And I was suddenly unsettled at how her simple touch sent butterflies to flight in my stomach.
And I remembered that I wasn't supposed to react to her this way.
But then, she probably shouldn't be flirting with me either.
"Drewy?"Gwen's voice called.
I groaned inwardly at her nickname for me.
If I was going to propose to Gwen at the end of all this, I really needed to tell her how much I hated that nickname.
Like, it was bad. Even Saint Drew was better than Drewy.
"I better go," Kate said, looking toward where Gwen’s voice had come from. And I found myself sad that she was already leaving.
"Do you and Nolan have fun plans for this weekend?" I asked, buying myself a few more seconds with her.
"Oh, um." Kate scratched her neck. "Nothing too exciting. Probably just eating pizza and watching a movie.”
“That’s sounds nice,” I said. Definitely better than staying cooped up in some stranger's house for the weekend.
Gwen and I were still getting used to being all alone after being surrounded by producers and cameramen for so much of our relationship.
I knew it was sad, but sometimes I liked Gwen's personality better when there were other people to joke around about it with.
When we were alone, things usually just got awkward.
But I would try not to think about that. We just needed more time together. That was all.
“Well, tell Nolan I said hi." I gripped the knob, readying to shut the door behind her. "I'll call you in the morning with our lunch requests."
"O-okay, that sounds good." Kate stepped back, bumping against the molding and dropping her phone in the process.
I dipped down, picked it up, and handed it to her. And when our hands touched, I didn’t miss the heat that spread through my arm. Or the slight flush that rose to her cheeks.
”T-thanks,” she said, taking the phone from me before stepping back into the garage to give us some space. “I-I'll see you tomorrow.”
“See you then.”
Why was I more excited at the prospect of seeing her for those few minutes tomorrow than I was about the evening I had ahead of me with Gwen?
I really needed to get myself together.
But still, I waited by the door to watch her leave, telling myself her sudden clumsiness had nothing to do with any reaction she might be having to me.
She seemed to have recovered though, and as the garage door lifted she pointed to my pizza box.
"Thank you," I mouthed before stepping down to retrieve it.
And since I shouldn't have to keep my pizza eating a secret, I waltzed into the kitchen like the grown man that I was with the box of “forbidden” food in hand.
And when Gwen saw the pizza, she hmphed and asked, ”She got you a pizza?"
“She did,” I said. “And if you're nice I'll even share."
“Fine.” Gwen sighed. “This soup isn't as good as I thought it would be."
I held back myI told you soand opened the box on the coffee table. "Then I hope you like pepperoni and tomato."