Page 113 of Guys Can't Write Romance
They fell into comfortable silence, watching as the puppy predictably brought the feuding couple together. Chad’s running commentary on the increasingly ridiculous plot twistskept Daisy laughing, momentarily forgetting the emotional rollercoaster of the day.
“How’d he take the breakup?” Chad finally asked.
“I’ll let you be the judge,” she said, pulling out her phone. “He sent me this about twenty minutes ago.”
She handed Chad the phone, displaying Ethan’s text:
‘You’ve made a spectacularly poor decision tonight. We could have had the perfect life. I hope your little writing hobby and childish dreams bring you the security and status you’ve just thrown away. Don’t call when you realize what you’ve lost.’
Chad’s expression darkened as he read. “Wow. And they say romance is dead.”
“Charming, right?” Daisy took back the phone. “As if status was ever what I wanted.”
“What do you want?” Chad asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.
Daisy thought for a moment, her eyes drifting back to the TV where the couple was now dancing in what appeared to be a spontaneous snowfall.
“I want someone who believes in me and supports me, even if it doesn’t make sense to them. Who’s there to celebrate the good times with me, and curl up with me on the couch during the bad times and tell me everything’s going to be okay.” She laughed self-consciously. “Sorry, that got really cheesy really fast.”
“Cheesy is underrated,” Chad said, nudging her shoulder with his. “Besides, we’re watching Hallmark movies and eating ice cream after a breakup. If you can’t be cheesy now, when can you be?”
They settled back into watching the movie, Chad’s arm a comforting presence behind her on the couch cushions. As the night progressed and a second Hallmark movie began, this one featuring a small-town baker and a businessman who learns thetrue meaning of Christmas, Daisy found herself growing drowsy, the emotional exhaustion of the day finally catching up with her.
Without really thinking about it, she leaned into Chad, her head finding a comfortable spot against his shoulder.
“Is this okay?” she murmured, already half asleep.
“Yeah,” Chad said, his voice strangely tight. “This is okay.”
The last thing Daisy remembered was the comforting weight of his arm coming to rest around her shoulders, and the feeling that despite everything that had happened that day, she was exactly where she needed to be.
Chad had faced down many challenges in his life: the season his high school baseball team made it to state finals, the time he’d gone surfing during a small craft advisory, even the truly terrifying experience of teaching sex education to seventh graders.
But nothing had prepared him for the current situation: Daisy Fields, fast asleep against his chest, her hair spilling across his t-shirt, her breath soft against his neck.
It was simultaneously the most comfortable and the most uncomfortable position he’d ever been in.
Comfortable because, well, holding Daisy felt bizarrely natural, as if the curve of her body was designed to fit perfectly against his. Uncomfortable because every self-preservation instinct in his body was screaming that this was dangerous territory.
Daisy Fields wasn’t just any woman. She wasn’t a casual hookup or a fun weekend fling. She was important. And as of approximately three hours ago, technically available.
That last thought sent a jolt of panic through him. Chad’s entire romantic playbook consisted of flirting, charm, and never ever getting too attached. He knew how to make women laugh,how to show them a good time, how to exit gracefully before things got too serious.
He had absolutely no idea how to handle genuine feelings for someone who mattered.
Because the truth, the terrifying, undeniable truth, was that Daisy Fields had become someone who mattered. A lot.
On screen, the Hallmark couple was sharing their first kiss as snow fell improbably in what was clearly Southern California. Chad reached carefully for the remote, muting the swelling music that threatened to wake Daisy.
She stirred slightly, murmuring something unintelligible before settling more firmly against him, one hand curling into the fabric of his shirt.
Chad froze, hardly daring to breathe until she settled back into a deeper sleep. The weight of her trust, reaching out to him after her breakup, and now falling asleep against him, felt both precious and terrifying.
This was uncharted waters. And Chad McKenzie, for all his easy confidence in most situations, had no idea how to navigate them.
The sound of a key in the lock jolted him from his thoughts. The door swung open to reveal Chloe, her pink hair slightly windblown, a knowing smirk spreading across her face as she took in the scene before her.
“Well, well, well,” she whispered, closing the door quietly behind her. “That didn’t take long.”
