When We Grow Up

Chapter 14 - I'm Drowning in Testosterone

Chapter 14 - I'm Drowning in Testosterone

**by the way, this is not edited. just a warning**  

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"Gabe!" I whisper-yelled. "Why aren't we going the other way? People are going to stare!" I added, snagging a few glares from people dancing on the marble floor.

We were at the top of the giant staircase in the center of the hall and Gabe was standing three steps in front of me, while I frantically tried to pull him back the way we came.

I could practically feel him rolling his eyes. "We don't know any of these people, do you think they'll care?"

"I care!"

Gabe turned around and walked up to stand right next to me, extending his elbow in a gesture for me to loop my arm through his. "C'mon, Posie."

"Um, I don't—"

"Rosie." He locked gazes with me and it was suddenly impossible for me to break the eye contact. His grey eyes were light and teasing, but behind that was a cloud of confusion. "Why not?"

Because after years of being made fun of, I had grown afraid of judgment. I liked fading into the back. It was safer and I was scared of people's ever-critical eyes, always on the lookout for a flaw to exploit.

I didn't say any of that, though.

To my relief, he didn't press me for a response. "Just come on. I promise, if people are looking at you funny, it's only because they're jealous."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," I joked, trying to force down my blush.

Gabe didn't miss a beat. "Nah, just one."

I hesitated at the top step. Maybe everyone would be too absorbed in their own conversations and friends to notice us. Looping my arm through his, I began the descent, step by step, still wondering why he was so adamant on coming this way. I was sure that he already knew that I cared far too much about what other people thought. He'd pointed it out on several occasions, but then he just decided to ignore that fact?

We made our way down relatively quickly, and although we did get a few questioning looks, it wasn't nearly as horrible as I'd thought, but old mindsets die hard. 

Gabe gave me an award-winning smile as our feet touched the marble. "Not so bad, right?" he asked, seemingly reading my thoughts.

I exhaled with a shaky smile. "I guess not." The tangle of knots in my stomach was just beginning to unravel and I could breathe more easily. Gingerly, I released his arm and smoothed out my dress.

All of our parents were gone when we reached our table and Aaron and Mack were the only two left. Mack barely glanced up. "Everyone's dancing," she said curtly, not even looking up from her phone. I had a suspicion that she was particularly attached to it tonight because she didn't want to associate with Aaron.

"Where were you two?" Aaron asked, starting to get up from his chair. There was a slight accusatory tone in his voice and his eyes were more narrowed.

I was standing slightly behind Gabe and noticed him visibly tense up. "Sorry, I didn't realize that 'everyone's dancing' couldn't include Rosie and me."

Well, he wasn't lying.

My mouth went a bit dry when Aaron gave Gabe a hard look and rose up to his full height. If we were being technical here, Gabe was a bit taller but all this glaring they were doing was making me nervous.

"Guys, I'm drowning in all this testosterone," I quipped. I swear I saw a twitch at the corner of Gabe's mouth, like he was trying not to laugh. "Aaron, let's go."