WAIT! He's real?! [Available in Paperback Now!]

WAIT! He's Real?! Chapter 20

Chapter 20

We were all ignoring Zander who was trying to lecture Garrett. The whole “protective brother” speech was spewing out of his mouth. You think he would have noticed us standing there. Nope. He just kept talking, nonsense coming out and firing in all directions. He was just trying to be my brother, but his attempts at being menacing and threatening didn’t really work. All we could do was stare at each other.

I have to admit, I was kind of disappointed when I didn’t see Garrett have the same reaction as I did. I wanted his jaw to drop and drool on the floor. Disgusting, I know, but I still wanted it.

“What the heck? Why aren’t you all shocked and speechless at my appearance?” I teased, still not paying attention to Z.

“What do you mean? You always look this beautiful.” He smiled with kind eyes. I took his hand and left Zander talking and the girls still staring on the porch. They looked so silly with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Their faces made it seem not like they’d seen a ghost, but one of the most stunning men on the planet. Oh, wait, they did.

“Oh my. You are quite the charmer.” I complimented on our way out to his car. “Any girl would be so lucky to have you.”

“Why did you say ‘any girl’ instead of ‘I’?” he asked, worriedly.

“Because we’re not even official, yet.” I soothed. He seemed comforted and more confident after this and opened my door like a true gentleman. He was always doing things like this for me. Whether it was opening doors, pulling out chairs, bringing presents for no reason at all. He really was a dream come true. He was too perfect. I wasn’t sure if I was perfect enough. Sometimes I didn’t feel like I deserved him.

We arrived at our date site the same way we arrived at our first: jamming to Justin Bieber. Garrett attempted to rap again, but still sounded just as awful. He even claimed to have practiced! If he had…that’s just sad. He turned off the car and before I could open my door he rushed around the side of his car and opened it for me. Not only is he a gentleman, but he is a speedy one. I laughed at him running around trying to make everything perfect.

I looked around and I immediately recognized the place, even in the dark. This was our favorite park. Mine and Jace’s. It’s the one where we always played and hung out through the years. The one where I broke my foot and Jace carried me all the way home. The one where I broke Jace’s heart…

The tears came quickly, but I suppressed them, for Garrett’s sake. I tried to keep it together. I plastered on a smile, hoping my eyes matched.

We walked over to where he had set up a picnic and heaters next to the blanket. There were lights strung up everywhere and streamers. I have no idea how he got it all done. He worked so hard to make tonight magical. He made me feel so special. The way he looked at me only made me blush. We’d been a “fake” couple for a while now, but I couldn’t help but lose my breath every time he looked into my eyes.

We sat on a bench where Jace and I had so many times before. I tried to keep my thoughts from wandering and focused on Garrett. We were sitting close, but not touching. He slowly inched his hand toward mine to hold. The innocence of it pierced me. I took his hand into my two delicate ones. His large palm and fingers were contrasting so much from my dainty, painted ones.

I twisted towards him and studied his hands. Something about his hands felt wrong. They didn’t have that puzzle piece feeling I was looking for. All of this didn’t matter when I looked up in the next minute. His empty, left hand came up to my face and pushed the hair out of my face. I leaned into his palm and opened my eyes slowly. I could feel his breath on my face before I was startled by his closeness. It wore off when those stormy-blue eyes seduced me into a calm. My eyes closed again and I closed the gap between our lips.

His lips were soft and warm. It was almost eager, like a last kiss would be. Trying to memorize this feeling was difficult. It was ending too quickly. He broke away and kissed my forehead while our eyes stayed closed.

We sat and just talked like we had so many times. It was comfortable. After a little while, the conversation took a serious turn.

“Avery, I need to ask you something.” He said, with hope in his eyes. “We’ve been, you know, ‘fake’ dating for a while now. I still really like you and I’m glad you let me help you with this charade…” he paused rather awkwardly and fished for something in his pocket. He pulled it out and kneeled on his knees.

“Avery, will you now be my real, official girlfriend?” Garrett asked as he held out a plain, silver band in a beautiful box.