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“Anything for you, princess. And I mean,anything. You want my mouth on your body? Just call me. You want me to shag you senseless? Just yell. You want…” I pinch my eyes together and grit my teeth while I cover his mouth with my hand.
“Shut up,” I breathe out. He starts to laugh, yet again, but it’s muffled by my hand. After a minute, he raises his hands in surrender, and I slowly remove it.
My heart is beating away as I turn back around in my seat to face the front.
Finally, Chester starts the car, and for a few minutes, it’s quiet. A playful smile is on Chester’s face. It’s beautiful and honest, and it makes my heart stand still for a second. But then reality crashes over me, and my stomach drops.
“You do know I’m getting married soon, right?” I whisper, and it wipes the smile clean off his face. “The news of my engagement will be in every tabloid and newspaper soon.”
“Don’t fucking remind me, Evangeline.”
“But it’s going to happen. No one can stop it.”
“I don’t believe that. You can’t marry that bastard, Evangeline,” he says, his hands tightening on the leather steering wheel. It cracks underneath his force. Chester still hasn’t disclosed the pertinent details about Thomas Meyer, but somewhere deep inside me, I might already know why he doesn’t particularly like my fiancé.
“I don’t want to, Ches,” I mutter. “I really don’t want to, but it’s happening.” I hate discussing it, but it’s also a relief to be able to share it with someone. I could talk to Topper again about it, but Chester is the only one who knows Thomas Meyer, but still, there’s a part of me that blames him for the things he has done that forced my brother to arrange my marriage.
“Then don’t, Evangeline.”
“Don’t be naïve,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I’m getting married, and I have nothing to say on the matter.”
“I’m not being naïve. I’m hopeful.” I wish I could follow Chester’s mindset. I wish I could have a bit of hope left, even if it’s just temporary. The date is set. I’m only waiting for the ball to start rolling now, and, eventually, it will.
“You’re not going to marry him. I know that much, princess,” Chester says confidently, and I smile his way. But it doesn’t re-spark my happiness. I already gave up on dreaming big, but it’s soothing that someone still believes in another outcome, and I hope with all my heart that Chester is right. I truly want nothing more.
And who knows, Chester may just be my knight in shining armour, defeating the villain in my story.
“Do you have siblings trying to marry you off as well?” I ask to lighten the heavy mood while trying to learn more about my cocky neighbour.
“No, I’m an only child, which is honestly a blessing. My parents would have fucked them up as well.” It’s hard to imagine growing up with parents who argued all the time when I had ones who loved each other deeply, but my heart still aches for Chester. No child should grow up like that, but it happens more often than not. We all wish for that happy life, but sometimes, reality serves you something different, and sadly, Chester and his parents experienced it first-hand.
It breaks my heart to see this strong man carry the memories of his parents’ toxic relationship and tainted childhood. But still, Chester has his heart in the right place. He grew up to be an amazing man with love in his heart for his friends and for a stranger like me. Though, I do think we’re friends now.
He’s beautiful, and I wish I could go back in time to hug him when things got hard. To hold his hand and promise him that his future will look much different than his past.
“What are your parents like?” I whisper, hoping that they aren’t cruel to him too because then he’d cut me wide open.
“Together?” He looks my way with both his eyebrows raised. “A mess. But individually, they are pretty great.” Relief washes over me, but still, it tugs on my heartstring that he had to see his parents go through life so unhappy. That he had to witness their constant bickering as a child.
“My mum, Felice, she’s a highly energised woman with a million activities planned during her week. She goes horse-riding, attends her cooking classes, and knits with the woman across the street, and the list goes on and on. She is the happiest when she has something to do.”
“She sounds lovely.” Chester’s eyes light up, and a small smile covers his face.
“She is. But she has a feisty side, too. You never want to piss her off. I’ve had my fair share of scoldings from my mum when I was a kid.”
I chuckle because I envision a little Chester with his curls hanging over his forehead, listening to his mother give him an earful for some silly thing he did.
“What about your father?”
“Arthur Boyd is a breed of his own.” His eyes catch mine again. “Not a very social man, but he’s smart. Extremely smart, Evangeline, and I think it’s his curse as well. He doesn’t do small talk, though he does come to life in an office with people. I used to blame him for missing family time, but instead of hoping he’d change, I adapted to his needs. Now, I’ve never had a better relationship with him.” There’s pride in his voice when he talks of his father. Even though Arthur sounds like a flawed person, Chester still looks up to him. I think it healed wounds when they finally got on the same page.
“What about your parents, Evangeline? Did they leave you with emotional scars as well?” His eyes flicker to me, and his tone is a teasing one, but behind that upbeat voice, I hear the depths of pain left behind. I see the scars his parents left in his bright eyes.
It hurts to look at him. With a sharp breath, I realise that Chester is crawling under my skin, leaving behind his mark. Would it be all right to let him find a place in my heart? It leads to nowhere, because I’ll have to let him go, yet I can’t fight it. It’s happening every single time he opens up to me, when he makes me laugh and shares honest human emotions.
I drop my hand on his, the one that is resting on his lap. A painful smile covers his handsome face, and he turns his hands to curl our fingers together. My touch won’t heal everything, but I hope it soothes at least some of it, maybe even warms his heart like he has warmed mine before.
“My dad died a few years ago from a heart attack in his office. It was sudden and over in a few minutes. He was great. He was a listener rather than a talker. He had a heart of gold and dreamt of wanting only the best for his family.”
