Page 20 of Guys Can’t Write Romance

Chad laughed. “She does make things interesting.”

“And by ‘interesting,’ you mean chaotic. My attorney friend Ava joined us, and one of Chloe’s favorite pastimes is pushing her buttons.”

“My money’s on Chloe in that match.”

“The girl’s in her own league.”

She watched him disappear around the corner, then found herself scanning his living room with new eyes.

It was still a disaster by her standards, but somehow it had become a comfortable sort of chaos.

The surfboard in the corner had a story behind every ding.

The stack of sports magazines might be crooked, but they held memories of games watched together.

The collection of beach rocks on the windowsill that he’d arranged ‘artistically’ (his word, not hers) had started to look almost charming.

She rose from the couch and wandered over to a bookcase next to the TV, which housed a collection of sports trophies, horror books, and some framed pictures.

One picture caught her attention. It showed younger versions of Chad, Rhino, Troy, and Brett on a stage somewhere, arms flailing as they appeared to be singing a lively karaoke song.

“Is this you and your friends singing karaoke in this picture?” she asked.

Chad’s chuckle came from the kitchen. “It was karaoke. Whether you would call it singing is still open to debate.”

Daisy laughed. “Isn’t that the best kind?”

“Always. Funny. I didn’t picture you as the karaoke type.”

“I used to be. Back in college.” A smile lit her cheeks at the memories.

“Maybe we can do it sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Her eyes drifted over to the cabinet under the TV.

Something about it seemed too neat, too organized for Chad’s usual style.

The doors were actually closed properly, unlike everything else in the apartment.

In fact, now that she thought about it, it was probably the only cabinet in his entire place that wasn’t perpetually ajar, contents spilling out in cheerful disarray.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the door.

“Wait! Don’t look in there!” Chad’s panicked voice came too late.

Daisy’s jaw dropped. Row after row of Hallmark movies lined the shelves, organized by what looked like seasonal categories. Little sticky notes marked different sections: ‘Christmas,’ ‘Valentine’s,’ ‘Spring Fling,’ and ‘Summer Romance.’

“Oh. My. Gosh.” She pulled out ‘Christmas Inn-heritance.’ “You didn’t just watch them. You’re collecting them!”

Chad stood frozen in the kitchen doorway, a beer in each hand, looking like a deer caught in headlights. “I can explain.”

“‘Valentine’s Puppy Love’?” She gasped. “The three-legged puppy movie? With your notes in the margins of the DVD case?”

“It was research!” He rushed over, nearly spilling the beers. “And those aren’t notes, they’re plot analysis.”

“‘Cried here’?” She read from one of his scribbles. “‘Really cried here’? ‘Had to pause because couldn’t see through tears’?”

“That was— there was dust— the window was open.”

“They’re organized by season!” She continued exploring the shelf. “With sub-categories for tropes! ‘Enemies to Lovers’? ‘Second Chance Romance’? ‘Small Town Sweet’?”

“That was Rhino,” Chad said quickly. At her raised eyebrow, he withered. “Okay, fine. I did that. But only because it’s more efficient!”

Daisy bit back a laugh. “Did you just say ‘efficient’? You? The guy who thinks clean socks are optional?”

“I’m not gonna live this down, am I?”

“Nope.” She pulled out another DVD. “‘Snow Globe of Second Chances’? Isn’t this the one where—”

“The hockey player learns to love again through the magic of hot chocolate?” Chad sighed, finally remembering to hand her a beer. “Yeah. The ending makes no sense unless that cocoa was seriously spiked.”

“Chad McKenzie.” Daisy stood up, clutching the DVDs to her chest. “You’re a closet romantic.”

“I am not! I just...” He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in that way that definitely didn’t make her stomach flip.

“Some of them aren’t terrible, okay? And the character development is actually pretty solid, even if the plots are predictable, and sometimes the dialogue really hits home, and.

..” He trailed off when he saw her expression. “What?”

Something warm bloomed in Daisy’s chest. This was a side of Chad she’d never expected. Here was the guy who made fun of everything, who wrote about monsters chasing scantily-clad women, and he’d been secretly studying love stories with the same intensity he brought to sports statistics.

“You surprise me, McKenzie,” she said fondly.

“Is that a good thing?”

“It’s not a bad thing. You really are taking this seriously.”

“Well, yeah.” He dropped onto the couch, looking almost shy. “I figure I’ll be more help to both of us if I learn this stuff. But no telling anyone about my stash.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” she said as she settled onto the couch next to him, close enough to catch the scent of his soap.

“Did you shower?” she said.

He lifted his arm and smelled his pit. “Yeah. Do I smell?”

“No.” Then she noticed something else. “And you washed your clothes.”

“How could you tell?”

“The pink’s fading.”

Chad laughed. “Don’t remind me.”

She smiled. “This cease-fire’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “It beats sleeping on the roof.”

She laughed and held up her beer. “To cease-fires?”

He nodded and clinked his beer with hers. “To cease-fires.”

As she set her beer down and opened her notebook, she turned to him. “I have a question.”

“What?”

“In ‘Snow Globe of Second Chances’, what did you think about how she just happened to inherit the Christmas tree farm?”

“The one that’s mysteriously profitable despite only operating one month a year?”

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I thought,” she said, then they caught each other’s eyes and quickly looked away.

Chad cleared his throat. “So, uh, writing?”

“Right. Writing.” Daisy opened her notebook, still smiling. “But just so you know? We’re definitely discussing your feelings about the three-legged puppy later.”

“I had something in my eye!”

“Sure you did, McKenzie. Multiple somethings. For two hours.”

As they settled in to work, Daisy couldn’t help stealing glances at the cabinet. Maybe a little chaos wasn’t such a bad thing; especially when it came with a secret soft side and surprisingly good taste in romance movies.

She thought about telling Chloe about this discovery, but decided against it. Some things were better kept secret, like Chad’s hidden romantic streak and the way her heart had skipped when he’d smiled at her.

For the next several hours, they got a surprising amount of writing done, pausing every now and then to review each other’s pages or bounce around ideas.

“I should probably head home,” Daisy said finally, stretching as she checked her watch. “It’s getting late.”

“And here I was, just getting to the good part,” Chad said, looking momentarily disappointed before his easy smile returned.

“The part where your matchmaking muse ghost introduces your male lead to her sister?”

“Not yet. I skipped ahead to the ending, where he’s finished his romance book with the ghost’s help, and now she has to leave.”

Daisy paused in the middle of closing her notebook and looked at him, already imagining the possibilities for how the scene could play out. “Is it sad?”

“It’s more bittersweet. I’d put it on a three-legged puppy level.”

Something soft tugged at her heart. “Am I gonna cry?”

“Hopefully,” he said, a mischievous grin gleaming in his eyes. “Isn’t that the point?”

She watched him as he stood and stretched. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually excited to read it.”

“I’m excited for you to read it, too,” he said as he walked her to the door. “These emotional beats are pretty fun to write.”

“As opposed to slime monsters melting people’s faces?”

He let out a chuckle. “I’m pretty sure you and Hallmark have ruined teen sexploitation horror for me.”

“The world owes me a debt of gratitude.”

He chuckled. “Tell them to pay up.”

“So what changed?”

He thought about it for a moment. “I think I fell in love with my characters. That’s never happened before. And now, they’re practically writing the story themselves.”

She looked at him as they stopped in the doorway, a sparkle in her eyes she no longer fought to hide. “We should do another Hallmark movie night sometime.”

“For research?”

She shyly looked down, then back at him. “Or just for fun.”

He smiled, his eyes meeting hers for a moment, and neither of them looking away. “I’d be down for that. We still on for baseball practice tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. Meet me after school?”

He nodded. “I’ll be the guy in the coach’s uniform.”

She stepped out the door, oddly reluctant to leave. “Goodnight, Chad.”

“Night, Daisy.”