“What do you mean?” I ask, and Blake seems nervous. It’s unlike him.
“I’ve been seeing this girl. She’s special, you know?” he says, and I nod. “She makes even the worst days better somehow. I don’t know how she does it.” He shrugs.
“Do I know her?” I ask, and Blake starts walking.
“Tonight is about you and Gwen. I’ll tell you more some other time,” Blake smiles.
“Whenever you want. I’m here,” I reply as we head toward the locker room.
We both change as quickly as we can and make our way back to my apartment. Lisa mentioned that Leo and Tess would be joining as well, so of course, Blake decided to come too.
“I missed you,” I say as I walk into the living room and immediately kiss Gwen.
“Hi,” she smiles in return.
“Ok, you weren’t kidding. They really are obnoxiously in love,” Julian comments from the kitchen, and I’m surprised to see him here.
“You’re here,” I say as I pull him into a hug. “How have you been?”
“All good, man. Let’s catch up later,” he replies with his signature Julian-style wink. There’s something oddly comforting about it.
“I propose a toast!” Blake suddenly calls out across the room. “Cheers to love,” he says as he hands everyone a glass. We all raise our glasses before taking a sip. “And to smashing the Hawks in the finals,” Blake adds quickly.
“To winning the semifinals,” Gwen replies. “And smashing the Hawks,” she adds, making everyone laugh.
Tess takes control of the radio, and Megan Moroney begins to play.
“Dance with me,” Gwen says excitedly, and I do. I dance with her in front of our friends, right in the middle of my living room.
Before I know it, everyone joins in, and the party kicks off. My phone buzzes in my pocket. I check it quickly and see it’s my dad calling, but I don’t answer. I’m not in the mood to deal with him right now. Whether he agrees with my choices or not, it doesn’t matter at this moment. All that matters is being here with my girl and my friends.
“Not to make things weird,” Lisa says after Tess and Leo leave, “but I got a hotel for tonight,” she adds. “I wanted to give you guys some space, so I packed a bag. I’ll be back tomorrow evening or so. I’ll text you ahead of time.”
I’m pretty sure my face has gone through every shade of red in the past few seconds, but I don’t care.
“I’ll make sure she gets to the hotel safely,” Blake says, being the only other guest left.
“Blake Evan Saxon, I didn’t know you were a gentleman,” I joke.
“Your name is Evan?” Gwen asks, surprised.
“Yeah, my middle name is. Why?” Blake replies.
“Nothing. I just didn’t know, that’s all,” Gwen says.
We say goodbye to Lisa and Blake, and when the apartment finally falls quiet, I’m able to show Gwen my last surprise of the day.
“I got you something,” I say excitedly. She’s sitting on the couch, checking her phone, and immediately drops it.
“What did you get?” she asks with a wide smile.
“Follow me,” I tell her.
Gwen stands and takes my hand. I lead her down the hallway toward the bedroom.
“It’s your bed,” she chuckles.
“No, that’s not the surprise,” I laugh. “Look,” I say, pointing to the wall. I’ve set up a shelf and placed the books I saw in her apartment on it. “I noticed the stack of books you were reading at your place, and I wanted you to be able to continue reading them when you’re here. So I got copies for my apartment too,” I explain.
