Page 41 of Guys Can’t Write Romance
Chapter twenty-nine
Christmas Puppies and Emotional Support Chad
Daisy made it home, kicked off her heels, and changed into her most comfortable pajamas in record time.
By the time her doorbell rang, she had the perfect breakup picture arranged: fuzzy blanket?
Check. Pint of ice cream? Check. Hallmark Channel playing on the TV?
Check. All traces of makeup scrubbed from her face? Check.
“Christmas Puppy Proposal” was just getting to the part where the female lead discovers the male lead is secretly a billionaire when she heard Chad’s distinctive knock: two quick raps followed by a pause and then three more.
Daisy padded to the door in her fuzzy slippers, blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape, and swung it open to find Chad standing there in his gym clothes, with what appeared to be an entire convenience store packed into shopping bags.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of breakup this was,” he said, holding up the bulging bags, “so I brought options.”
Daisy couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her as she stepped aside to let him in. “Are there different kinds of breakups?”
“Yup,” Chad said as he walked in. “You’ve got your ‘sad and weepy’ breakup, which requires chocolate and tissues.
Your ‘angry and vengeful’ breakup, which demands spicy snacks and maybe some darts to throw at a picture.
And then your ‘secretly relieved but pretending to be sad’ breakup, which calls for champagne disguised as more respectable ice cream. ”
He began unloading his haul onto the coffee table, chocolate in various forms, three different flavors of ice cream, a box of tissues, a bottle of wine, a package of Oreos, and, for some reason she couldn’t begin to guess at, a rubber duck wearing sunglasses.
“A rubber ducky?” she asked.
“That’s the emergency backup plan, in case everything else fails. Studies have shown that it’s impossible to stay sad around a rubber ducky. Especially when it’s wearing sunglasses.”
Daisy chuckled as she settled back onto the couch and reclaimed her ice cream. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Part of my charm,” Chad agreed. He glanced at the TV, where a golden retriever puppy was now wearing a bow tie. “So we’re going full Hallmark, huh? How bad was it?”
“On a scale of one to catastrophic public meltdown? Somewhere around ‘dignified but definitely final exit from a mansion party while wealthy socialites whispered behind their champagne glasses’.”
Chad let out a low whistle as he shrugged off his jacket. “Fancy. Did you at least get to throw a drink in his face?”
“No,” Daisy sighed dramatically. “I was very mature. Very adult. Very boring.”
“Darn. The drink in the face would have made for a better story.” He hesitated at the edge of the couch, seemingly unsure where to sit.
Daisy rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to bite you, Chad.” She patted the spot beside her. “Here. There’s plenty of room.”
He sat down at the opposite end of the couch, still maintaining a careful distance. Daisy raised an eyebrow at him and patted the cushion right next to her. “I meant here. It’s a Hallmark movie. Rules dictate shared blankets and mutual mockery of the utterly predictable plot.”
Chad’s familiar grin returned as he slid closer. “Just making sure. I didn’t want to violate any sacred breakup protocols.”
“Too late. The rubber ducky was definitely a violation,” she said, lifting the edge of the blanket to invite him beneath it with her.
Chad accepted, settling in beside her. “So, you liked the flowers?”
“They were perfect,” Daisy said simply. “Exactly what I needed today. How did you know they were my favorites?”
“I kinda figured, you know, Daisy, daisies. But I double-checked with Chloe yesterday before ordering them.”
“So, she knew yesterday that you were sending them?”
“Yeah. She promised to keep it a secret.”
Daisy chuckled. “That may be the first time she’s ever actually kept a secret.”
“She knows this week’s rough on you, so she made the extra effort. I wrote it down in my calendar so I wouldn’t forget.”
The thought of Chad making a note of something so personal, so important to her, made Daisy’s chest tighten with unexpected emotion.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “Not just for the flowers, but for this morning, too. For somehow knowing exactly what I needed without me having to say it.”
Chad looked momentarily flustered by the sincerity in her voice. True to form, he deflected with humor. “Well, I figured it was either surfing or competitive hot dog eating, and I know how you feel about processed meats.”
Daisy laughed, nudging him with her elbow. “And here I thought you were being insightful.”
He laughed. “Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to protect for being shallow.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Daisy said, settling more comfortably against the cushions. “Though I’m starting to think there’s a lot more to Chad McKenzie than meets the eye.”
“Nope,” Chad assured her, reaching for one of the ice cream containers. “Just a PE teacher who writes about monsters and doesn’t know how to do his taxes properly. And collects an insane number of parking tickets.”
On screen, the heroine was now discovering that the stray puppy she’d adopted was actually owned by the handsome stranger she’d been bickering with for the past hour of screen time.
“So,” Chad said, gesturing at the TV with his spoon, “you want to talk about what happened with you-know-who? Or should we just dissect the utterly shocking plot twist where these two attractive people who hate each other somehow fall in love?”
Daisy sighed, digging her spoon into her melting ice cream. “Not much to tell. I finally realized we want different things. He wants a corporate wife who’ll fit neatly into his New York ambitions. And that’s not me.”
“You’re the teacher, slash writer, who wants people to take her dreams seriously.”
Daisy looked at him in surprise. “Yes. Exactly that.”
Chad shrugged, his eyes on the TV. “Just a guess.”
They fell into comfortable silence, watching as the puppy predictably brought the feuding couple together. Chad’s running commentary on the increasingly ridiculous plot twists kept Daisy laughing, momentarily forgetting the emotional rollercoaster of the day.
“How’d he take the breakup?” Chad finally asked.
“I’ll let you be the judge,” she said, pulling out her phone. “He sent me this about twenty minutes ago.”
She handed Chad the phone, displaying Ethan’s text:
‘You’ve made a spectacularly poor decision tonight. We could have had the perfect life. I hope your little writing hobby and childish dreams bring you the security and status you’ve just thrown away. Don’t call when you realize what you’ve lost.’
Chad’s expression darkened as he read. “Wow. And they say romance is dead.”
“Charming, right?” Daisy took back the phone. “As if status was ever what I wanted.”
“What do you want?” Chad asked, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.
Daisy thought for a moment, her eyes drifting back to the TV where the couple was now dancing in what appeared to be a spontaneous snowfall.
“I want someone who believes in me and supports me, even if it doesn’t make sense to them.
Who’s there to celebrate the good times with me, and curl up with me on the couch during the bad times and tell me everything’s going to be okay.
” She laughed self-consciously. “Sorry, that got really cheesy really fast.”
“Cheesy is underrated,” Chad said, nudging her shoulder with his. “Besides, we’re watching Hallmark movies and eating ice cream after a breakup. If you can’t be cheesy now, when can you be?”
They settled back into watching the movie, Chad’s arm a comforting presence behind her on the couch cushions.
As the night progressed and a second Hallmark movie began, this one featuring a small-town baker and a businessman who learns the true meaning of Christmas, Daisy found herself growing drowsy, the emotional exhaustion of the day finally catching up with her.
Without really thinking about it, she leaned into Chad, her head finding a comfortable spot against his shoulder.
“Is this okay?” she murmured, already half asleep.
“Yeah,” Chad said, his voice strangely tight. “This is okay.”
The last thing Daisy remembered was the comforting weight of his arm coming to rest around her shoulders, and the feeling that despite everything that had happened that day, she was exactly where she needed to be.
Chad had faced down many challenges in his life: the season his high school baseball team made it to state finals, the time he’d gone surfing during a small craft advisory, even the truly terrifying experience of teaching sex education to seventh graders.
But nothing had prepared him for the current situation: Daisy Fields, fast asleep against his chest, her hair spilling across his t-shirt, her breath soft against his neck.
It was simultaneously the most comfortable and the most uncomfortable position he’d ever been in.
Comfortable because, well, holding Daisy felt bizarrely natural, as if the curve of her body was designed to fit perfectly against his. Uncomfortable because every self-preservation instinct in his body was screaming that this was dangerous territory.
Daisy Fields wasn’t just any woman. She wasn’t a casual hookup or a fun weekend fling. She was important. And as of approximately three hours ago, technically available.
That last thought sent a jolt of panic through him. Chad’s entire romantic playbook consisted of flirting, charm, and never ever getting too attached. He knew how to make women laugh, how to show them a good time, how to exit gracefully before things got too serious.
He had absolutely no idea how to handle genuine feelings for someone who mattered.
Because the truth, the terrifying, undeniable truth, was that Daisy Fields had become someone who mattered. A lot.
On screen, the Hallmark couple was sharing their first kiss as snow fell improbably in what was clearly Southern California. Chad reached carefully for the remote, muting the swelling music that threatened to wake Daisy.
She stirred slightly, murmuring something unintelligible before settling more firmly against him, one hand curling into the fabric of his shirt.
Chad froze, hardly daring to breathe until she settled back into a deeper sleep. The weight of her trust, reaching out to him after her breakup, and now falling asleep against him, felt both precious and terrifying.
This was uncharted waters. And Chad McKenzie, for all his easy confidence in most situations, had no idea how to navigate them.
The sound of a key in the lock jolted him from his thoughts. The door swung open to reveal Chloe, her pink hair slightly windblown, a knowing smirk spreading across her face as she took in the scene before her.
“Well, well, well,” she whispered, closing the door quietly behind her. “That didn’t take long.”
“It’s not what it looks like,” Chad whispered back, trying not to disturb Daisy.
“It looks like my roommate is using you as a very attractive body pillow,” Chloe observed, kicking off her boots. “While surrounded by the aftermath of what appears to be a breakup binge. And before I go any further, please tell me you didn’t.”
The implication was clear. If he had taken advantage of her roommate’s emotional state, he would die a slow, painful death.
“We didn’t,” he quickly responded. Daisy stirred again, and he lowered his voice. “She broke up with Ethan and texted me to come over and watch Hallmark movies with her. She fell asleep during a particularly riveting scene involving a Christmas tree farm and an evil developer.”
Chloe flopped into the armchair across from them, her expression softening. “You realize you’re like the anti-rebound guy, right? Most men would be making their move right about now.”
“She just broke up with someone,” Chad pointed out. “She needs a friend, not... whatever it is guys like me usually offer.”
“Guys like you?” Chloe echoed, eyebrow raised.
Chad sighed. “You know what I mean. I’m not exactly known for my emotional depth or relationship longevity.”
“And yet here you are, holding my sleeping roommate like she’s made of glass, watching Hallmark movies instead of making a move, and looking completely terrified by the fact that you actually care about her.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Oh, come on, Chad. You sent her flowers on the anniversary of her father’s death. A day you specifically made note of so you wouldn’t forget. That’s not typical ‘guy like you’ behavior.”
Chad had no response to that. Chloe was right, and they both knew it.
“For what it’s worth,” Chloe continued after a moment, “I think you’re good for her.
You make her laugh. You take her surfing.
You remember the important stuff without being reminded.
And you look at her like she hung the moon and stars.
It’s about damn time Daisy was with someone who looks at her like that. ”
Before Chad could come up with a response, Daisy shifted in her sleep, nestling her face more firmly against his neck. The simple, trusting gesture made something in his chest constrict.
“I have no idea what I’m doing,” he admitted quietly. “This isn’t my scene.”
Chloe stood, gathering her bag to head to her bedroom. “Nobody ever does,” she said with unexpected wisdom. “That’s kind of the point. But if it helps, I’ve seen Daisy with Ethan, and I’ve seen her with you. There’s no comparison.”
She paused at the hallway entrance, turning back with a mischievous grin. “Just do me a favor and don’t break her heart, okay? I know where you live, and Rhino doesn’t seem like the type who could successfully hide a body.”
With that parting shot, she disappeared into her room, leaving Chad alone with a sleeping Daisy and a muted Hallmark movie, where everyone was predictably getting their happy ending.
Real life, unfortunately, was rarely so simple. Especially for a self-proclaimed man-child who was just now realizing he might be in way over his head.
Chad carefully adjusted the blanket around Daisy’s shoulders, allowing himself one moment of weakness to gently brush a strand of hair from her face.
“What am I going to do with you, Fields?” he whispered.