“Oh, Chayton. Hey.” Chelsea stepped farther from Drew’s side. “We’re just messing around.”
“Definitely not messing around,” Drew murmured.
Chelsea sent him a surprised look. What was he doing? It wasn’t like he had any claim on her. At one point in time, she would have gladly carried a sign that said, Drew’s girlfriend, but he was the one who’d left and never returned any of her calls.
Drew stepped forward to meet Chayton. “Drew Stirling.”
Chayton clasped the outstretched hand. “Chayton Liechty. I teach with Chelsea.”
Their handshake had blood vessels popping up in Drew’s forearms and the stare down they were giving each other made Chelsea wonder if she needed to step between them.
“Great,” Drew said, his tone of voice saying it was anything but great. “What do you teach?”
“History and I coach lacrosse.”
They finally released their handshake grip and Chelsea smirked as they both discreetly flexed and extended their fingers a few times.
“Lacrosse is a great sport,” Drew said. “Wish I could’ve played it but my dad insisted I focus on basketball.”
Chayton nodded. “With your height, I’m sure he did. Good to meet you.”
“You too.”
Chayton smiled at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Chelsea.”
Chelsea returned the smile, but shifted from one foot to another. The conversation between the two men had been more than cordial, on the surface. She’d spent years not dating anyone seriously and now she felt like she was being fought over by two of the most amazing men she knew. She didn’t like it.
As she and Drew drove home, they reminisced about all the crazy stuff they used to do with Chelsea’s older brother, John.
Drew laughed as they remembered John lighting an oxygen/acetylene bomb in a garbage sack up on Echo Ridge. Luckily he’d only received a few burns for his stupidity. “Man, I miss that guy. He’s happy though?”
“So happy. His wife and little boys are adorable. I wish they lived closer but he’s doing well teaching engineering at Albany U.”
“Your family is full of educators.”
“True.” Her mom was a retired middle school principal and her dad had taught math at the high school, a well-beloved football coach until he retired a few years ago.
After arriving at her cottage house, Drew walked her to the door. The snow had eased up, but it was still cold. Thankfully, the exertion of basketball and the excitement of being around Drew had kept her pretty warm.
“Do you want to come in for a… glass of water?”
“Now that is a great offer.” Drew winked. “But I probably stink. Do you really want me in your house?”
“Sweat never bugged me.”
“Just another reason you’re so amazing.”
She blushed and unlocked the door. Drew followed her inside. She flipped on the living room light then walked into the kitchen and filled two glasses with ice water. Turning, she came face to face with Drew. She jumped and sloshed the cold water all over his t-shirt. “Dangit! Sorry, you surprised me.”
Chelsea set the glasses on the counter and grabbed a towel. She mopped at his chest with it, resting her other hand on his bicep. The smooth bump of muscle felt really nice under her palm and she quickly pulled her hand away. She couldn’t be fantasizing about everything Drew again. Her heart couldn’t take the beating when he left after Christmas and didn’t look back.
Drew bent down, his breath brushing her cheek. “You trying to give me a shower so I don’t stink?”
“Ha,” an awkward half-laugh, half-gurgle came out of her mouth. “You don’t stink.”
“Really?” He sniffed slowly and grinned. “You do.”
“Oh, you!” She shoved him away.
He chuckled. “I’m just teasing. You could never smell bad, or look bad for that matter.”
“Is that some sort of twisted compliment?” She threw back at him.
“What do you mean?” The sparkle in his eyes dimmed.
“It’s not great for a girl’s self-esteem to hear, ‘You don’t look bad’.”
“Ah, so you need to hear how perfectly beautiful you are?” He took a step closer and Chelsea’s heartrate increased. The intensity in his dark eyes and the way his strong body overshadowed her did not translate into a teasing moment.
Chelsea backed into the tall pantry cabinet but Drew kept on coming. He rested a hand above her head on the wooden cabinet and leaned in. His chest brushed her shoulder. She took shallow breaths, grateful she could breathe at all.
“You need to hear that I’ve never forgotten those jade-colored eyes, those full lips.” He actually traced a finger along her bottom lip and Chelsea was pretty sure she was hallucinating as she trembled from his touch.
“That luscious, long hair.” He cracked a smile.
“Luscious?” She let out a barking laugh. The Drew she knew would never call anyone’s hair “luscious.” He was teasing her. All of his compliments had been a big joke.
The front door burst open with a whoosh of cold air and Jessica rushed in with so many dresses piled in her arms Chelsea could barely see her blonde hair. She dumped the heap of clothes on the couch. “Chelsea! I’ve got more in the car. This is so exciting!” She squealed, clapped her hands together, and did a little hop. “Oh, hey, Drew.”
“Hey.” He backed a step away from Chelsea.
Chelsea sucked in a breath, disappointment filling her. “What is so exciting?”
Jessica looked back and forth between Chelsea and Drew then her eyes narrowed and she smiled devilishly. “You and Chayton going to The Overlook for dinner and then on to the Christmas Ball.” She did a little twirl with her hand like she had a wand and was the fairy princess. “We’ll find the perfect dress. He is going to be drooling over you all night. Yay! This is so fun!”
Chelsea wrapped her arms around her middle and swayed a bit. She forced herself to meet Drew’s gaze that was focused unnervingly on her. “Um, it’s really not a big deal,” she tried to explain. “Chayton needed help chaperoning the high school dance so I… said I would help.”
Drew nodded a couple of times, a muscle working furiously in his jaw. He finally muttered, “I get it.” He strode toward the door. “Thanks for the game. I had fun.”
“Me too,” Chelsea said, but the door closed on the too.
“Jealous much?” Jessica cackled like the Cheshire Cat. “Oh, this is good.”
Chelsea spun to face her friend. “Oh, Jess. How could you announce to Drew that Chayton asked me out?”
“Are you kidding me, did you not see how jealous that man was? He’s going to be scheming all night how to ask you out himself.” She rubbed her small hands together. “I love it.”
Chelsea shook her head. Drew wasn’t jealous and she hated that they’d been interrupted. Did he really think she was beautiful or was he just teasing her as usual? “How did you hear Chayton asked me out?”
“Exactly! I have to hear it from someone else because my best friend doesn’t share important details with me.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t ready for, all of this.” She gestured to the mound of dresses on her couch.
Jessica sighed. “Kaitlyn Johanson came in looking for a dress for The Christmas Ball. She’d heard from some other kids in your class about you and Chayton.”
“Is Mason taking her to the dance?” Chelsea perked up at the thought of those two together. It was so obvious they liked each other, although neither of them would admit to it. Kaitlyn was just as pretty and nice as Mason was good-looking and kind.
“No, Gabe somebody. She didn’t look too excited.” Jessica pursed her lips together. “And such a beautiful girl.”
Chelsea wrinkled her nose. “Why would she go with Gabe instead of Mason? What a bummer.”
Jessica shook her head. “You get way too into your students, let’s focus on y-o-u. I’ve got an appointment with Sherisse at four next Friday. She’ll trim your h
air.” She held up her hands. “Trim, no chopping, I promise this time, though I’m sure the little girl who got your hair from Locks of Love was thrilled.” She took a quick breath then continued, “We’ll curl it so pretty and put on a little bit of makeup, just a little bit, don’t give me that look, no blue eye shadow or fake lashes this time, though I did love those on you.” She gestured to the pile of dresses littering Chelsea’s couch. “Then we get to choose one of these beauties. Oh, this is going to be fun!”
Chelsea didn’t think it sounded fun at all, but she didn’t want to go to the dance in yoga pants and as a teacher she probably should set a good example of dressing nice. She clenched her teeth, steeling herself to endure whatever torture Jessica put her through. If only Kaitlyn was going to the dance with Mason. She sighed. If only she could go to the dance with Drew.
MASON CAME HOME FROM THE PIZZA PARLOR in time to babysit his sisters so his mom could make it to her nightly cleaning job at Kenworth’s. Luckily his stepdad wasn’t home tonight. Beau was probably fighting or betting on a fight somewhere.
His mom reached up and gave him a warm hug. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. His friends all teased him about how hot his mom was with her dark eyes, blonde hair, and small frame, but she just looked tired to Mason.
“The girls are in bed,” Emma said, “but they didn’t want to fall asleep until you prayed with them.” She shook her head. “I swear they love you more than me.”
“There’s more of me to love.”
“You are getting pretty huge.” She squeezed his bicep and laughed. “I saved you some dinner. I know you’re always hungry.”
“Oh, thanks.” He didn’t tell her that he’d been able to eat a rejected pizza. The extra dinner would be great.
“Beau’s at a match tonight so I should be home before him.”
Her meaning was clear. You won’t have to deal with your loser stepdad tonight. I’ll take his verbal abuse. Beau thought he was some kind of MMA fighter. MMA was illegal in New York State so they had to meet secretly, but that worked well for Beau as he liked to bet on the fights as much as fight. The problem was he wasn’t very good at betting or fighting and he was so addicted to Vodka that the only thing he really excelled at was spending their money.
Mason and his mom used to have a great life, then his dad had been killed in Afghanistan. He’d been six, too young to remember much of his dad. His mom had really struggled. At least financially they’d been okay with her pension from the government. They’d been able to pay for their little house and his mom had supported his love for lacrosse that began at age seven. He knew his mom had been depressed, but he didn’t realize she was low enough to marry a loser like Beau. The only good thing that came from the marriage were Mason’s sisters, Addison and Maryn.
Now he and his mom both worked to try to keep their little family fed and the heating bill paid. Mason could hardly afford to keep playing lacrosse, let alone do something amazing like take Kaitlyn to the dance. His stomach churned as he thought about the hurt look in her eyes when she’d all but asked him to the dance and he’d lied and said he had to babysit. The truth was he didn’t have decent clothes or the money for dinner, the dance, and pictures. It made him sick.
“Love you, sweetie.” His mom gave him a peck on the cheek and pulled her coat together because the zipper was broken. She hurried through the snow to their clunky white Accord. They called it the Snow Leopard to try to act like it wasn’t just a piece of junk with more rust than paint. At least they had a car and didn’t have to walk everywhere in the wintertime. Beau had a newer Explorer. Mason didn’t want to know how he paid for it.
Mason walked into his sisters’ room. Addison popped out of the covers. “Mace’s home,” she squealed and launched herself at him. Mason caught her easily and buried his nose in her soft blonde curls.
“How’s my girls?”
“We need ours prayers,” she said in her four-year old lingo.
“Oh, yeah? Is Maryn already asleep?”
He pulled the covers down to reveal his two-year old sister, curled in a ball in her frayed nightgown. It was too cold for her to sleep in a nightgown. He bit his lip to hold in the frustration and smiled at how angelic she looked with her curls on the pillow and her full lips pouting in her sleep.
“She’s a cutie, huh bro?”
“So are you.” He hugged Addison close then settled her next to her sister, hoping their body heat would keep them warm if they kicked off all the covers like they usually did. At least when their mom got home around midnight she’d cover them up again. Mason pulled the worn blankets up to their chins and kissed Maryn and then Addison.
“Daddy was mean today,” Addison murmured.
Mason’s breath caught. It was just a matter of time before Beau pushed past what Mason could handle and they had a battle. “Did he hurt you?” he managed to ask in a fairly even tone.
“No. He yelled at Mommy a lot. Mommy said he was nervous for the fight tonight.”
The problem was Beau didn’t like to drink before a fight and he was actually nicer when he’d had a few. He was mean without any alcohol and horrific when completely drunk. It was a tough balance for Mason and his mom to keep him in the neutral zone. Mason wondered why his mom didn’t just divorce the jerk, but who was he to understand marriage or love?
“I’m sorry he was mean, but I’m here now and I won’t let him be mean to you.”
“I know. You’re my hero, bro.”
Mason half-laughed, at least he was somebody’s hero.
“Now say my prayers.”
He whispered a soft prayer, even forcing himself to bless Beau. Then he sang her Jesus Loves Me twice. She was asleep halfway through the second round. Mason sat there, watching his little sisters sleep and wondering how he could change their lives. He didn’t like being poor, but watching his mom be verbally abused and seeing his sisters going without was more than he could take. He needed to give up lacrosse. Even though most of his fees were covered by a sponsorship from Kenworth’s, he still spent money on equipment, travel, and food. If he didn’t get in front of some college scouts soon he’d never get to the next level anyway.
Kaitlyn’s smile came to mind and he groaned. He’d never have a chance with her either. Whoever said money couldn’t buy them love was a liar. Not that Kaitlyn seemed to care that he didn’t have money, but he would never ask her out when he couldn’t even afford to take her for ice cream.
Everything seemed so bleak he couldn’t help but lay down on the bed next to his sisters, placing his arm across their midsections to hopefully keep them a bit warmer. At least he had them.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, DREW AND CHELSEA were alone at the high school, playing racquetball in one of the two courts. The ball pinged off the wall and shot in Chelsea’s direction. She swung and connected, driving the ball as hard as she could back to Drew.
“Still vicious with that racquet, I see.”
“Vicious?” She returned another hit. “I’m not even warm yet.”
Drew chuckled and rotated with his racquet, giving more power to his shot. Chelsea’s eyes narrowed as she prepared to slam this ball so hard it would take him down a notch or two. Maybe this was the reason he didn’t think of her as female, she acted as competitive as any guy. Using feminine wiles didn’t appeal to her right now though. She swung with every ounce of strength she had, but she missed the ball and her racquet connected with her own nose. Blood spurted from her face. She dropped her racquet, bit her lip to hold in a cry of pain, and tasted more blood.
“Chels!” Drew ripped his shirt over his head and pressed it against her nose. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and escorted her out of the court and to the men’s locker room. The smell and feel of him almost overwhelmed the shooting pain in her nose.
“I can’t go in there,” she said, the words muffled by the shirt.
“It’s better than me going in the women’s.”
Drew tugged her forward, but she dug her
heels in.
“I’ll go in the women’s by myself.”
“No, you won’t. I have to doctor you up.”
“Since when are you a doctor?”
Drew grinned and swept her off her feet. He pushed the bathroom door open with his shoulder. Chelsea was grateful for his shirt covering her nose so she couldn’t smell the men’s bathroom. She’d gotten shoved in here in high school once and could still remember the reek of sweat and urine. Thankfully she’d kept her eyes closed and avoided any scarring of her innocence.
Drew carried her to the line of sinks and removed his shirt from her nose. Blood dripped onto the white porcelain. He yanked paper towels out and got them dripping wet then pressed them softly against her nose. The cold water felt good and she loved how gentle he was with her. She couldn’t help but glance over his nicely sculpted chest. He caught her looking and grinned, but then turned serious again.
“Do you think it’s broken?” he asked.
“No. It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
After a few minutes of wetting new paper towels and holding them on her nose, the blood flow slowed and then stopped. Drew carefully cleaned off the remaining blood and then softly probed her nose from different angles. “I don’t think you broke it.”
Chelsea shook her head, grateful it’d just been a bloody nose. With any luck it wouldn’t bruise and nobody would ever find out about this embarrassing moment. “Mum’s the word on this little story, right?”
Drew’s lips twitched. “I don’t know. Now that I’m past the worry, it was pretty funny to see you take yourself out with your own racquet.”
Chelsea smacked his shoulder, dang his skin felt nice, smooth and tight. She shook her head. She could not go there. “Don’t forget I know who put a dry ice bomb in the school’s mailbox.”
Drew hung his head. “You gonna hold that over my head forever?”
“Yep.” Chelsea hurried past him and yanked open the bathroom door, excited to get out of here.
Drew followed her. “Another game of racquetball?”
Christmas Kisses: An Echo Ridge Anthology (Echo Ridge Romance Book 1) Page 14