Page 68 of Game Changer
“This is so not what I had in mind for tonight,” he grumbles.
“What? Eating fantastic food and being in even better company?”
“No,” he answers with a mouthful of hot dog. “You deserve better than eating in an alley while you’reshivering.”
I hold up the tinfoil wrapped food. “This is my cure for being cold, remember? And as to eating in an alley, it’s definitely a first, but I think I’m rather enjoying myself.” I catch him doing the deep inhale again. “What is that?”
“What is what?”
“You keep inhaling like you’re not getting enough air.”
His forehead scrunches as if he’s debating whether or not to tell me, but eventually, he relents and says, “Anxiety is weird. I’ll get in these situations with crowds of people and feel like my lungs are constricted. They’re not, but my mind tells me they are. So I’ll inhale deeply to remind myself I can still take a deep breath.” His lips purse. “It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud. Medication and therapy help, but it’s not a cure-all, you know? I’ll always battle with it, even if it’s only a fraction.”
I smile softly. “I don’t think you’re ridiculous at all. Does it bother you? To inhale?”
“Nah.” He shakes his head, contemplating. “It’s more of a reassurance than anything.”
“Then I’ll happily listen to you inhale if it reminds you that you’re still breathing.”
His stare lingers on mine for what feels like an eternity as we finish our food in companionable silence. The feel of his eyes on me is almost a caress, and his speech at the hotel keeps circulating through my mind on a never-ending loop.
In this alley, I’ve never been so comfortable, and that’s saying something, given there’s a dumpster a few feet away from us that smells absolutely foul. The reality of the situation is it doesn’t matter where I am with Ethan. It just matters that I’m withhim.
~
For the main event of our date, I tried to come up with thousands of possibilities about where he could be taking me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand why he’d want to drive me to Vegas for a day when we’d both never been here before, but as we stand in front of the conference center and my eyes dart to the sign above it, my vision is suddenly blurry from the tears that will no doubt escape.
“Ethan.”
“It’s a beauty expo,” he explains, as if I haven’t already pieced that together. “There will be tons of booths with free samples and demos with the latest styling tools and makeup products. It seemed fitting to bring you here with your clientele and portfolio taking off. I figured it’ll give you more inspiration.”
“Dios mío.”I rub a palm over my heart as if that’ll calm the pounding beneath.
“I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, Maya, but this is what you were born to do. You know it, I know it, and anyone who’s ever met you knows it too. You may not believe in yourself yet, but I do, and until it finally dawns on you, I’ll be by your side to remind you.” I’m a blubbering mess when he tugs me against his side. “I want you to soak up every minute of this experience and apply it to your future as acosmetologist, because that’s what’s in store for you.”
I swipe at the tears cascading down my cheeks, no doubt ruining the makeup I spent hours on, but Ethan takes over for me and uses his thumb to catch them instead.
This man overcame his fear of traveling to bring me here because he believes in me. He thinks I can do this, and for the life of me, I’m wondering why the hell I let him go to begin with. If my parents can’t see he’s good for me, then that’s their loss.
Ethan Davis is the man I’m spending the rest of my life with.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper through a choked sob. Well, that’s not entirely true. Three words are on the tip of my tongue, but I refuse to say them until I come clean to my parents. I can be confident and claim all I want that my parents will have to deal with my decision to be with him, but once I’m in front of them, I have no clue how our conversation will play out. Telling Ethan that I love him will only result in more heartbreak if next weekend, I can’t follow through with this newfound courage I imagine I’ve gained.
“You don’t have to say anything at all.” He tugs two tickets out of his wallet and passes one to me. “I just want you to enjoy tonight.”
I laugh into the night sky. “There’s nothing in this entire universe that could ruin my night, Ethan. Although I probably look terrible now. Pretty sure my makeup is ruined.”
“Please.” He rolls his eyes. “You couldn’t look terrible even if you tried. Your setting spray did a damn good job.”
I gasp, and at the sound, he tosses his head back and releases a genuine, throaty laugh that leaves me practically giddy. “You’re learning!” I squeal.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Linking his arm with mine, he leads us to the entrance.
“What else have I taught you?”
When he grins wickedly, I realize I walked directly into that trap. “I’ll show you better than I can tell you, but there’s time for that later. For now, let’s go fuel that passion of yours.”
~
