. “You’re my girl, Chelsie. Right?”

I part my mouth to speak, but before I can, I’m left distracted by two frames that stand in front of Gary’s window, waving excitedly at me.

“Uh… Gary?” I tilt my chin upwards in their direction, prompting him to turn around.

“Christ.” He jumps back in fear, prompting me to burst into laughter. “You scared me half to death!” Gary opens up his car door, an action that leads me to do the same as I step out and watch him embrace what appears to be his parents in a hug.

“That’s what your mum and I said when the nurse first handed you to us,” his Dad jokingly remarks.

I can see where Gary gets his sense of humor from.

“Yeah, yeah, but then she turned around and said, wow, you actually look just like your dad.”

“Ah, that’s our Gary.” His dad pats him on the back with a smirk. “How are you, lad? Are you alright?”

“I’m good. Things are good,” Gary tells them confidently. “We’re top of the league and we’ve only got a few games left. This might just be the season we move up.”

“I’m sure it will be,” his mum chimes in with a joyous smile. “Thank you for coming, love. You know Georgie is always so excited to see you.”

“Of course,” he tells her. “You know I wouldn’t have missed this. He’s nearly a teenager. I can’t believe it. Where has the time gone?”

His parents shake their heads in mutual disbelief until their attention is re-diverted to the girl lingering in the shadows, AKA, me.

“Mum… Dad.” Gary beats me to an awkward introduction as he walks over to my side and wraps an arm around my waist. “This is Chelsie Windsor. Chelsie, this is my mum, Denise, and my dad, Greg.”

“Hi.” I wave over at them, a sense of reluctance in my voice given that I hadn’t anticipated meeting both of them today. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“It’s lovely to meet you too, Chelsie.” They work their way over to my side and embrace me in a comforting embrace. Must be a Wilkinson thing. “How about you both come inside for a bit? We’re about to start cooking up Georgie’s birthday supper, what do you say? Hm? You two hungry?”

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