Page 140 of Left on Read

“All done?” I asked River.

He nodded and finished his beer.

“I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge. How about you go get comfy on the couch, and I’ll be right there.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“Nope. It won’t take long. We were hungry tonight.”

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

I made a show of shooing him out of the kitchen, then quickly cleaned up our dishes and put away the leftover food.

When I came into the living room, River had his arms crossed and was staring at the window. He was in thinking mode.

“Everything okay?” I asked, sitting next to him.

“Yeah.” He turned to face me, his expression serious. “I had fun today.”

“I’m glad. I did too.”

“Something feels different.” He pinned me with a look. “Am I nuts for thinking something is different?”

“You’re not nuts. Something is different.”

He uncrossed his arms and rubbed his thighs. He only did that when he was nervous about something.

Well, that made two of us.

“I wanted to recreate the night we first hung out. I thought it would be a fun date.”

“Date?” he asked slowly.

“Yeah.” I tried to ignore the fluttering in my stomach.

As much as I knew this was the right thing to do and was excited to finally tell him how I felt, I couldn’t shake the lingering anxiety from the buildup to this moment.

I’d spent all week planning today. Everything had been perfect so far, but this was the first time I was telling someone I loved them, and I was saying it first.

“We were on a date tonight?” he asked, his stare piercing.

“Yes. And I think it’s fair to say we’ve been on a lot of dates these past four months.”

He froze.

“I know I said I was only looking for casual back when we first met, but that wasn’t true.”

He stopped breathing.

“I was trying to protect myself because I didn’t think you wanted more.”

“What are you saying?” he asked, still frozen in place.

“I’m saying that I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time, and I want us to be together for real.”

Silence descended on us. My anxiety rose with each passing second, but I held his gaze and let him process my words.

“You love me?” he whispered.

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