Page 125 of Make Me Dream of You

“Even more reason to say no. She doesn’t want to see me. She doesn’t want to talk to me. I’ve called. I’ve texted. Everything unanswered. That’s my answer. And I have to respect that.”

Wood nods, wiping his hands on his ‘manpron’ then picks up my phone. “Cool, cool. Yeah, totally.” He starts typing on it.

“Hey, what are you doing.”

He smiles. “Just telling her you’ll be there. It’s at The Capital Grille. Fancy.”

I set my glass down hard with a thud. “Wood. I said I wasn’t going.”

“Is that what you were saying? I must have misunderstood. Oops.” He proceeds to grate a block of sharp cheddar cheese with a smirk.

“Give me my phone.”

“No.”

“I’m not going. I don’t want to bother her.”

“No. You’re going. You two are perfect together. I’ve never seen you so happy and I’m not letting you fuck this all up because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.”

“You’ve been scared to lose someone and get your heart broken since the accident.”

I clench my jaw. He knows I don’t like when he brings it up.

He puts down the cheese. “Fine. I’ll do it. I’m going to be the bad guy and say it because you need to hear it. You lost your whole family. It’s just about the worst thing anyone could go through, and it’s not something you’re ever going to get over. My mom still cries every Christmas and on Aunt Jenny’s birthday and whenever she hears ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ on the radio.”

“Wood—”

“I’m not finished. But what happened doesn’t give you an excuse to never open yourself up to love, to stop living your life because you’re scared to get hurt again. They wouldn’t want that for you.”

“But what if she won’t talk to me? What if she won’t give me another chance?”

“What if she does? It’s not like it could get worse.”

I grunt and take another drink.

“You never told her about the surprise, did you?”

“I didn’t get the chance.”

“Well, here you go.” Wood sprinkles his mound of shredded cheese over the pasta. “What should I wear? Do you think I’ll need a tie? I should probably go with a tie.”

“What are you talking about?”

He rolls his eyes. “For dinner. I’m going with. Obviously.”

CHAPTER 23

LIVVY

“If your party has all arrived, I’ll take your drink order.” The server smiles. She has a soft voice and a pixie cut.

“Yes, we’ll?—”

“Oh, no, we’re waiting on one more!” Bex cuts Spencer off.

The server nods. “I’ll come back in a minute to check on you.”

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