The Boyfriend Project

Chapter 44

"We're here," Gavin said. 

"The Pier," I said, looking at the Ferris wheel off in the distance. 

"Are you disappointed?" His voice was barely above a whisper. 

"No. I'm just surprised, is all." I smiled. 

"Good. Let's lock your purse in the trunk so no one tries to break into the car and steal it while we're gone." Gavin opened his car door. 

"Won't I need it?" I asked. 

"No, I've got money." He smiled, looking over at me as he got out of the car. It was nice to hear that for a change. Aaron had a tendency of saying he had no money whenever we'd go out somewhere, leaving me to pay most of the time. I didn't mind sometimes, but it got to be almost every time we went out there at the end, I'd have to pay. Little did I know he was blowing all of his money on Emily. 

I got out of the car, grabbing my phone out of my purse before sticking it in the car's trunk. I'd never done this before, but it kinda made perfect sense. Gavin didn't want someone breaking into his car to steal a purse with forty dollars and one credit card with a five hundred dollar limit. I'd have to laugh at the poor soul that ever tried to steal my purse. They'd probably return it five minutes later, to be honest. 

"What do you want to do first?" Gavin asked, closing the trunk of his car. 

"I don't know." I looked up into his blue eyes. 

"Well, we can walk around for a little bit." He locked the car and then started walking. "I leave for a little while, and everything goes to hell. Good thing I came back when I did." 

I couldn't argue with him about what a mess things had become. So I broke up with my boyfriend and asked the hot new guy to help me get rid of my ex-boyfriend, but I fell for the new guy. And now, I'm starting to have a crush on my friend while trying to get rid of the hot new guy. 

The Santa Monica Pier was busy for a Wednesday afternoon. Everyone was down here enjoying the beautiful, cloudless afternoon. The sun was bright; the weather was perfect. We walked past several shops for tourists to buy souvenirs to take home from their trip. At the end of the pier was the Ferris Wheel, which had a long line with most of the other rides. We decided to return to the Ferris Wheel later and took off walking back the other way. Gavin reached down and took my hand, pulling me closer to him. I couldn't help but look down at our hands and how well mine fit inside his. What am I doing? I can't be falling for Gavin; he's my friend. True, he's hot as hell, but he's my friend. I don't want to ruin our friendship. What if he doesn't think of me that way? I'd die of embarrassment. 

"Are you hungry?" Gavin asked. 

I kinda took the hint. "A little bit." I learned from dating Aaron that whenever he asked me that question, it was, in fact, him who was hungry. Apparently, most guys are like that. 

"What sounds good to you?" 

"Nachos." I blurted out before I could stop myself. 

"Nachos it is." He laughed. Still holding onto my hand, we took off walking in search of nachos. We walked up to the stand to order when Gavin told the guy standing at the window whatever she'd like on the nachos. 

I looked up at Gavin. "Do you like jalapenos?" 

"Yes." 

"Loaded nachos. Please." I smiled. 

"One loaded nachos." The dark-haired guy said to the others cooking in the stand with him. "Would you like some drinks?" He asked. 

"Do you have lemonade?" I asked. 

"Make that two lemonades," Gavin said. 

"That'll be six dollars." 

Gavin paid for our food. I took the drinks and napkins while Gavin grabbed the nachos and forks. A couple had just got up from a table across the pier from the stand. Gavin and I took off, trying not to spill the nachos or drinks. I barely made it to the table from laughing so hard at Gavin. Watching him trying to run across while trying not to send the nachos flying all over the place was priceless. The faster he tried to run, the wider his stance got. I grabbed a napkin and dabbed the corner of my eyes as I tried to control my laughter. "I'm sorry," I said as giggles escaped my mouth between words. 

"Are you truly sorry, though?" Gavin raised an eyebrow. "If you're truly sorry, you'll go out with me tomorrow night." He smiled. 

"I've got homework that's due Friday morning." 

"You're going to use that excuse?" He took a bite of nachos. 

"It's not an excuse. I swear. You could always take me home early today." I took a sip of my lemonade. 

"No." He smiled, taking another bite of nachos. "We still have to ride a few rides." 

I'm glad he decided not to take me home because this was the most fun I've had in the past few weeks. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to be able to go out and have a great time without worrying about people. Here, I was sitting at a table under a huge umbrella with a hot-looking guy sharing nachos, talking, laughing, and being the envy of girls as they walked by us. They would look over at us, stare, then lean in and whisper. Some would try to get Gavin's attention by making eye contact and smiling, and a few even went as far as to say hi. He completely ignored them and acted like we were the only people on the pier, which I didn't know how, seeing how noisy it was. 

The lines to the rides were even longer by the time we finished our nachos, and to be honest, I was too full to get on any rides. Gavin admitted he had also overeaten, so we started walking back toward the car. 

"Since we didn't get a chance to ride the Ferris wheel today, will you come back with me tomorrow night and ride it with me?" Gavin asked. 

"All right." I smiled, looking up into his blue eyes.

"I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow." He opened the car door for me. 

Author's Notes:

Chelsi is falling hard for Gavin. However, I don't think Easton is entirely out of the picture yet. What do you think? 

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