By the time Texas Western met Kentucky in the airport Kelsi was fast asleep in her chair. Chad studied her for a moment before deciding she was uncomfortable.
So as not to miss anything, he paused the movie and got off the bed to stand in front of Kelsi. After chewing on his bottom lip and contemplating what he was going to for a minute, he resolutely wrapped his arms around the slumbering young woman and carried her to the bed. Without a second thought he climbed in beside her and restarted the movie.
He was asleep before the end of it, quite comfortable with the young brunette cuddled in his embrace.
--
He woke up the next morning to what he believed was his alarm. He was quite surprised when he reached over to smack the snooze button he hit flesh. Cushion-y flesh.
His heart started beating rapidly as he opened his eyes to see his hand resting fully on Kelsi's breast. Squeezing his eyes shut (though oddly not removing his hand), he took a deep breath and then opened them once more.
Nope. His hand was definitely on Kelsi's boob.
"Well, that's certainly un uncommon way to wake someone up," Kelsi's slightly amused, slightly uncomfortable voice called out.
"Gah!" Chad cried out as he abruptly retracted his hand and promptly fell off the side of her bed and onto the floor. A few seconds later his head popped up, eyes wide, and a noticeable blush on his cheeks. "Hi. Sorry. I thought you were my alarm clock."
Kelsi arched an eyebrow at him and smiled slightly. "Is that right?"
His eyes, if possible, grew even wider. "Not like that! I'm just saying I wouldn't have had my hand there without good reason. I swear. I wasn't trying to make a move on you or anything. I wouldn't do that."
"Okay," Kelsi laughed. "I believe you. But you're phone's ringing again. You might want to get that. It could be some other woman you've groped awake saying she's missing you."
"Shit," Chad muttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Danforth," he answered as he flipped it open.
"Dude. I've been at your house for, like, twenty minutes. Get out of bed and answer the door."
"Troy, man, I didn't expect you to be home a week early …"
"Tourney cancelled. Get out here. Game time Zeke and Jason are here too."
Chad glanced over at Kelsi before sighing, "I'm not at home, man. I'm – uh – in New York. Mom and Dad wanted to come out and Mom won tickets to Phantom again. So, you know, I trailed along."
"Oh. Right." Silence for a minute. "So are you going to see Kelsi while you're out there? Taylor said Mrs. Evans hooked Kels up with some kind of summer study program."
"Yeah," Chad said with a small smile. "I'm going to see Kelsi while I'm out here. In fact, I'm with her right now."
"Chad?"
"Yeah?"
"Isn't it, like, three in the morning out there? I mean, it's just after midnight here ..."
"Well, you see, I … shit! It's three? Shit … I need to … hold on. Call waiting." He hit a button on the phone and switched to the other line. "Hello? … Dad! No, I'm … yeah. With Kelsi. … No! No, it's not like that … Right. Twenty minutes. Got it. Bye." He switched back to Troy. "Man, let me call you in the morning. My dad called. Let's just say he's not happy with my absence. Bye."
"Wow. Mr. Popular at three in the morning …" Kelsi smiled.
"Yeah," Chad laughed uncomfortably. "My, uh, dad said I need to get back to the hotel. So I should, uh, go. Right?"
"I would assume that would be what you should do, yes," the brunette smiled at her friend. "And tell them I apologize for keeping you out so late," she added with a wink.
He laughed and slipped on his shoes before heading to the door. "Lunch tomorrow? Erm, today?"
"Sure," she smiled as he opened the door. "Just one question before you go …"
"What's up?"
"How did I get into bed with you last night?"
He's kind of cute when he looks like he's just found out he forgot his girlfriend's birthday, she thought to herself before chuckling as Chad made a fast break down the hallway.
--
Kelsi really hadn't expected Chad to show up again later that day. She figured that was something guys like him said when they were trying to get out of an awkward situation with a quasi-friend.
She'd left her door propped open (who really needed New York air settling in their room anyway?) and she was slowly playing a new composition. She had put music to one of the dances Ryan was working on and this was the result. It was very upbeat with triples and doubles and she closed her eyes to force an image of Ryan dancing to it out of her head.
That's over, she reminded herself. And you're only thinking of him because of the way you were with Chad last night. Forget it. Forget them both.
It wasn't as if she was interested in Chad. Far from it. Her problem was that she missed being in someone's arms. Keep telling yourself that, Nielsen, her cynical mind added. And, as awkward as her wake up was this morning, it was nice being held. And if it felt particularly nice to be held by Chad, well that was a mere coincidence.
So, for the second time in less than twenty four hours, Kelsi was quite surprised to see her RA and Chad standing outside her door.
What was more shocking was that Chad didn't look like he'd just rolled out of bed. He looked put-together, for lack of a better term.
"You're going to need to pick the place since I don't know New York very well," he said as a greeting.
She ignored the look her RA was giving her and smiled slightly. "New York Deli?" she smirked at the young man in a pair of jeans and a deep red shirt.
"Very funny," he remarked as she grabbed her purse and walked out of her room, closing the door and locking it behind her.
"Oh, Caroline," Kelsi said to her RA with a smile, "I have a feeling Ryan's going to call you if he can't get in touch with me … tell him I'm out with a friend and I'll call him back later tonight."
"Should I mention the name of the friend?" her RA asked with a smile of her own.
Kelsi gave her a flippant shrug and smiled. "That's completely up to you," she said and then took Chad's arm and directed him down the hallway.
"I'm sorry, Nielsen, but are you trying to use me as man meat to make Evans jealous?" Chad asked as they exited the air conditioned dormitory and entered the warm sun of a New York City day.
"Not as such," she said with a smile. "It's more of an experiment. Am I correct in assuming you didn't tell Troy that you were coming to meet me again?"
"Well, yeah …"
"So then I'm correct in assuming he thought you having out with me last night was a one time thing. I know how you guys are, Chad. One night means nothing. Two nights means interest – even if it's not real interest," she hastily added, hoping he hadn't picked up on the part where she thought he was interested in her. "So it'll cause Troy to call Gabriella who will certainly call Taylor who would call Martha leading straight to Ryan. And heaven knows it'll get screwed up along the way somewhere and all of a sudden we're having sex on a bench in Central Park …"
Chad froze a moment before gulping loudly and turning to look down at Kelsi. "We're going to have sex on a bench in Central Park?"
Kelsi just smiled and took his hand leading him to the road to catch a taxi. While the sex on a bench part was out of the question, Central Park seemed like a good idea.
She was fairly certain Chad wouldn't have a problem eating hot dogs on a sunny day. And, on the theme of hot dogs, "How long are you in New York for?" she asked him.
"Uh, two weeks," he said as he climbed into the back of the cab Kelsi hailed. "Why?"
"Mets/Yankees subway series this weekend. I can get tickets if you wanted to go. I mean, for you and your dad. I know he's a baseball fan."
"My mom is too," Chad said with a smile on his face. "That would be completely awesome!"
The two chatted about baseball – Kelsi only chiming in with news she's heard on the radio or from one of her friends – the entire ride to the park, which didn't take as long as anticipated.
"Great. I'll talk to my friend Nick to see if he can get me three tickets for Friday night," she responded.
"Three?" Chad asked.
"Yeah. You and your parents. Three."
"Four, Kelsi. You have to come too. I mean, I'll need some kind of buffer from my folks. They've been acting like this is a second honeymoon or something. I sort of wish I hadn't come," he explained. Then he turned to look at her almost shyly. "But there's a reason or two I'm glad I did." He tentatively reached over and took her hand as they walked along one of the paths in the park.
"Four then," she said with a small smile as she laced her fingers through his, not quite knowing what was happening.
Not that she was protesting. This certainly was an odd turn of events.
