42 Hours (Time for Love 3)

Gaby’s laugh was lyrical, and when she put her delicate hand on my forearm, I felt like the king of kings.

“I’d love to,” she said, smiling up at me.

If I could have her look at me like that every day for the rest of my life, I’d be the happiest man in the universe.

“Are you guys still okay with walking? I don’t want the ladies to have sore feet, but it’s only a few blocks down,” I asked as I locked up the house.

Everyone agreed that walking would be best, even though Shelly wasn’t drinking. It would be good to cool off and walk off dinner on the way home. So, we took off down the street toward the bar. When we rounded the corner, we could hear the strains of music, and knew we were heading in the right direction.

We found a table in the back and ordered a round while we looked at the menu. The music we’d heard was the band warming up. I guess Michael had been speaking the truth when he said they had live music on Friday nights. Luckily, we had a little time to enjoy a meal and hang out before they started.

I placed my hand on Gaby’s knee as I leaned closer to ask, “Do you know what you’re getting?”

She looked a little flustered at the contact, but didn’t push my hand away, which I thought was a good sign. “Um … I was thinking about the snapper. What about you?”

“Probably the rib-eye, everything looks good though.” I smiled, then took my hand away and returned to my original position. I looked up to see Shelly eyeing me suspiciously, but I just flashed her some teeth and went back to looking at my menu.

Everything was good. I got Gaby to try a piece of my steak, and she offered me some of her fish in return. Her eyes got wide when I put the juicy morsel to her lips, rather than leaving it on the plate, then leaned in to eat the fish off her fork. After that little show, Shelly was really giving me the stank eye.

When the band started their first song, our plates had been cleared away, and we were enjoying another round of drinks. The girls hopped up to go dance, while the guys sat back and watched. My plan was to give Gaby a song or two to get comfortable, then make my move.

“I’m gonna hit the head,” I shouted at the guys, pushing away from the table and asking our waitress where the restroom was.

When I exited the bathroom, Shelly was standing there waiting for me.

“What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously.

“It’s the bathroom, Shel, what do you think I was doing?” I asked obtusely.

“Don’t be cute with me, Scotty boy,” she said snarkily, causing me to chuckle.

“Scotty boy?” At the look on her face, I tried unsuccessfully to wipe the grin from my lips.

“What are you doing to Gaby?”

“I’m not doing anything to her, Shelly, but I am trying to show her how good we could be together,” I said honestly. When her mouth dropped open in shock, I moved closer and spoke softly, so only she could hear me. I needed her to know I was telling the truth. “She’s it for me, Shel, always has been.”

“But…” Shelly began, the shock holding her tongue. “You were just engaged, Scott. How can you be sure?”

“I was temporarily comatose, and things progressed with Victoria so quickly, I got caught up, but thanks to Gaby, to all of you, I came to my senses in time.” I looked into her beautiful green eyes and begged her to believe me. “Ever since prom, Shel, I knew that Gaby was the woman that I wanted to spend my life with. Shit just kept getting in the way. So, before anything else tries to keep us apart, I’m going to let her know exactly how I feel.”

I saw Shelly’s eyes soften and her mouth turned up into a sweet smile, then her eyes began to mist over and I saw tears form.

“Shit, Shelly, don’t cry,” I said, panicked.

She waved her hand and shook her head. “It’s the hormones. I seem to cry at the drop of a hat nowadays.”

“We good?” I asked, rubbing my hand on her shoulder, hoping to soothe her and stop the tears.

She nodded, and I said, “Alright, let’s go dance then,” and we wandered back out into the bar.

I walked over to the table, grabbed my beer, and chugged it down, before nodding to TJ and Cal and walking out to where the girls were dancing. The song turned slow just as a reached Gaby, and I touched her shoulder softly. When she turned to me, I held out my hand and asked, “Can I have this dance?”

She looked at my offered hand, then back at me with a puzzled smile. I held my breath, then breathed easy when she put her hand in mine. We two-stepped around the floor, a gap between us at first, but as our bodies got used to moving together, I pulled her in closer. Her body was warm against mine, and I loved the feel of her lower back underneath my palm. We moved fluidly, and she looked up at me and said, “I didn’t know you could dance. You guys always sit out and watch.”

“Well, you guys are fun to watch,” I said with a wink, “but, I can see I was missing out by watching. This is much more fun.”

She smiled prettily at my words, and when the next song started, I kept her in my arms.