Only One Chance (Only One 2)

“Um,” she starts, and then I can see her thinking of an excuse. “It’s for when Ari comes over.”

I laugh. “At Ari’s birthday party, you ate a piece of cake.” I point out, not mentioning how I watched her from across the room.

“Okay and?” She looks at me, not sure where I am going with all this information.

“Gorgeous”—I laugh—“it was ice cream cake.” I see her mouth hang open in surprise. “Now, can you please go get some pants on so I can take you to get some ice cream?”

“Okay, fine.” She pushes away from the counter. “But for the record, I found out I was lactose intolerant after that party.”

“They have sorbet,” I tell her as she walks away from me, and I watch her ass.

“Stop watching me, pervert!” she shouts, and I laugh. Getting up, I walk over to the sink, then rinse off our plates and load the dishwasher.

“Okay, fine, I’m ready,” she huffs, and I look over and see her wearing tight jeans with the same tank top, but she’s wrapped a sweater over her shoulders.

“You look gorgeous,” I tell her, and she shakes her head, making me laugh. “It’s going to be fucking amazing.”

I walk toward the door and hear her. “What is going to be amazing?”

Stopping at the door, I turn, and when she almost bumps into me, my hands grasp her hips to steady her. The only lights are coming from the kitchen. I bend my head and lean close to her. “When you finally let me kiss you,” I say in a whisper. “Now, let’s get going. I don’t want to keep you out too late and have you come up with another excuse for why I can’t see you tomorrow.” I turn and unlock the door, my hands and body itching to hold her hand in mine, but I have to go slow and not jump in feet first.

“I’m busy tomorrow,” she says before I open the car door for her.

“Obviously,” I say, and she laughs.

“I have no idea what to do with you,” she says right before she gets into the car.

“Good,” I tell her. “Because I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing with me either.” I close the door and head over to the driver’s seat.

After starting the car, I make my way over to the ice cream parlor I frequent. I’m surprised to see so many people there. I get out, and I’m not even five steps from the car before someone notices me. “Fuck,” I say to myself when she gets out of the car.

“You ready?” I ask, and she nods. We walk toward the door when someone calls my name, and I look over. The blonde is there with three friends. I smile and pick up my hand to wave.

I walk another couple of steps, and the same blonde comes over to us. “Can I have a picture?” she asks, and I smile.

“Sure you can,” I say and look over at Layla, who just watches from the side.

“I’m going to put this on my Instagram right away,” the blonde says, holding up the phone and snapping a selfie of us. “Do you mind if my friends join in?”

“The more, the merrier,” I say, and the three girls come over. “We are going to have to squeeze in to get the picture.” I look at the camera. “How lucky can one guy be?” I laugh with them, and she tells me she’ll tag me on Instagram.

“Thank you guys so much,” I say to them and then turn around to see that Layla has taken off. I look around and see that she is standing in line in the store.

“There you are,” I say, walking to stand next to her. “I was looking for you. You just took off.”

“Figured you had enough attention on you,” she says, and I don’t have a chance to say anything when she smiles at the girl behind the counter who looks at her and then at me and then comes back when it finally clicks who I am. Hockey is a big deal in Dallas, so it’s no surprise that people notice me. “Hi, can I get one scoop of strawberry in a cup, please,” she says, and the lady nods at her.

“Is that all?” she asks when she hands her the cup. Layla takes the cup and moves away toward the cashier.

“I’ll have the same,” I tell the girl, and she makes me the same cup. I walk to Layla and see that she’s already paid for the two ice creams.

“I was going to pay for it,” I tell her as she grabs a couple of napkins.

“It’s fine,” she says the two words, and that’s it.

“Do you want to eat in here or outside?” I ask, looking around and see two more girls notice who I am.