Page 50 of Forever Love-Reimagined

Her face fell for a second, and I realized my mistake. I stopped kissing her to tell her I wanted to meet her friends. She probably thought I was blowing her off, but now wasn’t the time to drop the L bomb on her when she appeared to be struggling with something.

She had been preoccupied all night, and when I told her I loved her the first time, I didn’t want to say it—I wanted to show it.

“Do you know what they want? I can get the stuff tomorrow morning before I come over.” Maybe if I kept the conversation going, she wouldn’t worry about the abrupt change.

“It should be a lot of fun. And Ty will eat any meat, no pun intended.” She chuckled, but it was flat.

“I’m sure he will.” I laughed to lighten the mood, but it was still heavy. “How about hamburgers, brats, and veggies? I can grill out.”

“Sounds perfect.” Again, her words didn’t match her tone.

I rested my forehead on hers, hoping the gesture would allow her to open up. If not, maybe I could somehow read her thoughts, but that didn’t work.

“Are you sure something isn’t bothering you?” I tried one more time, but I had to believe when she was ready, she would talk.

“I promise. It’s been a long day, and I need to sleep.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a hint for me to leave, but I took it as such and stood up. She held my hand, and I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to help her or if she was going to ask me to stay. But then she was on her feet, leading me to the front door.

As I was getting ready to leave, I stopped and faced her, skimming my fingers down her cheek. She leaned into my touch, then brought my hand to her mouth and kissed my palm. Then I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly as I inhaled the scent of her mango shampoo.

My mind swirled, and my heart fluttered. I kissed the top of her head, and she buried her face in my chest. We would have to talk soon, but tonight didn’t seem like the right time. I pulled back enough to press my lips to hers. I offered her the gentlest kiss goodnight and said my goodbyes.

I wasn’t sure what had been hanging in the air, but I had no doubt in my mind that we would figure it out. I didn’t believe anything had the power to destroy our destiny.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Blake - Saturday

Iwoke up after a restless night’s sleep. I couldn’t help being apprehensive about today. Leia was asking me what was wrong yesterday, and I should have been honest about my past trauma, but I also hoped that the more I was around her, the more those fears would fade.

But when she pulled out of our kiss, my anxiety rose. It seemed she had something on her mind, too, but she didn’t say. She could have been nervous about meeting Ty. It was a big step in our relationship, and she understood how important he was to me. I wondered if she was having cold feet about it.

Then I worried that if she was fine and I mentioned my concerns, she might wonder if I was having second thoughts about her, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. Discussing all of this with her would be for the best, and if she were my person, which I believed with my entire being to be true, she would understand. But I needed to talk to her before Ty was around.

After the awkwardness of last night, I wanted to smooth things over before putting her in the hot seat. Ty was a loose cannon, and I wasn’t sure if he would grill her or not, but I didn’t want any unresolved feelings between us.

I decided I would surprise her with breakfast, and we could even go for a peaceful walk in Central Park. It would be nice to soak up some sun and have quality time together.

After taking a quick shower, I left my hair down to air-dry, and I drove to The Donut Hut. I didn’t normally eat sickeningly sweet treats, but with her, everything seemed more relaxed, including me. So I grabbed a couple of her favorite cronuts. She had introduced me to them, and I couldn’t lie; I was addicted. I also picked up tea for her and coffee for me, and then I headed to her place.

I took a calming breath and knocked on her door.

She opened it immediately, leaning against the frame with her arm. “Hey, you.” She eyed me as she moved out of the way to let me in. “I didn’t realize you were dropping by this morning. Is everything okay?”

I should have blurted it out then, instead, I walked inside and said, “Yeah. I’m super-duper.” Super-duper? Who the fuck would say that? She would think I’d lost it. “I mean, I’m swell.” Could I get any worse? I cleared my throat. “How are you?”

“I would say I’m super-duper, but I’m somewhere between there and swell.” She snickered, and I wanted to kiss her so badly just to shut her up.

Instead, I nudged her in the arm. “You caught me off guard.”

“By asking if you were okay? I’ll have to remember not to do that again.” I could tell she wanted to laugh, but she covered it with a sexy smirk.

“No. It was by the way you looked at me. It was distracting.”

Her gaze lingered on my eyes and caused my internal temperature to rise.

“How exactly did I look at you?” She continued scanning my body before zeroing in on my lips.

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