Enjoy.
CHAPTER 20
"How many boyfriends have you had?" Troy asked Gabi as he sat down with his lunch tray.
"What?!" Gabi returned.
"I just wondered, like how many guys your dad has scared off?" he thought aloud.
Gabi blushed. "You don't want to know" she muttered.
"How am I doing?" he asked .
Gabi cocked her head "You've lasted longer than most" she said honestly.
"Really? We've known each other only a few weeks" he guessed, not sure when they had crossed the line between fighting friends and lovers.
"Mmm. Well normally after the first two yelling's they pretty much give up" she shrugged, feeling extraordinarily awkward talking about this.
"Two? Two is nothing. I'm a record holder" he beamed proudly as he took a bite of his dinner.
Gabi smiled affectionately at him and met his eyes where their gazes lingered as they connected silently and Troy reached out his free hand to her across the table which she took and smiled as she relaxed.
Gabriel could see Gabi's eyes sparkle and her skin flush whenever she spoke about Troy and seeing them sitting there holding hands like that almost broke his heart. He had to admit the boy did show an old fashioned respect for his daughter and she seemed to bring out the best in him. He'd certainly calmed down from the crazy young man he was when this shoot began. Was it possible his baby was falling in love? Was it possible he could let her? Even though his gut screamed that Troy was bad news, he might have to concede defeat and give the boy a chance.
If after being separated this weekend, they found their way back to each other, he'd give Troy a chance and let up on him and hopefully he might get his daughter back. He didn't like that far-away look in her eye as she met him or the anger and hurt she radiated whenever they spoke. Right now the only person who was treating her like a princess was the idiot boy and Gabe considered that Troy might be able to teach him a few lessons after all. He just had one more test to pass before he could trust him.
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Gabi had met Margaret, taught her the ropes so to speak, packed her suitcase and collected her flight tickets and now all she had to do was get ready for her date with Troy. Finally their first proper, real date, out in public, out of the hotel and away from the set and her father.
Considering the fact they would be sitting in an ice rink all night, Gabi chose her skinny jeans with heeled knee boots and a black jumper which had buttons on the shoulder and a flap across the front and back, with buttoned sleeves.
She let her wavy hair drop naturally into curls around her shoulders and added a little make-up, hoping she might keep it on for the whole night instead of ending up in tears like she had the last two times they had attempted this.
Troy knocked on her door on time and she beamed as she opened her door and he stood there with a cute smile, all stubbly and sexy in his beanie and wearing jeans with a thin pale blue jumper and his leather jacket.
"Good evening Madame" he smiled.
"Hi Troy" she smiled knowingly.
"Hey, I'm all for romance you know, but you have to play along" he chided.
"Okay, good evening monsieur" she altered as she came out from her room and looked up to him with smiley eyes.
"Man, you sound sexy speaking French, do you know any more?" he quizzed as he took her hand and led her down to the car park where they weathered the paparazzi and headed out toward the ice rink.
"Tu es l'homme le plus énervant que je connaisse" she beamed at her phrase.
"Wow, you better be calling me a hot sexy man" he grinned as he drove.
"Sure, why not" she laughed and he flicked a look at her.
"Oh god, now you're insulting me in French!" he realised.
She giggled and played with her hair as they chatted on the way to the game, Gabi looking forward to their night out. They had kind of done things backward but she was still adjusting to this new connection between them and she was beginning to like having someone else to think about and share her time with.
Troy held Gabi's hand as they entered the ice rink and the atmosphere was noisy and buzzing. They picked up their tickets and Troy bought drinks and hotdogs which Gabi ate with gusto as they sat rink-side but a few rows back so they could almost look down on the ice.
"I hope you don't mind that I didn't take the VIP seats" he said "I kinda hoped to fly under the radar but I guess the paps will follow us here" he said.
"Troy, you don't even need to explain" she assured him, turning to look into his beautiful eyes "Do I strike you as one of those girls who wants to live the arm candy lifestyle?" she added.
He grinned and Gabi felt herself fall in love with him that little bit more, and then panicked at her thought. Oh god, she couldn't love him, that wasn't part of the plan! He was a jumped up teen star and her father hated him and it was just meant to be…a brief encounter at most. Why did his curly grin make her tummy turn and her lips throb to kiss his?
Troy looked into Gabi's eyes as she studied him and he could see her emotions so clearly it entranced him for a moment.
"I guess not" he said to answer her question, letting his gaze drop as she looked away. She looked as worried as he did about what was developing between them. There was no denying he couldn't wait to get her into bed again but she meant so much more and he realised she had from day one. The moment her butt had poked through his door, he had been intrigued and bowled over by this girl. And now that he was so close to finding something special, he didn't want to let go.
"Are you okay?" she asked with concern as the game started.
"Don't worry about me, princess" he said gently, blinking to hide his eyes and Gabi reached out to curl her arm around his, gripping his bicep gently as she squeezed and he offered a small smile.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I'm just going to miss you, that's all" he said softly as he pressed his lips together and Gabi saw the genuine look in his eye, feeling it touch her all the way through her body.
"Oh my gosh!" screamed a teenage girl as she ran up to Troy and asked for his autograph in the middle of the game and he smiled bemusedly at her, signing her programme then turned back to Gabi with a wry twist of his lips, knowing the fan had ruined the moment they were sharing.
"Sorry about that" he shrugged "I forget I'm irresistible to the female of the species" he joked.
Gabi smiled and turned back to the game, trying to think of something to say, anything to say as she watched the little rubber puck being cast around the ice. She was speechless. For the first time ever, she was absolutely speechless. Troy had just said he was going to miss her. Without insulting her and without saying he hated her.
She snuck another look at him when he wasn't noticing and unbeknown to her, a puck had crept above the plexi and headed straight for her, catching her on the side of the face as she missed it's projection from having been staring at Troy.
She grabbed her face in pain "Owww!" she screamed, collapsing double in her seat as Troy looked on, shocked, hugging his arm around her.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" he asked as the crowd started to take notice and it would seem the team had stopped playing to make sure she was okay.
A first aider ran out into the crowd and came over.
"Oh my god you're…"
"Troy Bolton" he supplied, still rubbing Gabi's back as she hid her face in her hands.
"Okay let me sit there" he said and sat next to Gabi, Troy chewing his nail nervously.
"What's her name?" he asked .
"It's Gabi" Troy supplied, conscious now that the whole arena would soon work out who he was and he would be inundated with autograph requests.
"Gabi, look up for me, sweetie" the guy said and Gabi did, her eyes streaming with tears which made Troy's tummy clench but not as much as when he saw the large welt high on her cheekbone, just below her eye. "Okay that's going to swell, we need to get you to the first aid room" he said "Can you walk?" he asked.
Gabi nodded but as soon as the guy was out of the way and Gabi had stood, Troy scooped her up and the crowd applauded that she was ok, along with the players.
He could see people's camera phones flashing as he carried her out but right now his main concern was that she was okay. It was like they were cursed when they had a date, he mused. Everything seemed to be against them.
Gabi sat on the edge of the bed in the first aid room as Troy stood, his face white as a sheet as he looked on. Her eye was stinging like anything and she was a little shocked by the incident but she didn't want Troy to blame himself.
"Troy…" she called and held out her hand as the first aider held ice against her eye.
He stepped up and took her whole hand between both of his and the first aider looked to him "Hold this for a minute? I'm just going to get a sugary drink for the shock" he said and Troy nodded, cupping the ice against her face as his concerned blue eyes flicked over her delicate features.
"Are you okay?" he whispered.
"I'm fine" she assured him "Just a little bruise" she assured him.
"I'm so sorry. I saw it coming and I ducked, I thought you had too" he let go of her hand and stroked the other side of her face gently.
"No I was….distracted" she blushed.
"Oh my god, by that fan?" he asked.
"Non, le beau gosse à côté de moi" she said in her second language.
He frowned, trying to translate "By what?" he asked, confused.
"By you" she said shyly.
Troy didn't dare smile, it wasn't funny but it was amazing that she was admitting to staring at him and that's why she had been caught by the puck.
"I hate you" she added as she saw his irrepressible grin.
"Aw, I hate you too, honey" he smiled as he kissed her hair.
"Okay here we go" the first aider said as he came back in and handed Gabi a hot chocolate and Troy slipped off his jacket to place around her shoulders as the guy checked Gabi's face.
"You might get a swollen eye for a day or two, but the skins not broken or anything" he said.
"Ok, thank you" she smiled gently .
"Ok, we are taking you back before anything else can go wrong" Troy murmured and helped Gabi up, linking his fingers through hers.
There was a crowd of people waiting for them to leave and Troy hugged Gabi to him as he signed haphazardly with one hand, and then they faced the flashes as they got into the car.
Gabi laid her head back on the seat. "I can't believe this happened to us AGAIN!" she complained .
"Well you will stare at me all night long, it's your own fault" he joked.
"Shut up" she returned affectionately.