Page 16 of Beautiful Beginning

She laughed. “Minds your business. Okay.” Her hand rested on my cheek. “It’s not a bad thing. I like it. And the way you treat me, I’d take shy over an overtly outgoing guy.”

“Then your past relationships, what happened?” I didn’t know if it was safe to hear about her past. I’d want to find any guy on the planet who didn’t treasure her.

When her lips twisted, I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to hear. “Well, the last guy had me and about two other girls I later learned about.”

My hands balled into a fist. “Greedy mother-fucker.”

Journey moaned. “Ehmmm… I don’t know, I might like this savage Chaz as much as the shy one.”

“I’d prefer to keep that side tucked away.” I rubbed my hands against her thighs, “But trust, along as I’m around, I won’t tolerate anyone mistreating you.”

Her legs spread wider, and she leaned into me. “You, Chaz, are trouble.”

And she was my reciprocal.

ChapterSeven

Journey

There wasn’t one thing I could find wrong with Chaz. Lauren reminded me, “In the beginning nothing ever goes wrong. But remember, nobody is perfect.”

“What if there’s someone who is perfectfor me?” I asked as we walked through the community center. Every Saturday morning, we volunteered. Well, I volunteered, and I drug her along with me. “Is it possible for me to find beauty in his flaws?”

Lauren sighed. “Knowing you, it’s highly likely. For the rest of us not living in Romancelandia, not as much.”

As the day’s instructor stood in front of the room, I whispered, “He’s kind, and can kiss. Has a little grit to him.”

Her eyebrows arched and she leaned on her hand. “Grit? The guy who finds joy at the library?”

“Hey,” I said a little too loud interrupting the instructor. “There’s nothing wrong with being studious.”

Lauren laughed. “The nerdy guy and the cheerleader. Couldn’t get more like a fairytale if someone wrote it.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “Whatever, Lauren.”

“And speaking of Mr. Perfect, how did he skip out on this volunteer opportunity?” Her head tilted sideways. “This seems like something he’d enjoy. Or you’d make sure he got involved with.”

I scrunched my nose as I looked around. Financial literacy had nothing to do with Lauren’s English major and that’s why she wasn’t thrilled to be there. It didn’t have anything to do with political science either, and I had no idea if volunteering was his thing.

“If not,” Lauren boasted, “Would it be a flaw you foundbeautiful?”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and said, “Guess we’ll see.” I walked to the corner of the room so I wouldn’t distract the participants. As soon as Chaz answered, I asked, “Are you busy?”

He had that morning rasp in his voice like he wasn’t fully awake. “It’s too early to be busy.”

“How about to volunteer?” If he was anything like Lauren and Nia he was rolling his eyes. But I hoped, there was a smile on his face. I wasn’t ready to consider his rejection a flaw.

“Volunteer? When?”

Okay, not a complete rejection. “Now.” I held my breath waiting for him to say anything.

“It’s not my thing.”

When he said that about partying, I thought it was cool. But about volunteering? I didn’t want to hate it. I wanted so badly to find it beautiful. Wanted to find some redeeming quality in his reasoning. So, I asked, “Why not? I’d think someone in public service would find volunteering important.”

I heard shuffling, grumbling, then, “You’re right. It’s important.”

That was it. No reneging on his initial statement. “So, want to join me?” I held out hope. That we could keep his track record clean. That there wouldn’t be a reason for me to contemplate all the many reasons I could think to find him imperfect. “If you come, there’ll be time for me to help you brainstorm ideas for your campaign. I know you haven’t decided yet, but there’s only a week for me to show everyone what I see in you.”

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