Page 2 of Pining for Davis

Davis walks through the doors wearing jeans and a black button-up shirt, the material straining against his muscular arms. He scans the area and when he looks at me his eyes flare for an instant before walking in my direction. My heart starts beating fast while my tummy flutters. Damn, he looks so good it’s hard to think straight.

“You showed up,” I smile.

“Well, I didn’t want to let anyone down,” he says, looking me in the eyes meaningfully.

I turn away so he doesn’t see me blush. “You’re such a good guy, Davis Alvarez. They really should give you a medal for it.” I laugh, trying to poke the gentle giant.

“Ah ha ha, you should be a comedian. Do you want to dance?” He asks with a smile on his face.

“Sure, try and keep up.” I throw over my shoulder as I walk to the dance floor.

Davis throws his head back and laughs. I love the way he laughs without a care in the world. He’s normally quiet in a big group of people, but one-on-one, he’ll talk your ear off about the things he feels passionate about.

Davis and I have hung out with the same group of friends our whole lives, but in the last couple of years, I feel like we’ve grown further and further apart. Come next fall he’ll be leaving to start his life somewhere else and I’ll be here, wishing he was with me.

The fun upbeat song ends just as we start dancing, changing to I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden and our eyes connect. For a split second it’s awkward, then Davis holds out his hand and I gladly take it.

He pulls me close and I wrap my arms loosely around his neck wanting so badly to hold him closer. Listening to the words in the song, I wonder what Davis is thinking and feeling. Is his heart beating as fast as mine? Does he wish we were the only people in this magical wonderland like I do?

“You look really beautiful tonight, Amelia.” He says softly into my ear.

“Thank you, so do you. Handsome I mean.”

I don’t know if I’m imagining it, but I swear his arms tighten around me.

“You never call me Millie, like everyone else does.”

“I knew you before you were Millie. To me, you’ll always be Amelia.”

I look up at him, studying his face. I wonder if he knows how handsome he is. I doubt it. He’s almost six and a half feet tall and looks older than most of the guys in our school. It doesn’t hurt that he put on a lot of muscle, especially in the last two years since he plays sports year round. Any girl would be lucky to have his attention, yet he hasn’t dated anyone seriously.

“How come you don’t have a girlfriend?” I blurt out.

Davis raises his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side to look at me. “I don’t know. How come you don’t have a boyfriend?”

“Maybe I was waiting for a certain someone to ask me, and they never did,” I say, raising one of my eyebrows pointedly.

Davis studies me for a long minute before laughing me off. “Uh huh, sure you are.”

“I’m being serious Davis,” I say, putting my hands on my hips to look at him.

“Amelia, you are the girl who goes after what she wants. You don’t wait around hoping for some guy to catch a clue. No, if you wanted someone, I imagine you’d make a big show of it.”

“Whatever,” I huff, walking away from him.

“Oh come on, Amelia,” Davis grabs my hand to keep me from walking away. “We both know it’s true. You’re leaving town the minute you have your diploma. Pinehaven and whoever that guy is will be so far behind you that you won’t even remember them while you’re off making your dreams come true.”

What the hell is he talking about? Who said I was leaving Pinehaven? He’s the one who’s leaving. I don’t know whether to feel hurt or frustrated. To be honest, I feel both, as well as being confused as hell. I basically told him I was interested and he laughed at me. What did I do wrong?

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