“Are you?”
He nodded. “I am.” He took her hand and kissed every finger individually.
Her sweater was suddenly constricting and hot.
“Um, guys, there are two other people at this table,” Rob said in a loud whisper.
Whitney pulled her hand away from Chace and turned back to face her friends. “What? We were just deciding what to order.”
“From the menu? Or?...” Rob raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, Rob. You’re such a comedian,” she said, reaching across the table to bop him lightly on the head with her menu. “See me laughing right now?”
Chace chuckled, tightening his arm around her waist. She leaned into him.
Later, Whitney went to the restroom and Delaney followed.
They were standing at the sink, checking their makeup, when Delaney said, “I have to admit. I’m a little jealous.”
“Oh yeah?”
“It just seems so natural between you two. Like you don’t even have to try. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Thanks.”
“There’s just so much…fire between you two. I can’t believe you’re not official yet.”
“Yet. Ha.” She rolled a tube of lip gloss back and forth across her palm, thinking about Delaney’s words. She had her reasons. Certainly, they were good ones. She didn’t have time for a relationship. Then there was Erika and that fool she insisted on dating even though he made her miserable. Whitney had to do a lot of damage control there.
Aunt Cheryl had a new boyfriend and was laying off Jo for the moment. But then there was work. There was always work. That meant there was always Kim.
“I know we’re not close or anything, and I wish we were closer. But even I can see how you two not getting together is a real shame.”
“Yeah?” Whitney leaned against the edge of the sink and studied her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t look as tired and rundown as she should have, and she knew that was due in large part to Chace.
“Every woman in here has to be jealous tonight. And with good reason.”
Whitney smiled. “He is pretty wonderful.”
“Are you kidding me? He’s gorgeous, funny, nice, and so into you, it’s like he breathes in the air you breathe out. If it weren’t for Rob, I would take him. That is, if I had a chance. That man can only see you.”
“Hm.” She kept looking through her bag even though she was already finished touching up her makeup.
“You’re one of Rob’s best friends. You mean a lot to him. And with good reason.” She fidgeted with her handbag. “I’m sorry about how I acted toward you before. It’s just…I’ve never met anyone like Rob. I’m so afraid of losing him.”
“It’s okay. And don’t be. That guy’s not going anywhere.”
“You really think that?”
“Trust me. I’ve known him a long time. He can’t stop talking about you.”
“Okay.” Delaney flushed and a huge grin broke out over her face.
“We’re going to have to do this more often.”
“Meet in restaurant restrooms?”
They laughed. Maybe Delaney had a sense of humor after all. They walked backed to the table, talking and laughing about Chace and Rob.
Once they were all done eating and poring through the dessert menu, Whitney’s mind was already on the only dessert she really wanted. Chace’s hand had spent most of the night on her thigh, and if she moved any closer to him, she’d be in his lap. She wasn’t even really reading the words on the menu in front of her. She couldn’t concentrate with Chace’s hand now starting to creep under her skirt. Already thinking through excuses to leave, she didn’t think they would make it through dessert.
Unfortunately, the excuse to leave was one she wasn’t expecting and one that threw off the course of her evening. Hearing her phone vibrate in her purse, she slipped it out and saw that Erika was calling.
She put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Erika.” She knew Valentine’s Day was always a depressing holiday for Erika anyway because A.J. never did much for it. He said he didn’t see the point of one day for love when you were supposed to show a person love year-round. That would have been okay maybe if he’d done anything at all to show he loved Erika.
Whitney could barely understand what Erika was saying. She was sobbing into the phone. “We. Broke up. Can’t even—he had a girlfriend. Whole time!”
“Slow down. Tell me what happened.”
Erika took a deep breath and continued in a somewhat calmer tone. “Supposedly he had to work today. That was this year’s reason we couldn’t go out for dinner or something. I called him to wish him a happy Valentine’s Day. He was trying to rush me off the phone the whole time. I got a bad feeling about it.” Erika paused and a sniffling sound came through the phone. “We fought and he hung up on me.” Another pause. “Then, I get a call back a few minutes later from this number I didn’t know. This girl gets on the phone and cusses me out for calling her man and don’t I know it’s Valentine’s Day? He was out. On a date. With his girlfriend. For Valentine’s Day!”
Oh, this was bad. Very, very bad. “I’m coming over right now, okay?”
Erika managed something that sounded like “okay” through her sobs.
Whitney closed her phone and stuck it back into her bag. She looked around at their curious faces. “That was Erika.”
“Bad?” Rob asked.
“Really bad. She and A.J. broke up. She’s in shambles.”
“Damn.”
“Exactly.” Whitney nodded. “I have to go. I’m sorry,” she said to all of them. Then she turned to Chace and patted his knee. “Really, really sorry.”
Rob said, “Call me later? Fill me in?”
“Of course I will,” Whitney said, standing and throwing a few bills on the table.
Chace handed them back to her, shaking his head. “No. It’s Valentine’s Day.”
She smiled, taking the money back and kissing his cheek. Then she whispered to him, “Why don’t you go to my place when you guys finish here? I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
He grinned before giving her a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll see you there.”
* * *
Erika came to the door in a black sweat suit, her eyes red-rimmed, looking only half-alive even in the dim light. She only had one lamp on in her living room. There was a tearjerker movie playing on her television and her coffee table was filled with the types of food Erika usually didn’t keep in her apartment out of fear of consuming them in out-of-control quantities.
Erika had probably made one trip out of the apartment that day and that would have been to get those containers of ice cream, cookies, packages of candy, and two liters of soda on the table. Whitney knew all the signs. Erika was at the lowest of lows. Even with all the crap A.J. had pulled, Erika had never gotten this bad during their relationship. In fact, the last time she’d seen this species of low had been before Erika and A.J. even got together.
“I’m sorry. I know you were with Chace. I ruined your Valentine’s Day. I just—I had to get it out,” Erika said as Whitney walked into the apartment.
“No. I’m glad you called. Of course I’d want to be here with you for something like this.” Whitney sat down on the couch and patted the space next to her. Erika sat down and leaned against her side, bursting into fresh sobs.
“I thought he was going to be it. I could just see us married. I could see our babies. All I wanted was him. Why couldn’t I have it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t,” Whitney said, knowing this wasn’t the moment to bash A.J. “But I do know that everything happens for a reason.”
Erika crumpled a tissue in her fist. “I know you hated him. But the way I felt about him? Was real. Pure. Strong.”
“I know how you felt about him,” she said. “I know this is hard for you.” She pulled Erika close.
“Why can’t the people we love just love us back? And why do people have to lie? Lies hurt so much,” Er
ika said.
Whitney bit her lower lip, thinking of Chace. Kelly had lied to him. Hurt him. Was Whitney hurting him, too? And for what? She couldn’t come up with any good reasons. “I wish I knew. I think anybody with the answer to that question would be a rich woman. Or man.”
“He could have just said no when I asked him out that first time we met. He could have just never told me he loved me. Never pretended to feel anything. He could have just never moved in here. I really thought things would be different after that. He could have—just never—broke my heart.” Erika broke down again.
Whitney rubbed her back and tried to think of something to say to her to make it better. But she couldn’t think of one thing. Eamon’s king of breakup songs from 2003 was playing in the background. Erika had it on repeat as far as Whitney could tell. It’d been playing ever since she walked into the apartment.
Whitney vaguely wondered what the new breakup songs were. The best ones always seemed to come out in the winter, but she hadn’t been listening to the radio lately. Well, the regular radio. She usually just listened to her stations on her favorite internet radio player.
“Whitney? What am I going to do?”
“First of all? You’re going to cry. A lot. And throw things if you have to. Then, tomorrow, you’re coming to Rob’s grand opening. And the party tomorrow night. And you are going to have a fantastic time.”
“Oh yeah. That is tomorrow. With everything going on, it completely slipped my mind.”
“I’m not surprised, considering all you had going on today.”
Erika stared at the crumpled tissue in her hand. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Can you call him? Ask him to come get his stuff while I’m gone tomorrow? I…can’t.”
“What’s his number?”
Erika gave her the number, and Whitney made the call. After a short, tense phone conversation, A.J. agreed to come get his stuff the next day.
“Thanks,” Erika said after Whitney tossed her phone onto the end table next to the sofa. “I have one more favor to ask. Will you watch the rest of this movie with me? Stay a while?”
“Of course,” Whitney said.
“Good. I’ll make us milkshakes.” Erika got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. Soon Whitney heard the blender whirring. She sent Chace a text to let him know she wouldn’t be back until really late.
After a few hours of sad movies, too much sugar, and a lot of man-bashing, Whitney left Erika’s after telling her she’d pick her up in the morning to go to Rob’s grand opening.
Whitney walked into her apartment and emotionally exhausted, leaned against the door for a moment. She thought about Erika and A.J. and how she hoped Erika would see soon that having that bum out of her life was actually a good thing. Then, she thought of Chace. And how different her situation was. And how ungrateful she’d been for her wonderful situation until lately.
There wasn’t a trace of him in the living room or the kitchen. She went to her bedroom, hoping to find him there.
She smiled at the image of Chace curled up in the center of her bed, his bare shoulder and the top of his chest visible above her comforter. She slipped out of her shoes, padded over on her bare feet, and leaned across the bed, kissing him on the cheek. Then, she went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
When she finally got into the bed, he pulled her close, nestled his head into her neck like he usually did when they slept together. He’d slept over several times since that night she’d tried to cook for him. He murmured her name without opening his eyes.
That was the moment she knew she was permanently, irrevocably, irredeemably in love with Chace Murphy. Even if she didn’t know how to deal with that yet, or how to say it to him out loud, it was a nice thing to know and a good feeling to have.
She wrapped her fingers around his and brought them to rest just under her chin. She stared down at the moonlight streaking across their arms, thinking of how perfect that moment was. If she were ever asked to describe love without using words, having a snapshot of that moment would have been handy. Snuggling closer to Chace, she closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile on her lips.
Chapter 22: T-Shirts for All
When Chace shook her shoulder in the morning and told her it was time to get up, she hid her head under the pillow.
He moved the pillow aside and kissed her ear before saying, “Rob wants us there by eight. It’s already past six.” He squeezed her shoulder. “We gotta get up.”
He was right, but that didn’t make her want to get out of the bed. After all, he’d gotten plenty of sleep the night before. Not so for her.
“I hate Rob and his stupid store,” she said with a yawn.
“That’s not true,” Chace said as she sat up in the bed. He kissed her cheek. “Good morning.”
“G’morning.” She turned and gave him a full, hot-blooded kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t get home until late.”
“It’s okay. We’ll make up for it tonight,” he said in a voice husky with desire. “But we have to get going right now or we’ll be late.”
“True. Especially since I told Erika we’d pick her up on the way.” She rolled out of bed, and Chace was close behind her.
He pressed his hands to her sides as they walked toward the bathroom. “This is going to be a long, long day.”
She turned to him and jumped on his hips, wrapping her legs around him. “Very long.”
He backed her into a wall and kissed her while pushing his hand under her tank top.
“We better get ready separately or we may never get ready,” she said reluctantly, breathlessly, between kisses.
“Yeah,” Chace said. He gave her backside a squeeze before letting her down. “I guess I’ll go make us some breakfast while you get in the shower.”
“Love—that idea,” Whitney said, kissing his cheek. She’d barely caught herself yet again.
He grinned. “Me, too.”
Once they were dressed and had eaten, they went to pick up a very grumpy Erika. She looked less excited about the early hour than they had been. She came out of her building gripping a takeout coffee cup and wearing gray sweats and a black hoodie. She slipped into the backseat of the car, grumbling a greeting to them.
“Good morning, Erika,” Whitney said.
“I hate morning.” Erika took a long drink of her coffee.
“Looks like it,” Chace said with a grin. “You’re still pretty, though, sunshine.”
Erika laughed. “You are just made of charm, huh?”
He shrugged. Whitney reached for his hand, and he gave it to her.
She wanted to melt for him at that moment. How could she not always want someone like that? On top of being perfect to her, he’d made her friends love him, too.
They got to the storefront on U-Street, just down the street from Ben’s Chili Bowl, a little while before the doors opened. Rob was falling over himself with excitement. The store had been his dream as far back as Whitney could remember. He’d finally made enough money from selling T-shirts from the trunk of his car and online to open an actual, physical store.
He would have to work his butt off to make the store turn a profit, but she knew he didn’t mind. The business was something that consumed his every waking moment and his dreams, too. Just like Whitney’s job, but the key difference was Rob had a true passion for what he was doing. Whitney had drive, but she didn’t know if she would call what she felt for her job a passion anymore. Maybe it had never been one.
Rob’s brother, Gi, showed up for the opening as well. He had come down from M.I.T. He supported his brother’s dreams way more than their parents did. Rob and Gi couldn’t have been more different in personality, but they were still close. Kind of like Whitney and her sister.
“It’s good to see you, Gi,” she said, hugging him.
“How are you?” Gi wore wire-framed glasses. He was taller than Rob even though he was younger. His hair was cut close, almost in a buz
z cut. He seemed to always wear khakis. That day, he wore his khakis with a gray sweater under a brown leather jacket.
“Great. This is my friend Chace.”
Chace and Gi shook hands and exchanged hellos.
“And Erika. How are you?” Gi’s smile seemed to broaden.
“I’m good, Gi. How you’ve been?”
“Fine. This is my last year of school. I’m really excited about that. I think I’m taking a deferment before starting grad school even though I’ve already been accepted to a few decent programs.” He passed a hand over his short, black hair.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I need a break. I told Rob I might come help him get his business off of the ground. I’m really happy for him.”
“Me, too,” Erika said. Soon after that, the two of them were deep in conversation about Rob, T-shirts, and school.
Normally, Gi tried to talk IP law with Whitney, but his real interest was in patents, and he didn’t seem to realize science and Whitney were not friends. However, that day he seemed to be much more interested in talking to Erika.
“I think he likes her,” Chace whispered to Whitney.
“Good, I hope she likes him back,” she whispered to him. “She needs a good guy. She always goes after creeps.”
“You wouldn’t think she’s just rebounding if they got together?” He raised an eyebrow. Touché. She’d walked herself right into a trap.
“I guess it would depend.” She settled deeper into his embrace.
“On what?” Chace’s lips were right at her ear. He was always cheating, distracting her.
“On…whether…she seemed really serious about him or not.”
“And how could you tell that?”
“Maybe if she cooked him dinner. Or came to his place almost every night. Or took care of him in every way he’d let her. Or if she came over to his house and fell asleep in his bed waiting for him to come home and she couldn’t imagine a more perfect image ever existing. And he wished he were a photographer, too, so that he could capture that image forever.”
The look in his eyes caught her heart up. She could almost hear it beating. It thudded in her chest so hard, she could imagine it jumping out. He put his arms around her and pulled her close, putting his gloved index finger and thumb beneath her chin.
Holding Her Breath (Indigo) Page 17
