Page 51 of Forever Love-Reimagined

“Don’t act?—”

Before even finishing my thought, her mouth claimed mine. She had her hands around my waist, bringing me closer to her warm body as she pressed her lips to mine. My mind was swirling. I wanted to get lost in this kiss, but we needed to talk. Eventually, I put the make-out session on hold for a second to catch my breath and gather my thoughts.

“You think that’s going to make me forget how ornery you are?”

“It did for a second. But that’s not why I did it. I needed a little taste of you to start my day off right. I couldn’t help myself. You have no idea how much I want to begin every day with your lips on mine.”

Now wasn’t the time to bring up anything negative. She was being sweet and didn’t appear to have any doubts about us, so I didn’t want to bring her down.

“I’m sure that could be arranged.” I winked, and my heart skipped a beat, wondering if I was making promises I couldn’t keep. My face must have given me away because she tilted her head and examined me.

“If you don’t want to kiss me good morning, it’s not a deal-breaker. We can wait until we brush our teeth if that’s what you’re worried about.”

It was awful making her think my worries had anything to do with her. She was truly perfect, and I wanted to show her that, but was she too good to be true? Was I wearing rose-colored glasses that were blinding me to what our future would look like?

“Stop it. I don’t care if we have bad breath or not. We will definitely start our days off together.” I forced a smile to push the doubts away.

Being with Leia was the best part of my day, and if I could have more of it, why wouldn’t I? But that would also change the entire dynamic of our relationship, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. Why couldn’t I say those words?

“And I thought for today, we would sit and enjoy these cronuts and drinks then go for a walk?”

“Aww, thanks, babe. That sounds delicious.” She grabbed some paper towels and sat at the table, and I joined her.

We ate in companionable silence, and I reached for her hand. She intertwined our fingers immediately, and everything was so natural. This could be our lives, but then a flash of my mom screaming at my dad popped into my head, and I pulled back.

“Are you ready to go?” She took my action for being done, so I nodded and stood. “Alrighty. Let me get rid of the trash, and we can head out.”

After she grabbed her phone and keys, we left, hand in hand. As soon as we got outside, the wind blew my mane around, and I felt free—lighter. I inhaled deeply, then tried to exhale my past.

Once we made it to the park, I was better, and I was breathing easier. But instead of clearing the air as I had planned, I pointed out random trees and animals as if I was on the Discovery Channel. Fortunately for me, Leia went along with it and didn’t make fun of me. She even picked a tulip and tucked it behind my ear, which I found endearing.

When we finished our nature walk, we went to the store to get food for lunch. We had ended up spending so much time piddling around that we had to rush back to my place to get ready for Ty and David.

Typically, when I had company, I tried to go all out, but Ty loved me no matter what, so I didn’t mind we weren’t doing anything fancy. He would eat anything, and he told me hamburgers were David’s favorite, which worked out for our plan to grill. I sliced up the veggies to grill and some extras for a salad, while Leia grilled. As I brought plates to the table, the doorbell rang.

“Lay, is the stuff on the grill ready? I’m going to answer that.” But there was no response. That was weird. Maybe she didn’t hear me.

I went to the front, only to realize she had gotten the door. For some reason, that caused my anxiety to rise, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for this. Why was I so nervous? Was I worried Ty would find red flags and cause me to worry more? Possibly.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Girl, I’ve been telling Blake we should get together for weeks. She said you weren’t ready yet, but I’m glad this is finally happening.” Ty had his hands on Leia’s forearms as he talked to her without taking a breath.

Leia appeared slightly confused but seemed to follow along okay.

I stood in the kitchen doorway, watching from afar but ready to step in and save her if need be. This wasn’t how I expected them to be introduced. But it was going okay.

I silently moved closer as Leia responded, “Yeah, Blake and I both wanted to get better acquainted first before we involved our friends.” She covered for me.

Oh my God, I was in love with her. That was not what I needed to pop into my head when I already had these other things weighing me down. I shook those thoughts away as I approached Leia, sliding her out of Ty’s vise grip.

“Hey, buddy. Where’s your better half?” I threw shade at Ty, but he didn’t argue.

Just then, David walked in holding a bottle of wine, grinning his perfect smile.

“It’s so good to see you,” I said excitedly because it was the truth. “David, this is Leia. Leia, this is David.” I gave them a proper introduction, and David stuck out his hand toward Leia, and she shook it.

“It’s very nice to meet you. I have heard wonderful things about you.” He kissed the back of Leia’s hand, which was customary for him because he was a true gentleman. Leia, however, seemed a little uneasy at the gesture, but she recovered quickly.

She gently removed her hand from his before responding. “It’s great to meet you as well. Blake has said very lovely things about you. Both of you, actually.” She eyed Ty and David and gave them her best smile that would make any woman’s heart want to stop. They, however, didn’t seem as fazed as I was.

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