Page 72 of Finding My Charming

“Hi, Elle.” His lips curved into a crooked smile that made my heart melt, just a little. A few weeks ago, not one single guy bleeped on my radar; now there were two very swoon-worthy ones. Each moment of the day, my brain was at war with itself.

Vincent.

Dallin.

Vincent.

Dallin.

I’m going to lose it soon.

“Hi.” I suddenly felt a flood of guilt. I looked back at the flowers to give myself a moment to compose. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

He continued forward until he was resting his elbow on the counter and leaning toward me. “I was hoping I’d catch you before you went to lunch. Am I too late?”

I nodded then realized that wasn’t really a response. “I haven’t gone yet.”

“Would you like to join me?”

“Sure.” I stood and took a steadying breath. I slid my purse onto my shoulder then walked around my desk to meet him.

“You look beautiful today.” He held out his arm, and I looped mine through.

I let him guide me out and toward his car while I silently prayed for a way to make it through this without breaking into tears.

How do girls do this? What sane female would ever want to date more than one male at a time? Sure, I wasn’t exclusive or even serious with either of them, but keeping a secret this big was going to kill me.

He opened the passenger door, and I slid in. Déjà vu struck as I watched him jog around the front of his car and get in on the driver’s side. So much had happened since I was last in the car, and it had only been five days! It felt like a lifetime ago.

There hadn’t been pressure last time. I hadn’t been speeding toward the limit. I also hadn’t thought about Dallin during our last date. Everything that felt so perfect the first time suddenly felt suffocating.

Vincent. My breath caught. He was painfully handsome. I felt something when I was around him, I couldn’t argue that. Whether it was pure attraction or something more was where the debate lay. Too bad the mediator of my mental dilemmas was currently unavailable.

Get through this lunch. That was all I had to do. I didn’t need to make any decisions. This was the perfect opportunity to get to know him better. I needed to relax and be in the moment. I could analyze what every word and movement meant later. I could compare pros and cons and even make charts, but it all had to wait.

For the next hour, I would give Vincent all of my attention. He deserved that. After all, this could be considered date four. This was when the truth usually started coming out, according to Ari. People relaxed and got more comfortable, rather than trying to be their most perfect versions.

“What are you majoring in?” I realized after I’d blurted it, that it was completely out of the blue. I’d just convinced myself to get to know him better, but I’d forgotten he hadn’t been in on the mental conversation I’d just completed.

He looked at me and laughed. “This again? Just jumping straight into the questions?”

I giggled, wanting him to answer.

He shook his head but was still laughing. “I’ll be studying physical therapy. I’ll have to go to grad school after, but I think it will be worth it.”

There were hundreds of possibilities, and I probably should have guessed that, with his soccer background, he would want to do something more active than sitting behind a desk, but I hadn’t thought of physical therapy.

“Why?”

He glanced at me while driving and let out another chuckle. “You’re quite direct today. I want to work with athletes. My dream is to be a trainer for a professional team or maybe have my own practice and just work with local jocks.”

I smiled at his answer. “That seems like something you’d be good at.”

That earned me another heartbreaking smile. Flattery would get me everywhere with this boy it seemed. As if he needed any ego-boosting.

“I know my soccer career won’t last forever, but there is no way I can live without sports. If working with athletes and getting them in the best physical shape is my link for the rest of my life, I’m fine with that. I’d love spending my time with people who are equally as passionate about their sport.”

I thought about that for a minute. His whole world revolved around soccer. I knew nothing about the sport or any sport for that matter. The closest I got was going to games whenever Ari had crushed on a player and dragged me along with her. I couldn’t tell the difference between the rules of football and basketball. All I saw was people chasing each other all over a field or court all in the name of some ball.