Page 56 of Love Unexpected
“Nothing. Just stand there. This one will be really brief.”
He draped an arm across my shoulders and tugged me into his side, so we were both framed in the video capture of his phone. Without thinking, I slipped my arm around his back and held onto his waist. The closeness was nearly dizzying.
“Ready?” he said softly.
I nodded. “Ready.”
“Hey, guys. Isaac and Rosie checking in from the Chesapeake Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee to say that even though we’re tired—”
“And we’ve eaten all the black licorice and pickle-flavored salt water taffy,” I jumped in to add, surprising even myself.
Isaac shot me a quick grin, his grip tightening on my shoulder before he continued, finishing our sentence. “We can’t wait to get back on the road tomorrow. We’re going to charge up the car, give Tyler the camera man time to stretch”—he flipped the shot around to catch a quick shot of Tyler leaning against the car, his face impassive before he turned it back on us—“and get some sleep and then we’ll be back at it tomorrow, counting down the miles to Kansas City.” He looked down at me. “Want to do the final send-off?” he asked me, the video still rolling.
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “I thought you said I only had to stand here for this one.”
His eyes sparkled with mirth. “You could have just said no, Crenshaw. You don’t have to embarrass me in front of all my friends.”
I reached up and patted Isaac on the chest, temporarily distracted by the curve of muscle under my palm. His muscle twitched with awareness and I pressed my lips together, a pulse of desire coursing through me. Isaac was not one of those super-ripped gym rats with muscles visible for miles. But this was nice—so nice. Remembering that we were live-streaming my exploration of Isaac’s physique, I gave my head a quick shake and turned my face back to the camera. “I’ll do the send-off,” I said, “but not for you. Only because of how much I like all your friends.” I smiled into the camera.
“Don’t forget to be real, remember that kindness always matters most, and pay it forward every chance you get.”
“Well done,” Isaac said. “You didn’t miss a single word.”
“Why are you so surprised?” I said. “I am nothing if not a dedicated and loyal employee.”
“I’ll never underestimate you again,” Isaac said.
We both waved a final goodbye and then he closed out the video. “That was awesome,” Isaac said, giving me a surprised look. “You’ve done great today.”
I took a deep breath. I’d actually felt pretty comfortable, weirdly enough. Something about having Isaac’s arm around me had made me forget that filming a live stream was something I was supposed to feel anxious about. Which, twenty-four hours ago, was the exact opposite of what I would have expected. Being around Isaac should have made me feel stressed. Tongue-tied. Worried about saying or doing something stupid. And being on camera should have only exacerbated all of those worries. But with Isaac, and by extension, his seventy bazillion followers, I hadn’t felt any of that.
Ihaddone great today. A quiet sense of pride filled my chest. From the outside, the video would likely look like nothing. Forty-five seconds of two friends bantering back and forth. But for me, that video, and everything else I’d managed, even down to evading a pack of crazy middle schoolers, felt like a momentous accomplishment.
Tyler walked past me, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder. He grabbed his suitcase from where Isaac had left it next to the car. “You’ve done it now,” he said under his breath, pausing to readjust the straps of his bag. “If people weren’t talking about you before, they definitely will be now.”
Chapter Twenty
Isaac
The dynamic in the car was different while we drove to Westonburg to see Rosie’s cousin.Betterdifferent. Though, we did have a few conversations I wished we could have gotten on camera. Rosie had surprised me in the most unexpected way. It wasn’t just that she was funny. She was just so...real. It wouldn’t take much for viewers to fall in love with her. It was also possible I was slightly obsessed with her curly hair.
I suddenly wondered what kind of hair Ana had. Weirdly enough, I hadn’t given it much thought. There had been something incredibly liberating about getting to know her without the pressure of face-to-face interaction. It didn’t matter if I was in pajama bottoms with mustard on my t-shirt when I messaged her. If I hadn’t showered in three days or had forgotten to brush my teeth. Likewise, I’d found myself asking questions that were focused much more on getting to know her as a person instead of any of her physical characteristics.
And yet, with Rosie sitting next to me, I suddenly had an intense desire to know what Ana looked like.
I didn’t want to dwell on what that might mean.
“Right up here,” Rosie said, pointing to a street sign in the distance. “This is her neighborhood.”
I slowed the car and pulled into the development. The houses were small but well-maintained, with tiny, manicured lawns. The porches were all covered in pots of blooming flowers. Wide sidewalks lined either side of the road, street lamps lighting it up at regular intervals.
“This neighborhood is great,” I said.
“Marley saved for a long time to be able to afford a house in here. The house is tiny, but it’s only her and Shiloh. They don’t need a lot of room.” She pointed again, at a corner house with blue shutters. “That’s hers.”
I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. “Do you want me to come in with you?”
She pursed her lips. “Not yet. Is that okay? I just don’t really know how she’s going to be feeling, and company may be too overwhelming.”
