Capture the Moment (Moments #1)

23. Cleo

twenty-three

Cleo

“YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE, MY STARLIGHT—”

“Wait, that’s my line!” Georgia shouts over the loud music as Denver groans.

“Well, find a new one.” The brunette shrugs, plopping down next to me on the couch. I sniff a laugh as Georgia pouts, moving down the frog face mask she’d been wearing.

After we’d all spent way too long talking about my past, Denver decided that we’d do karaoke and face masks. She said that karaoke was the best way to let out toxic energy and it was the only way to feel better, so we did exactly that.

We’re now on song four of Lord knows how many; Denver and Georgia decided to sing Starlight by Astra and since Astra is our cousin, Zola, Sienna and I decided to sit this one out.

“How am I supposed to find a new line?”

Pounding on the front door halts their bickering. We all pause, eyeing one another.

“I didn’t order take out.” Sienna frowns as the person on the other side knocks again. I can’t help but smile at her, she looks so adorable with her face mask. We’re all some sort of animal as requested by Georgia. She keeps a ton of different sheet masks in her bathroom, so she's a frog while Sienna is a penguin, Denver is a duck, and I’m a piglet.

“Are those the strippers I ordered?” Denver bites her bottom lip, smiling coyly. Georgia scrunches her face and smacks Denver 's arm.

“Ow! Pinche 1 —”

Knock!

Knock! Knock!

“Is no one going to let the strippers in?” I chuckle softly, dusting myself off as I stride towards the front door and like an idiot, I open it without checking.

But seriously, who checks the front door these days? Usually it’s a delivery guy—

“Am I under arrest offi— Blake?!”

“Hi.” His voice is deep and soft all at once, I can feel the girls’ eyes on us as mine slowly meet soft blue ones.

Blake Wilder is standing at my front door, dressed in jeans, a white tee, and a backwards cap. The most basic outfit a man can wear and yet my stomach does something weird. As my eyes scan Blake, I realize he’s doing the same, drinking me in like cold water on a hot summer day. I shift in my spot and clear my throat.

“Hey? What’re you doing here?” I ask, standing just a little straighter.

Blake busts out the cheekiest grin I’ve ever seen on a guy, smiling with his whole body as his ears tint red.

“You didn’t show up at Fall Fest, so…” he trails off and it’s then that I notice the two boxes of LEGOs in his hands. A LEGO flower bouquet and a pink LEGO Mercedes.

Is this what it feels like to have your heart burst?

Is this what it’s like to have someone think about you?

We stare at each other, our eyes intertwining in a never-ending slow dance. He knew that I wanted to go to Fall Fest and when I didn’t show up for Day One, he brought his favorite activity to me to make sure I'm okay. Someone marry Blake Wilder because if you don’t, I will.

Matter of fact, I take back what I said.

I’ll marry him myself.

“Oh! I have these too, I asked Georgia if you were okay and when she said you weren’t, I figured you could use something sweet to pick yourself up.” He grins sheepishly, my heart spirals as he pulls out a bag with The Sugar Hole’s logo on it.

Hello, ovaries? Please be ready for fertilization because I’m going to jump this man’s bones—

Too much?

Yep…

Way too much.

“?Por qué estás aquí?” 2 Denver asks suddenly close to me as she looks over my shoulder at her cousin.

Blake rolls his eyes playfully, still smiling broadly as he responds. “I know you’re happy to see me, Seattle, but I’m here for Cinderella, not Drizella.”

She reels back, poking her tongue in her cheek before stepping in closer to my back.

“Say it closer to my face this time.” She clenches her teeth as he tilts his head back in laughter.

“If Cleo lets me in then I will.” He sobers his laugh, adjusting the LEGO box sets to his hip.

When I let Blake inside, Denver mumbles something about strippers yet again before stalking off to the living room where Sienna and Georgia watch with wide eyes.

“I didn’t know which set you’d want to do, so I bought two of pinkest ones I could find…” He says, scratching the back of his neck. I’m about to swoon myself to death because of this guy and I hate it.

What was rule number one again?

No boys? Or was it no more Buldak noodles after 12? Regardless, some rules are getting broken.

“She’ll take both!” Georgia shouts, jumping over the couch to the foyer where Blake and I stand, staring at one another like a pair of fools.

She smiles brightly under her face mask as she confiscates the donut bag before giving me a not-so subtle wink as she makes her way to the kitchen.

Some days, I’m happy to have an open floor plan apartment but today isn’t the day. I shift my weight on to my right leg at the feeling of all eyes on us, watching our next move.

“Let’s go to my room,” I offer. Blake’s eyes widened as he looks down at me almost to say, ‘are you sure?’, but I don’t give him the time to voice his concerns as I shuffle him to the hall where my room is.

We’re almost completely in my bedroom when Sienna, my lovely yet enraging cousin, shouts “Go get that dick, sis!”

We’re sitting cross-legged on my floor, hovering over the pink LEGO-Mercedes with Twisted Vipers new song, Wreck U, playing softly on my Bluetooth speaker.

I steal a glance at Blake and smile at the sheer look of concentration on his face. His eyebrows are knit together as he tinkers with the four-pronged piece of plastic.

We’ve gotten about a quarter through the building process, neither of us bothering to speak as we help each other.

I pass him the next needed piece as he nods his thanks, humming aloud to the track. The moment is comfortable, he’s working and I’m watching, soaking in every inch of his builder nature.

Blake clears his throat, smirking as he focuses on the pieces in his hands.

“Take a picture, it’ll last long—”

I snap a photo immediately.

What? He told me too…

Blake shakes his head at my antics, smiling softly. I catch the small hint of red on his ears and grin as I take another picture, saving it as his contact photo.

“So, what happened earlier with your mom?” he asks, looking me directly in the eyes, ignoring my previous antics.

I gulp as I’m caught off guard. “How did you—”

“Cleo, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but when you talk, I actually listen.” He chuckles, sucking in a sharp breath as a part of the wheel he’d been tinkering with collapses.

“Oh…um…”I laugh shakily, Blake places a soft hand on my knee, still paying close attention to the piece in his hand while also being in tune with me. It’s the small push I hadn’t known was needed and so I spill my guts.

I tell him about my figure skating history and how it was all for my mother’s validation. I talk about how much it killed me as a kid when my parents divorced but about how safe and loved Ryan and Gloria made me feel. Then, I tell him about Marcelo and me, not all of it but I tell him that we broke up last December and since then my mother and I have barely talked. Lastly, I bring up my mother’s engagement to a drummer who is a quarter of her age and the fact that I’m more than terrified to meet him and his two other kids.

Through it all, Blake listens. A few seconds into my first round of ranting, he sets down the LEGOs and gives me his undivided attention. When I get to the parts about my mother, he softly squeezes my knees as if to say, ‘Don’t worry, you’re safe’ and let me know he’s here.

He’s attentive and patient and so freaking kind… I think I might like him.

And that thought alone scares me more than all other things because liking a boy isn’t simple. It’s getting your hopes up in the faith that he’ll reciprocate those feelings. It’s choosing to give your heart to someone with zero knowledge of how they feel.

And fuck, I hate this.

No boys was the rule and it seems like I’m breaking a promise not only to my dad but to myself as well.

“Hey…look at me, you okay?” His voice is gentle as he cups my cheek in his hand. My belly flips as he circles it with his thumb, his eyes remind me of a calm breeze as he gives me all his focus.

“I’m fine.” I breathe out quietly like the lovestruck chicken I am.

Blake gives me a small smile and nods. “Good, now for phase two.”

“Phase two?” I tilt my head, furrowing my brows at him.

“Movie night!” he practically yells, jumping up from the floor with a triumphant smile.

I try and fail to suppress a giggle as he jogs over to my gaming center, grabbing the remote for the TV. Blake turns on the TV to a random princess movie, kicks off his shoes and turns off the light on my nightstand. He looks down at me, still on the floor expectantly as if I’m a hitch in his plan.

“You’re needed in the bed, Princess.” He chuckles as he plops down on my very neatly made pink flower print bed.

I cringe as he makes himself comfortable, and I guess he sees the look on my face because he freezes with his hands up.

“Zero funny business, I swear!”

I muffle my laugh at him and make my way over to the bed, climbing on top of the covers.

“Platonic cuddle? You sound like you need a hug,” he offers.

With a small nod, I sigh as he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. And just like that, I’m in bed with a 6”4 hockey player ‘platonically cuddling’ me because I had a bad day.

1. Pinche- fucking

2. Por qué estás aquí - Why are you here? (Spanish)