Chapter 20 – Chelsea
“So, what are you reading?” Wesley asks me, nudging my leg with his and cocking his head at the book that is open in my lap.
I’d thought our unsuccessful conversation was over, but apparently Wesley wants to hang out awhile.
“Oh, just a… book,” I say, realizing how stupid my answer sounds.
But I don’t want to get into why exactly I’m reading Pablo Neruda’s poetry right now, or why I always re-read it so many times.
“I’m not a big reader,” he says, and I’m not sure whether to be happy or upset that he changed the subject.
“What do you like to do?” I ask him, trying to turn the conversation around, into something more pleasant and casual.
“Just more active stuff, I guess,” he says, with a shrug. “I’m not one to sit in one place for long, and reading kind of requires that.”
“I see,” I tell him.
“Why?” he asks. “Are you trying to figure out where I should take you on a secret date?”
“Ha!” I laugh, but I blush at the same time. “Where you should take me? Maybe I should take you on a secret date!”
“Fine,” he says. “But it had best be to some place really cool.”
“Well, have you been out and about town much?” I ask him, excited about us going on a date, even though I’m still not happy about how our conversation has turned out. “I know you just moved here.”
“Not really,” he says. “Practice and games have taken up most of my time.”
“Now that you’ve learned to fish in the country, I think it’s time you see more of our fine city, then,” I tell him.
He raises his my eyebrows in interest. “Oh really. Is that a challenge?”
“More like an invitation,” I tell him. “Have you been to the amusement park?”
It’s one of my favorite places in the world, but I don’t tell him that. I decide to take it slow, tame my emotions a little and not let them hang so far out on my sleeve. If he just wants an adventurous time, I know how to show him that.
“I have not,” he says.
He looks a bit hesitant.
“I know it’s nothing like the big chain amusement parks in other cities,” I tell him, apologetically. “It’s rather rinky dinky and old. But it’s still fun.”
“Well then,” he says. “Challenge accepted. Or invitation accepted. Or… whatever.”
He still seems a bit reluctant, as if he’s trying to talk himself into it. I wonder if his feelings for me have already faded. Or if they had never really been as strong as I’d thought they were in the first place.
But then he stands up suddenly, as if having convinced himself.
“How about now?” he asks, looking like he’s ready to leave immediately.
I feel the sudden urge to play it cool. If I’m just his dirty little secret that he has to hide away from my dad the coach, I shouldn’t always be so available to him. It’s almost as if I hear Taylor’s voice in my head, giving me that advice that Wesley calls “motherly.”
Don’t be so eager, the voice says. Play harder to get. Make him do the chasing.
“I have a lot of studying to catch up on,” I tell him, shrugging slightly. “I didn’t get anything done all weekend, thanks to a certain someone.”
Just the memory of his hands on my skin is enough to make me blush, so I hurry to continue the current topic of conversation.
“And the park opened hours ago anyway. We wouldn’t have a lot of time there if we went now. If we’re going to go to an amusement park, we’d best get an early start.”
“True,” he says, as if unfazed. “I should study the playbook tonight anyway, because your dad claims I don’t know how things are traditionally done, and that I’m not allowed to switch things up or try anything new until I master the basics.”
I give a half-hearted laugh, but my dad is the last thing I want to talk about. All he does is ruin things for me when it comes to relationships and Wesley is turning out to be no exception.
“Well good luck with that,” I tell him, standing up to walk back to campus.
He gets up to follow me, and then he says, “Since an early start is required for amusement parks, how about Sunday morning? It’ll give us both time to rest up after the big game Friday night.”
I do my best not to smile. My plan had worked. Now he is chasing me.
I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to say yes or no now. But I decide to ignore the advice of the voice in my head, and make sure we have something lined up. Otherwise I’d just die of anticipation not knowing when I get to see him again.
“Sure,” I tell him, too fast, too eagerly.
I want to kick myself for putting myself out there this far, but I’m not able to reign myself back in for some reason.
“I’ll see you Sunday morning then.”
“I’m not sure what you’ll tell your dad you’re doing,” Wesley says.
I realize he’s still afraid of getting caught. Well, at least that’s not as bad as the alternative: not wanting to go with me at all.
“You let me figure that part out,” I tell him. “I know how to handle my dad.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the stadium,” he says, as if knowing it’s a bad idea to pick me up, like regular guys can do for regular girls when they take them on a date.
“Be ready to experience the most fun amusement park ever,” I tell him as we leave the pool area.
“And you be ready to be an amazing tour guide on this super duper secret date you’re taking me on,” he says.
I can’t say I like the “secret” part, but I definitely like the “date” part. And even the dorky way he says “super duper” turns me on, for some strange reason.
For someone who comes off as such a bad boy, he certainly has his soft spots.
As I sit in classes all day long, I wonder how I’ll be able to hold myself together until this weekend arrives. I’m proud of myself for making him wait until Sunday to see me again, but I’m not sure that waiting until then will be an easy task.