Love at The Bluebird

My mouth drops open in shock, my cheeks reddening at the fact that Shane was able to tell I messed around with Gavin.

He throws back his head and laughs at my expression. “Oo-wee, Willow, you should see the permanent blush staining Aly’s cheeks right about now.”

I groan and throw my face into my hands, wanting to hide from the insanity that has suddenly become my life.

“Please tell me you haven’t had sex with him already?” Willow questions in concern.

“No, of course not!” I say then see Shane raise a brow, and I start to get annoyed and angry with the double standard the world has created with men being able to have sex on the first date, but it’s unacceptable for women to do the same. “And by the way, even if I had already slept with him, that would be no one’s business but my own.”

“Aly, you know I would never judge you even if you did sleep with him already, but this is no ordinary guy you’re dating. You’re dating someone who’s famous, a guy who just wrote a hit song about being used by his ex-girlfriend.”

“Not to mention, he’s scrumdiddlyumptious hot and has women throwing themselves at him all the time,” Shane chimes in, and I give him the death glare for having to remind me about Gavin’s popularity with the female population.

“Nice, Shane, real nice,” Willow says sarcastically before continuing on. “All I’m saying is to please be careful with this guy. What exactly are you looking for with him?”

“I don’t know. You know I wasn’t really looking to get into a relationship with anyone,” I reply, speaking to Willow like Shane isn’t even in the room. “Not that I was being closed-minded to dating, but I can’t do casual and I have no interest in spending time with people I don’t feel a connection with. Honestly, he’s the first guy I actually want to spend time with.” Talking about him gets my heart racing, and I imagine his handsome face. “He’s super intense and completely overwhelms me in a good way. He makes me feel wanted, and when he tells me how beautiful he thinks I am, I actually believe it.” I bring my gaze back to Shane, who sighs loudly with a dreamy look on his face while cupping his chin in his hands. “I don’t know; there’s something about him, and my heart is telling me to give him a chance.”

“Wow,” Willow says after a couple moments of silence. “Well, I think you need to listen to your intuition if you’re feeling that strongly about him. I’m happy that you’ve found someone you think might be worthy of you, because you’re pretty damn special, Alyson Dawson.”

“Amen, sister!” Shane yells with excitement and winks at me. “So far, Gavin’s reputation has been squeaky clean, and you know I’ll be keeping my ears open if I hear of anything otherwise.”

“I love you guys. Despite my annoyance with you both, I’m pretty damn lucky to call you my squad,” I say with a laugh.

“So… when do I get to meet him?” Willow asks, and I wonder the same thing, since Gavin’s schedule for the next week is pretty busy.

“He leaves for Los Angeles tomorrow and won’t be back for a couple days, which puts us into next week.” Even though I know this tiny break will be a good test for us, the thought of not seeing him makes me sad.

“You’re meeting him next Thursday, Willow,” Shane informs us, and I look at him in confusion, wondering if he knows something I don’t. “We have the suite for the Predators game next week. I’ll give you four tickets. Take Gavin and Willow and use the last one for whomever else you want to invite.”

“That’s really generous of you, Shane, but I don’t know his schedule for next week.” I know he will be back on Monday, but we haven’t discussed what the rest of his week looks like.

“Text him and ask,” Shane counters, nodding at the phone.

“I’ll text him about it later.”

“Do it now, Aly!” he demands.

“God, you’re bossy today! Willow, hold on a second please,” I say in exasperation as I pick up my phone and proceed to text Gavin.

Me: Are you free next Thursday to go to the Predators game with me and my best friend, Willow? You can bring along Sosie or whomever you want. I have one extra ticket for the suite we’ll be in. I completely understand if you can’t.

I hit Send and stick my tongue out at Shane. “There, you happy now?”

“No, let me see the proof that you actually asked him.” Before I can react, Shane grabs the phone out of my hands and looks at my text messages.

“Hey! That’s rude!” I stand up and try to grab it back from him, but Shane just moves to hold it above his head. With him being taller than me and his desk between us, I don’t stand a chance of retrieving it from him. I angrily stomp my foot and glare at him as I sit back down. “I’m over you, Adams!”