Page 20 of #Starstruck

Without waiting to see if I would take him up on his offer, he went into the living room and started introducing himself to my brothers and other sister. I watched as he put Zia down on the couch, took off his jacket, and settled on the floor. Zelda showed him Mr.Wriggles, and Zane lifted up his Spider-Man mask.

As much as I wanted to stand there and be totally impressed at how well he was interacting with them, I really did need a shower. Part of me felt bad—I was supposed to behisassistant, helping him and making his life easier. Not the other way around. I stopped by the laundry room and threw all my clothes into the slop sink. I’d rinse them out later. I grabbed a towel from the dryer and wrapped it around myself as I stepped over mountainous piles of clean and unclean laundry and headed to the bathroom.

The water took forever to heat up, even though I kept willing it to hurry. When it finally hit lukewarm, I hopped in and scrubbed every square inch. I washed my hair, too, just in case.

The water finally became hot as I finished. I went to my mom’s room to borrow some stuff. I hadn’t planned on spending the night, so I didn’t have any extra clothes. Borrowing clothes from her was always a little iffy. I was at least four inches taller than she was, and her clothes were either heavily Moms R Us, nurse’s scrubs, or clubbing outfits from the early nineties that she couldn’t bear to get rid of.

I settled for an old worn but soft SIU shirt that sort of fit and a pair of plaid pajama pants that had belonged to my stepdad, Duncan, before he died. They almost went to my ankles. I yanked the drawstrings tight. Like I was girding my loins, ready to do battle. I grabbed an elastic band from the bathroom and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I looked at the messy pile of toothbrushes and toothpaste. Should I brush my teeth? I decided against it, knowing it would keep me from throwing myself at him.

As I walked down the hallway, I thought for a second there were strangers in the living room. Then I realized all the voices were coming from Chase. He was sitting on the floor, Zia in his lap, Zelda snuggling up on his left side, reading one of Zane’s Batman comics aloud, doing completely different voices for each character. All the kids were entranced. Even Zander, who was supposed to be doing his homework, had stopped to listen intently.

Chase finished the comic, and the kids groaned when he said, “The end.”

“Can we read another?” Zane asked. “Maybe we can download a Captain Sparta one.”

The knowing look in Chase’s eyes made my cheeks turn pink. “Yes, I heard about your great love for Captain Sparta. How you were telling them all about him earlier.”

Little traitors. “That’s not quite what happened,” I informed him, but I could see he didn’t believe me.

“Did you know that sometimes at my job I get to dress up like Captain Sparta and pretend to be him?” Chase asked Zane, whose eyes grew impossibly big. Another victim of his charm.

“Hey, Zo, what’s a school of squid called?” Zander asked. Most likely for his project. I probably should have made him look it up, but I was still a tad scatterbrained over the fact that Chase Covington was in my home.

“Regular or giant?”

“Uh, regular.”

“A shoal.”

That appreciative look was back in Chase’s eyes. “I think it’s cool you know random stuff like that.”

More blushing that I felt all the way down to my feet. “Okay, bedtime.” I would get the kids in bed and the movie star out of my house and everything would be fine.

“I want to say prayer!” Zelda shouted, raising her hand. I had hoped we might skip our family prayer, but no such luck. We knelt down and held hands. Chase offered me his, and I took it. That electric current was still there, the one that made me feel excited and freaked out at the same time.

Zelda prayed for Mommy to be safe, and for Daddy to like his wings, and for Chase to be her new friend, and for me not to be mad at her for throwing up, and for Mr.Wriggles to not have a headache.

We said amen after she did, and I told the boys to brush their teeth and get into their pajamas. Zander complained about not finishing his homework, and I was tempted to tell him it was his fault for waiting so long, but instead I said he could finish it in his room and then go to bed. Which led to Zane whining about the light being on and my telling them to knock it off and just go.

I marched them down the hallway, stopping by the girls’ room to grab some pajamas and a Good-Nite diaper for Zelda. After I got the boys brushing their teeth, I came back and helped Zelda change, feeling Chase’s gaze on me the whole time. Figuring she’d already brushed her teeth after the puking episode, I sent her off to her room.

“Come on, Zia,” I said, offering my hand.

She shook her head adamantly. “No! Cheese put me bed!”

“I’d be happy to,” he offered. I told him her bedroom was the third door on the left, down the hallway.

He picked up Zia, and on his way out of the living room, he came to a halt way too close to me. I could feel his warm breath on the side of my neck. “Is there anyone else you want me to put to bed?”

It sounded innocent, but I caught his unspoken meaning. That made me suck in a huge gulp of air as I ordered my legs to keep me vertical. He chuckled like he knew exactly what he had done to me. I reminded myself that it wasn’t a big deal for him to say stuff like that. He probably said a lot more explicit things to a lot more experienced women. But it made me all flustered and nervous. Like a junior high school girl at her first dance.

So I did what any self-respecting, awkward junior high girl would do. I hid in the bathroom.

And I brushed my teeth.

Just in case.

When I had collected myself enough that I felt like I could face him again, I heard his voice in the girls’ room. He was singing to them. Which was so sweet it made me put my hand over my heart. If I could have bottled up that feeling and sold it, I would have been a billionaire.

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