A Second Look
It was a late Friday afternoon and all the boys minus Bec and girls were in the house talking the rest of the day away. I had just arrived from the beach and engrossed himself into the conversation between Adam, Guy and Charley. Valentine's day was the next day and the guys were talking about what they got their girlfriends.
"Yeah mates, I ordered a dozen yellow roses for Bridget. I can't wait to see the look on her face man!" Guy had said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Guy, why yellow roses? Red ones are so much better! Isn't yellow the color of friendship when it comes to flowers?" Adam asked.
"Adam does have a point there, Guy." Charley answered
"Mates! Yellow roses, red roses whatever! Girls go crazy for them one way or another." Guy said as he let out a sigh. "What did you guys get your girlfriends?"
"I am taking Cassie out to dinner and a movie," Shane answered.
"I am taking Loren on a weekend getaway. We are going to head to a town a few hours out from Blue Water. We rented a small beach house. We're going to go surfing then have dinner on the beach." Cam said.
"You guys are hopeless." I chimed in.
"We're hopeless? Garry, do you have plans for Valentine's Day?" Charley asked.
"No, why should I? I don't even have a girlfriend anymore." I replied.
"Ah, but you would if you and Bec would just take the next step." Adam added as he patted me on the back.
I was caught off guard and had no clue what Adam was talking about. "Huh, what do you mean?"
"Man, I mean come on now. You don't see it? I think you two are attracted to each other. Right guys?" Adam responded.
"I would have to agree with my buddy here." Charley stated
"Yeah ditto for me," Guy added.
"What?" I asked.
Charley went a little closer to me and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Garry, ever since Kenzi left like 3 months ago, you and Bec have totally grown closer right?"
"Closer, I would say inseparable," Adam piped in.
I was pondering on how to answer before responding back to them. "Okay, so we are closer friends now than before."
"You know, you and Kenzi have agreed to remain friends and she's dating some model that she met in Melbourne right?"
"Yeah Charley, so what's your point." I said getting a little annoyed.
"Dude, the point is take a chance man and ask her out! People say friends can turn into lovers right?" Adam pointed out as the rest nodded.
"I guess, whatever man." I answered. Yeah it was true that we hung out often. We would meet at the beach and spar some evenings. I would watch her as we surfed together and she would go to training with us at the shoreline. Ever since the boys started dating their girlfriends, it left only us for Friday night movie nights. So, instead of hanging out and renting movies we started seeing the latest flicks together at the theater. I was even able to convince her to go camping with me one weekend over the next summer. Now that I thought about it, we do really spent a lot of time together.
"Hey man, you can't say that after all this time, you never thought of Bec as more than just a friend?" Adam asked.
I hated to admit it, but there were times I thought that we could be more than friends, but Kenzi was always in the way. Well, until a few months ago when a magazine had her and a model pictured on the cover that had his girlfriend on it with someone else. The others tried so hard to make sure that I didn't see the magazine, but of course you couldn't prevent the possibility from happening. Unfortunately, Loren came to the living room for a break with some "reading material" that she was more than happy to share with the girls. Bec did a pretty good job of hiding her feelings, but I could see the untold emotions through her eyes. I was so deep in thought that the others just started laughing at their love stricken coach. "What's so funny?"
"Garry, your silence is enough of an answer for us. You just need stop fooling yourself. I'm pretty sure Bec feels the same. Just go for it man." Charley finished. "I guess. What do I have to lose?" I said. 'Other than a friendship/working partnership with a beautiful girl', I thought. "So, what do you guys suggest?"
The guys all huddled around me shouting out some ideas. A half an hour later Bec and the girls entered the house interrupting the guys from their conversation.
"Hey guys! What's going on?" Bec asked the foursome.
"Not much Bec. We were just talking about this and that." Adam answered.
"Yeah, we were just talking about you know, Valentine's Day." Guy said as he scratched the top of his head as the girls laughed especially Bridget.
"Uh yeah, speaking of which we gotta go and um get some sleep for tommorow training. Later guys!" Charley said he went to leave the room with Loren
"Hey, wait for me! I'm going with you Bridget." Guy yelled as he ran up the stairs.
"Yeah and I've got to go help Cassie with her shopping bags. Have a good night guys and uh a Happy Valentine's Day. Bye!" Adam said as he ran out with Cassie.
"Uh, okay, what did I miss?" Asked Bec who was confused by the guys' odd behavior, but when did these guys ever seem normal?
"Nothing Bec. You know them, they have been acting that way since they all started dating their girlfriends." I answered. I was a little nervous to be left alone with her so quickly. I didn't even get a chance to think of what I was going to do, let alone what I was going to ask her. "Uh, want to catch a flick as usual?"
"Ah, you know what? There isn't really anything in theaters that I want to see this week. Do you want to just order in some Chinese food and chill in the pool room?"
"Sure, let's go. I'll follow you." I said as I walked up closer to Bec and placed his arm over her shoulder as the two walked out.
In the pool room, We were sitting on the couch side-by-side channel surfing. There were empty cartons of Chinese food strewn about the coffee table. It was late and we settled on watching old surfing videos until we fell asleep on the couch. I had woken up to the 5:00 am just in time for practice. I noticed that Bec was fast asleep with her head laid back against my chest until I gently started moving her over She looked so cute to him and I falling more in love more and more as time passed on, but I was too scared to admit it. She already had a dead end relationship with the other guy during her time at Blue Water. Edge and her had agreed to remain friends, but it wasn't too long after that when he started dating someone else. As soon as those two got together, she was so depressed were all over the magazines and they were the hottest gossip on those talk shows. I never really thought about us being more than just friends, but the more time we spent together the more I wanted to be with her. I got up and went to go grab a spare blanket from her room. I came back with the blanket in hand and placed it over her. I stood back for a moment and watched her as she slept. My feelings got the best of me and I bent down slowly and placed a light butterfly kiss upon her lips. Then I stepped away to my room, failing to see the smile that had spread across the beatiful woman's face.
A couple of minutes later Garry had started day dreaming about Bec and himself finally got together and that the two had shared a kiss. I got changed and fixed myself and quietly left the room. I had a little surprise in store for the brunette beauty that haunted my sweet dreams at every night. Then I stopped by Bec's door to hear singing in the shower. I walked to the kitchen less than an second later. I crept over to see everyone eating breakfast telling me that they were leaving since they didn't have practice. I had some French toast, scrambled eggs and some bacon as I went to place some plates out on the table and picked up roses from the garden.
Meanwhile Bec stirred from her sleep. She sat up on the couch and she could have sworn she smelled something like bacon. She got up and walked over to the bathroom to freshen up. 'I wonder what's going', She thought as she continued towards the kitchen. She opened the door to find her table set for two complete plates filled with food and rose petals everywhere.
I didn't know what to think or how she take the whole thing. It seemed so romantic. I had never had loved anyone so much as to go to this length just to get her attention. 'Did she have feelings for me the way I did for him?' This, among other thoughts flowed through my mind. "Good morning Garry." I turned to face her. she looked beautiful in her white shorts and light blue tank top with a flannel. She had her hair pulled back into a high ponytail. I stepped towards her and handed her the roses that I was holding. "Happy Valentine's Day Bec."
She took the flowers from me and inhaled their intoxicating scent. "Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day to you too." She placed the flowers down gently on one of the chairs and went to give me a hug. "You're the best!"
I held her for a moment and then pulled back to look into her bright hazel eyes. She was feeling nervous and turned away. I cupped her chin in my hand and turned her face towards me. "Would you please be my valentine Bec?"
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, "What are you really asking for Garry?" She had to know that this wasn't going to only be for today, but for a long time would allow.
I kept my eyes on her and replied, "Bec, we barely knew each other almost one year ago and look how far we have come now. The more we got to know each other and the more we spent time together, the more I fell in love with you. Bec, would you be more than just my valentine for today, but for however long you can stand to be with me?"
She had exhaled and relaxed into my hold of her. She probably couldn't believe that I had just told her how I felt. Edge was barely able to tell her that he liked her when he did, but I laid all my life out on the table and bared my heart to her. I was so happy that she felt the same way. "Garry, you and I have become closer than I ever thought we would. I've gotten so close to you that I can't even imagine my life without you now. To answer your question, yes, I'll be yours till the end of time."
I smiled down at his brunette surf goddess. I lifted her chin up and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. We parted and looked into each other's eyes. Then met again for a more passionate kiss and then broke apart. "Let's eat before the food goes bad." I said.
As we were finishing up breakfast a thought came to my mind and I asked Bec, "So, what took you so long to tell me how you felt?"
She looked up from her plate and responded, "I just needed a moment to step back and take a second look at what was really there." He then leaned towards her and the two shared a spearmint filled kiss.