Page 56 of Burden to Bear

I shook my head.

“If you don’t have any plans for the rest of the day today, you could help me carry out my original plan to relax for the day and tick these movies off your list,” he shared.

My belly dipped. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? Unwilling to make an inaccurate assumption and look like a fool, I said, “I don’t have anything else planned for today, but I’m not sure I understand what you’re suggesting I do.”

Shrugging, appearing to be indifferent to what I thought about his plan, he said, “I haven’t watched your two favorite movies yet, and I intended to spend time relaxing today. I figure we can accomplish that for me while you get to watch those movies at least one more time before the baby arrives.”

It was likely my forehead shrank from how high my eyebrows shot up. “You want to watch both movies today?”

“Sure.”

“With me?”

“It’s better than doing it alone,” he reasoned. “Plus, we can take a break in between, if you’d like. I figure we can watch one, have some dinner, and watch the second one afterward.”

If I had been confident in how he felt about me in the romantic sense, if I believed he felt even a shred of the attraction to me that I felt to him, I might have taken the few steps in his direction at a running pace, launched myself into his arms, and kissed him squarely on the mouth.

I could think of nothing that would be more enjoyable to do today than what he’d just suggested. Well, other than perhaps kissing him. That could be very fun.

“I’d love to do that,” I bubbled, feeling an overwhelming sense of excitement and giddiness.

Brock grinned at me. “Which movie are we watching first?”

There wasn’t a question in my mind about which I wanted to watch first. “Crazy, Stupid Love.”

Sweeping his hand out in front of him and toward the door, Brock urged, “Lead the way.”

With a smile on my face and a pep in my step, I scurried out of the room ahead of him. And within minutes, we were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, watching one of my favorite movies. As much as I loved the movie, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing over at Brock throughout.

Brock

Could a man and woman just be friends? Was I Harry Burns?

The credits had started rolling on When Harry Met Sally, and I felt a connection to a fictional character like I never had before. Or, well, maybe only in one very specific area, considering I wasn’t entirely like Harry.

Mia felt like my Sally.

I was going to give it to her.

The same as I knew I’d wake up and brush my teeth tomorrow morning, I was that confident I was going to give Mia what she needed.

What happened last night solidified it for me.

I hadn’t wanted to get short with her; I hadn’t even realized it could happen. But when I learned that she’d gone over to ask Russ for help instead of coming to me, something came over me. It felt completely foreign, and it led to me losing control.

I needed to understand why, when I thought everything that had been happening over the last several months between us was an indication we’d developed a deeper friendship, Mia wasn’t feeling the same.

But she was.

She just hadn’t wanted to place expectations on anyone. And after hearing her explanation, after taking a step back and realizing the situation she was in, it wasn’t difficult to understand where she was coming from. Her ex made it clear that she wouldn’t be able to rely on people if she did put her faith in them, so it was easier not to expect anything.

Mia was scared, even if she seemed the opposite on the surface. So, I had to be sure I didn’t screw this up. It was a painstakingly slow process, but I thought it was necessary to do it this way. Plus, if I was honest, I was loving just about every second of it.

We’d had a great day today. I liked spending time with her, helping her out and feeling needed. I liked feeling useful. Most of all, I liked learning new things about this gorgeous woman.

Now, I was sitting here on her couch with her, the second of her two favorite movies we’d watched today had just ended, and I glanced over in her direction.

My heart squeezed at what I saw. Mia had fallen asleep. It had to have happened within the final twenty minutes of the movie, because I’d looked over at her then, and her eyes had met mine before she smiled at me.

---