Page 24 of Geordie

He shakes his head, eyes rolling to heaven as if pleading with the gods to help him with this unschooled American. “I have a lot to teach you.” Leaning forward on his crutch, he comes a little into my space. One more step and he’ll be dangerously close to kissing range. “Only if you’ll let me, lass; I promise you won’t regret it.”

I study him, my lips forming a half smile. Does he know he’s flirting, or is this part of his teasing personality?

Geordie leans on his crutches to move closer to me. He shifts his weight to steady himself, freeing his hand to brush my hair with deft fingers. I look up at him, tingling a little because I’m drawn to this man with a glint of rogue in his eyes.

His hands cradle my face as he searches my eyes. I take a breath, relaxing into the moment, shut my eyes, and wait for the kiss I know is coming.

“Miss, excuse me, Miss?” My eyes fly open as Geordie shifts back. An attendant is pointing to the SUV. “Is this your vehicle? There were no keys in the ignition.”

The key is still in my hand. “Here.”

“Wait and I’ll get your ticket.”

We enter the hotel’s vast lobby, a glowing circle of white marble floor. There’s a sign to the left that lists the parties in the hotel. The Jansens’ gender-reveal party is to the left in the Crystal Room.

I pause for a moment to check on my companion. “How are you holding up? According to the map, the room we’re looking for is at the end of the building. Are you good?”

He squints, looking down the carpeted corridor, calculating the distance. “Aye, I’ll survive. It’s just a wee walk down the hallway.”

“I’ve been to this hotel before. That portion of the hotel overlooks the marina.” I glance at his leg that’s enclosed in a walking boot. “You know, I could ask the hotel for a wheelchair. I’m sure they have one.”

He looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “I’m an able young man, capable of walking a few steps. I’ll be fine.”

The thump of Geordie’s boot as it hits the carpet is an odd melody. Despite his impediment, we travel at a swift pace down the hallway. He’s making a point that his injury doesn’t hold him back. The male ego is a delicate thing. I was only thinking of his comfort when I made the suggestion.

We arrive at the end of the hallway in front of a sign labeled Crystal Room. I take a breath. “This is it.” Before going through the doors, I look up at Geordie, who nods that he’s ready to move into the room. When we enter, it’s dark. Pin lights are strung around the space like tiny stars. You can see lights strung along the marina’s causeway through a window that takes up one wall. Nirvana’sCome as You Arefills the space. “I think this is the wrong room,” I whisper.

The lights blaze on and we’re standing in front of a sea of people screaming, “Surprise!” At that moment, I see the “Happy Birthday, Lily!” banner that takes up the back half of the wall. I’m wide-eyed in stunned silent, looking at family and friends, some in backward baseball caps, thick gold chains, a few JANCS. Some females look like fugitives from a Britney Spears or a Spice Girls video. My crew from Dalliance is here, hanging back in a cluster. Molly rushes up to me as Geordie takes a step back.

“This is your surprise birthday party. We did it as a ’90s theme.” She looks up at Geordie, her face screwed up with a weird expression. “Hello, I don’t think I’ve met you. My name’s Molly.”

“Molly, this is Geordie. He was nice enough to come with me when I thought this was a gender-reveal party.”

Geordie smiles at her and extends his hand. “Nice to meet you, Molly.”

She takes his hand, not meeting his gaze. “Glad you could come,” she mumbles. Then turns her attention to me. “We need to get you both in the party mood. Lily, I have something for you to wear. Geordie, I wasn’t expecting you, but we have items of clothing, in case some guests didn’t come dressed. Go through there.” She points to a door just steps away. “You’ll find everything you need. Come back here as soon as you can.”

Geordie trails after me as I walk through groups of people waving, hugging, saying hello. Molly announces from a mic that I’ll return to the room after I change.

The room we’re sent into is another ballroom arranged as an anti-room with long tables in a U shape filled with clothing to assemble a costume. They sectioned off four makeshift dressing rooms with thick brocade curtains.

Geordie picks up an oversized shirt, which will probably be tight on him. “Why didn’t you say today is your birthday?”

I find a blue garment bag with my name pinned on the front hanging in one of the dressing rooms. “Today isn’t my birthday. It’s next week. They probably threw the party today because Dalliance is closed on Sundays.”

He frowns at the array of clothing, then stands at the entrance of my dressing room. “Since this isn’t a gender-reveal party, and you know everyone here, I’ll take a cab back to my place and you can celebrate with your family and friends.”

I unzip the bag and remove the garment. It’s a sexy schoolgirl costume, the kind Britney Spears wore in the videoBaby One More Time. Molly included thigh-high gray socks and sweater with a white blouse to tie around my waist and a short black skirt. She added the pink puffy scrunchies and ribbon for my hair. This wasn’t bought at a cheap Halloween costume shop; this looks custom made. Our clique at school would practice the dance steps of that video until they were perfect. One day I’d be Britney, another time Molly would be the lead.

Geordie looks over my shoulder at the dress. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

“Uh-huh.”

He glances at me, then back to the costume. “Forget what I said about leaving. I’m looking forward to meeting your family and friends.”

I look up at him, shaking my head. “This costume changed your mind?”

“No lass,” he says innocently, not able to pull it off, as if he ever could. “I just thought about the kindness you showed me and that I should be here to return the favor.”

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