***Chapter Forty-Seven***
It’s the day of the talent show! It was going to be a busy one, with them all having to practice. Our shirts are finished and looked ridiculous if you ask me. I didn’t deny wearing them, although Tara would be left out. We didn’t exactly expect her to be here, and I invited her last minute. She’ll have a good time either way.
Speaking of Tara, before the talent show, I showed her around campus like I said I would. It was a lot to see since Western University is pretty huge. Regardless, it’s a great way to kill some time before heading over to the auditorium. I doubt this would be where she went to school, but it would give her an idea of what living on a campus is like. Honestly, it wasn’t all that. Though it gave you a sense of freedom away from your parents.
“How do you get around here every day?” Tara asked as we walked into the gelato spot. “It’s huge!”
“That’s where skateboarding comes into play.” I smile as we place our order.
Gelato had to be on our stop around campus. Ever since Drew took me here, I loved it! I’m sad we haven’t been back here together, but it still held a memory for me. The place where he asked me to be his friend officially. The moment I opened up to him more. I shouldn’t be reminiscing about this while I’m with my sister, but everywhere I went there was a memory with Drew.
Sitting down after our order, Tara looked like she had a ton of questions for me. She did, and they were simple. Like what were the classes like? How many parties were thrown every weekend? The amount of cute guys on campus. It was a lot of things I couldn’t answer, but I’m glad she’s taken an interest. The next question she asked me left me not knowing how to answer. Not because it was a bad question, but a complicated one.
“Are you seeing anybody?” She smiled mischievously. “That cute guy we saw you with when we first came?”
My cheeks turned red as she was talking about Drew. “Oh, no Drew? That’s not my boyfriend.” I shut it down.
She looked at me, confused. “Are you sure? You guys looked close.” I knew they saw that.
I shake my head. “Yeah, no, he has a girlfriend.” Unfortunately, it’s not me.
“I’m not surprised, but it looks to me he doesn’t like his girlfriend very much then.” She pointed out.
There it was again. Someone analyzing my relationships with Drew too much. Now, with the information I had, I’m positive Drew had feelings for me. He said so himself in his own way. What those feelings were is yet to be deciphered. For all I know, it could just be this lustfulness that’s so strong he can’t shake it. There’s no way he likes me any more than he does Juliana. Wouldn’t he have made that move by now if he did? I’m confident that he wouldn’t try to date us both. Right now, we were only in a fling. Not that Tara knew that.
Like clock work, the door opened again, and in came Drew himself. It’s as if he knows when people are talking about him. It didn’t help that his eyes landed on me as soon as he came in. That smile was so penetrating that I smiled back at him. My feelings for him were obvious, but I had to keep telling myself it’s just a fling. Who knows what would happen down the line? I’m simply enjoying his attention while I can.
Tara smirked knowingly as Drew came over and sat next to me. His arm draped over my shoulders as his eyes stared a hole at the side of my head. This was embarrassing, but even more so with my sister witnessing this behavior. Drew has been getting way more handsy out in the open. That’s how Dillon found out and how my sister will if he keeps this up. Who knows, it’ll be how Juliana finds out too if he doesn’t stop his crap. The whole point was to be discrete. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dre knew too.
Drew pulled me into him a bit before speaking. “Hi, Annabelle. I see you still come here often.” I could hear the smile on his lips.
I push a strand of hair behind my ear, not making eye contact. “Gelato is good. What can I say?”
“For starters, you could look at me.” His finger goes under my chin to catch my gaze. “Hi, Annabelle. Again.” He smirks.
I gulp, feeling my cheeks go super hot at how close we were are. It never fails. “Hi…hi Drew.” I respond.
This would be the perfect moment for us to share a heartwarming kiss. Glancing at his lips makes me want to devour them in all their luscious glory. I can tell he has the same thought as his eyes grow dark and his tongue slides across the bottom of his lip. The attraction I felt towards him was so hard to fight off. He was perfect in every way that I almost couldn’t stand it. Thankfully, Tara was here and if it weren’t for her clearing her throat, things certainly would have happened.
Hearing my sister, we pull apart as if nothing ever happened. Tara is way too smart to let that go pass her, but she said nothing with him around.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I’d like to introduce myself.” She sticks her hand out to him. “I’m Tara.”
He shakes it. “Annabelle’s step-sister. I’m glad you’re here. Are you coming to the show?” I love how personable he always was.
Tara smiles, excitedly. “Yes! And I’ve heard you guys are so good!” She squealed. “You’re definitely boy band material.”
Drew laughs, but I agree. “It’s the look, isn’t it?” I say, looking at him.
“Oh, it’s definitely the look and I’m totally being stereotypical, but it’s true.” She shrugs. “I know you guys will Kick-Ass!”
Drew laughs again. “Can we keep her?” He asks me, giving her the stamp of approval.
I’m not sure why, but Drew getting along with my family meant a lot to me. It shouldn’t have since we’ll never seriously date, but it did. His opinion meant a lot and if he approved, then I knew I was doing something right. I shouldn’t be looking to please him with everything I do, because that won’t always be the case. It only made me feel confident in knowing someone like Drew, someone I idolized, is happy about the person I am.
Laughing, I give him a small nod before getting ready to kick him out. “Shouldn’t you be practicing or something?” I question.
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah I know. The plan was to get gelato and head right out, but…” he trailed off as he looked at the table with a smile. “You’re always distracting me.”
My heart skipped a beat hearing that, but I didn’t let it show. “Distracting you. You’re the one that sat down.” I say, pushing him slightly to get him up.
That laugh escaped his lips again, causing a stir in my stomach. “You’re right, you’re right. I’ll go practice or whatever. Even though I rather be here with you.” He winks at me. “See you guys later.”
He says as he peels out of there without even buying his gelato. He knew what he was doing, saying words like that. Winking at me in his seductive yet sweet way. Everything he did caused chaos throughout my body and took forever for me to come down from it. He better be on his best behavior tonight, as Juliana and Keegan would be here. I don’t want to picture explaining to Keegan what was going on with Drew. He’d most likely hate me for it after our perfect date. I couldn’t help my feelings as much as I would have liked to.
Finishing up, we walked out of there, as Tara couldn’t let it go.
“You feel nothing for that boy?” She wondered. “He’s so gorgeous too. There’s no way you’ve been fighting off that.”
I laugh, trying to end this conversation before we get in front of Juliana. “I didn’t say I didn’t like him. Just that he has a girlfriend who we can’t talk about this in front of.” I warn her.
She looked at me, confused. “Why? Is she your friend or something?”
I shrug. “Yeah, more or less. Just trust me, once you see her, you’ll understand why.”
Tara nodded, but hated the idea. “Ok, but he obviously has eyes for you, Anna. How you don’t see it is beyond me.”
I saw it. I just chose to not acknowledge it. There was no point when we were going to amount to nothing. Juliana was going to be around for a long time. I’m sure she even thought they would get married or something. They’ve been with one another so long that I even expect her to think that. It’s a losing situation for me that with time, I’ll get over. For now, I’m going with the flow and supporting my friend in following his craft.