“Yeah,” she said softly.
Just when I hit the driveway, I heard her call my name. My feet stopped moving and I wanted to look back. I wanted to run to her and hold her. I wanted the feeling of freedom that I experienced with her in the gymnasium to return to me, but the bubble had already been popped.
And reality was a black cloud hovering over my happiness.
“Yeah?” I asked, tipping my face toward her, but not fully turning around.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I paused, hating the back and forth tug that I was feeling. Realizing that she needed a response, I nodded. “Yep.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t wait for her to say more. Instead, I strode over to my truck and climbed in. Once I was inside, I took a deep breath as I held onto the steering wheel with both hands. I closed my eyes as pain permeated my entire body.
I wanted Eve—I wanted her so bad.
But I was scared that wanting her wasn’t going to be enough.
At some point, I may need to walk away. I may need to push my feelings aside and do what was right for her.
And right now, with the way I was feeling, I feared I wouldn’t have the strength.
I’d fallen and there just may be a chance that I wasn’t going to be able to get back up. And the truth, the deep down, scary truth was, I might not want to.
Chapter 11
Eve
The day after the dance I was nervous. More nervous than I’ve ever been before, actually. And I was used to dancing in front of a packed auditorium with the judgeiest ballet elites in the country.
But none of that held a candle to how I felt after Cooper walked away from me after the dance. Once I saw the look in his eyes, I knew, something had changed.
I picked up a tray of snacks from Hazelcrest’s kitchen and craned my neck for a view of the front door as I headed toward the opposite wing. Where was he?
There was no sign of him through the glass doors, which only made this churning sensation in my belly grow a millionfold.
He’d said he’d be here.
I was being ridiculous, and I knew it. We were dating. He’d kissed me. He hadn’t let me out of his sight or out of his arms all night long. Sure, the tone in his voice when he told me goodnight had sent a shiver of concern through my body, but it meant nothing. He was tired. I was tired.
His exhaustion was showing through his demeanor, and me? My exhaustion decided to manifest itself as anxiety. A big balloon of anxiety that decided to be my Eeyore cloud of depression.
I gave the front doors one last look before bringing the tray over to the rec room, where a game of bingo was getting heated.
“He said I-15 not N-15,” the big-haired woman I now knew was named Nora shouted at the top of her lungs.
The poor old bald guy being scolded ducked his head with a sheepish nod, removing the token from the wrong square before he incurred any more of Nora’s wrath.
“Can you believe these people, Eve?” Nora asked when I came by to clean up the remains of the cookie platter I’d set out earlier.
I smiled at the older woman. “I don’t think Mr. Archer meant to cheat, Nora.”
I gave a meaningful glance over at Mr. Archer, with his two hearing aids that we all knew didn’t do much to help with his failing hearing.
Nora gave a snort of disgust. “You’re too sweet for your own good, my dear.” She leaned over and lowered her voice to a stage whisper that everyone could likely hear—probably even Mr. Archer. “You can never be too careful with this crowd. They look harmless, but don’t be fooled.”
Nora’s eyes twinkled with laughter and I laughed at her teasing. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep that in mind.”
One of Nora’s friends called me over as I cleaned up some empty glasses. “So, Cinderella, when are you going to tell us about the ball?”
All eyes were on me and a familiar heat crept up my neck at the attention mixed with my uncertainty of where Cooper and I had landed. I knew that they wanted me to tell them that it had been everything I’d imagined… but the truth was, it hadn’t been that way. I was trying to ignore my feelings, but they were screaming as loud as ever right now.
I dipped my head. “The dance? Um, it was good.” Perfect. Hopefully, she was going to be satisfied with my blanketed answer.
“Good?” Nora repeated in horror. “You had a date with our very own Prince Charming and all you can say is it was good?”
Apparently not. I bent down to pick up some more glasses and avoid the stares. Instead of focusing on how I felt about the night, I decided to put all my energy into concentrating on something else. I pinched my lips together to hold back a snicker at their description of Cooper as Prince Charming.
Sure, I knew he was the most charming guy on the planet—when he wasn’t confusing me—but I could only imagine what his teammates and our classmates would say if they heard that nickname.
But the Cinderella nickname? That felt absurdly fitting for me right now. Maybe because I was wearing an apron and cleaning up, but I had never felt more like Cinderella in my life, and last night’s romantic escapade felt like something out of a dream. The way he’d held me in his arms, the way he’d kissed me with so much passion and heat and...love? Only to come crashing down when George caught us on the stoop. Cinderella was my spirit animal with the way a woman could go from such a high to such a low in an evening.
No. I gave my head a shake. Don’t even go there. It was too soon for talk of love or loss, even if I did have this feeling like my heart was no longer my own. Sometime between him holding me close for that first dance and the kiss that seemed to claim me as his girl—my heart had slipped out of my chest and into his keeping.
In short, I was a goner. And I knew it. Which is why his behaviour towards me hurt that much more.
I sighed. I needed to stop focusing on this. It was going to drive me crazy.
And right now, everyone else probably suspected it as well because I couldn’t quite keep this unsure grin off my face as they all stared at me, waiting for me to elaborate.
“It was great,” I said, my gaze fixed on the table before me.
‘Great’ was the understatement of the century, but it was the best I could do. Because even though I felt happy, and even though he’d kissed me like I was the only girl on the planet…
My gaze flickered over to the door.
I couldn’t shake this nervous sensation in the pit of my stomach. It had been there even after he’d walked away. It had been there as I’d lain in bed and relived the entire night before drifting off to sleep. It had even been there this morning when I’d texted Cooper to check in.
I probably should have been relieved when he’d texted back saying he’d see me today at Hazelcrest, but this anxiety was only getting worse with every second that passed and Cooper wasn’t here. It was only confirming what I had been trying to ignore.
I huffed in annoyance as I cleared some crumb-filled paper plates. This was ridiculous. I’d had my dream night with the guy I’d been crushing on since forever. He’d done nothing but dote on me and kiss me until my knees went weak and my heart threatened to burst.
I should be on cloud nine today.
And I was.
Or I would be...if I could just see him again. I needed to look into his eyes and know that we were okay, despite his hesitations.