His eyes were blue. Oh, goodness. Had I never looked into them before? He didn't have a lot of facial hair, but his features were masculine. His jaw was square and his nose was straight, and I could hardly look at his face without feeling like I might actually swoon. Was that even a thing? Did women swoon? If they did, that was what was happening to me. I felt weak in the knees and distracted, and it was all I could do to keep it together. Was he the same guy I had been talking to all these months? Did he really have blue eyes? How was I supposed to function with him looking the way he did? I was shocked by my reaction to him.
"Doesn't she look beautiful?" Abby said, leaning over to speak to James. I couldn't believe she just came out and said that to a guy who was supposed to be my friend.
"She's so very beautiful," James said, staring at me and answering her with no awkwardness at all.
"When did you get here?" I asked since I was too nervous to take the compliment properly.
"About an hour ago," James answered.
Everyone was still standing around, but they kept talking amongst themselves while James and I converged, looking at each other. I was only a couple of feet from him. I scanned his appearance. He was dressed in dark clothes, looking casual but clean and sharp.
"Hi," I said.
"Hello, Laney King," he reached out for a hug, and I leaned in to hug him. I tried my best not to be awkward even though my body was buzzing with anticipation.
"It's so weird seeing you," I said as we converged in a light, sideways hug. "It's crazy to put a face with the voice after so long."
I was shaken. He smelled nice. Like soap. He had just showered. Goodness, gracious. He had muscles. My body reacted to touching him, and… "I didn't know your eyes were blue," I said.
"Yes, you did," he said, teasing me. "We've met, remember? And I've said it on the phone."
"When?"
"When I was telling you about my mom and dad both having brown eyes, but mine came out different."
I did remember that. I nodded, staring into the facets of his light eyes. I did know that they were blue, come to think about it. But I didn't know they were this shade. I didn't know they reflected light in a way that was mesmerizing. I could hardly look at him without getting lost in them.
"It's candy apple red," he said.
"What is?" I asked.
"Your dress. It's just like my car."
"Oh, this? I borrowed it."
"I love it," he said. "You're…" he trailed off but then continued, "so beautiful."
I blushed. I could feel blood rush to my cheeks, and fortunately, someone needed to get past me. I stepped back, getting out of the way. As I turned, I saw that it was one of the coaches, a guy named Dizzy. I gave him a little wave and said, "Hey, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Miss King," Dizzy said, stopping in his tracks momentarily to speak to us. "I see you've met James," he added, since the two of us were standing so close. Dizzy was talking to me, and I stuttered.
"Oh, y-yes sir we, we… met before."
"Okay, then," he said, nodding. "Well, have either of you seen Billy?"
I started to say I hadn't, but James pointed. "He's right over there," he said
Dizzy turned and peered in that direction before looking at us again. "All right, well you two enjoy yourselves," he said, walking off.
"You too, Dizzy!" I called, like a big nerd.
The Otis song wrapped up, and another song came on. It wasn't a Christmas song. It was Elvis Presley's I Can't Help Falling in Love, and the music and lyrics were so perfect with my feelings that it made it impossible to look at James.
"Is this even a Christmas song?" I asked, looking around, and feeling like I needed to fan myself again.
"Quentin is playing non-Christmas music, too," James assured me with a calm smile. "He played Louie Louie earlier, and The Twist."
"Oh, yeah, okay. I thought they were just doing Christmas music. That's crazy. I can't believe how many people are here."
Dizzy had walked away, and I moved to stand on the other side of James, out of the way of other people walking by. I did all this talking and moving to avoid the Elvis song. It was hard to ignore the fact that I couldn't help falling in love with someone as that song was playing.
"Are you okay with me coming early?" James asked. "I thought maybe I should have asked, but then I wanted to make it a surprise."
"Oh, no, no, yes, I'm so happy you're here," I said. "I wanted you to come early. I would have been here sooner if I had known you were coming."
"I didn't call because I wasn't sure if I'd make it. I thought I might run into traffic in some of the bigger cities on the way."
"Did you?"
"No, it was fine." He smiled and made a shrugging motion that was absolutely irresistible. "I made it."
"Have you been here for an hour?" I asked.
"About," he said. "But Mister Jones let me use the shower in his apartment."
"I smelled that," I said. "I mean, you smell clean," I added, trying for a recovery.
"Thanks, you smell clean, too," he said. He grinned at me. He had an easy sort of confidence that made me want to melt. He looked out at the room full of people. "This is not what I expected when you said it was a party at the boxing gym."
"What'd you expect?" I asked.
"Just… I don't know… a lot less people. I thought there'd be a bunch of shirtless guys with boxing gloves, just patting each other on the shoulder and wishing each other Merry Christmas."
I laughed. "Really?"
"No," he said, laughing. "I don’t know what I thought. Not this. This is way more."
"More Christmasy?"
"Yeah, more everything. More people, more like a party."
"Yeah, I'm a little surprised, too," I said. The Elvis song wrapped up while we talked, thank goodness, and a slow Christmas song began—the one about roasting chestnuts on an open fire.
People were talking and going about their business, and I stood next to James, feeling like I wanted to step closer to him. Could I hug him again? Was that a thing people did? A double hug? I contemplated reaching out for him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Chapter 7
I looked out at the boxing gym, which had been transformed.
There were lights and decorations all over the place, but it was especially different in the back where James and I were standing. That was where all the people were packed in. The boxing ring had been taken down, and it looked huge and open, which was a good thing since it was more crowded than I ever expected.
I knew when I came in that there were a lot of people, but I had been so focused on finding James that I hadn't fully appreciated the festive feeling of the party. Everyone was dressed for the occasion. Most were wearing something red or green or even sparkly.
"We could dance sometime if you want," James said.
"Sure, definitely," I answered before he barely had time to get the offer out.