Page 69 of With This Lie

“I’m ugly crying,” I say.

‘Well stop it,” he says.

“I can’t help it,” I say.

Lucas kneels down in front of me and leans forward, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “What’s wrong, Dani?” he asks. He tilts his head at me, urging me to tell him.

“I just didn’t see you coming,” I say. “I didn’t see you coming, Lucas.”

I hear his breathing quicken. “I didn’t see you coming either, Dani.” He tips my chin up with his thumb and looks into my eyes.

“I don’t know what to do now,” I say.

“You could start by getting up out of the closet,” he says.

I shift my weight and stand up, taking his offered hand. We stand together.

“That’s better,” he says.

I look around the room and press my lips together. My nerves had overcome me. I look at him. He moves toward me and puts his arms out. I wrap mine around him and he squeezes tightly.

“You looked like you could use a hug,” he says.

“You’re right,” I reply. I look up at him from our embrace.

“Feel better?” he asks.

“Yeah, I think so. There’s just one more thing,” I say. I feel my hands begin to shake.

“What’s that, Dani?”

I take a deep breath. “I love you too. And I’ve never said that before to anyone. So it terrifies me. But I do. And I tried not to. I tried to deny it. And when that didn’t work, I tried ignoring it. But I can’t do that anymore either. And this gift, Lucas. I can’t believe it. I mean, these belonged to your mother. I’m truly just speechless about all of it. And I don’t know what’s happening or what can happen, but I had to tell you finally. I love you too.”

I watch his face intently. It’s nearly expressionless as he studies my face. I can’t tell what he’s thinking and that makes me even more nervous. He pulls his hand from my side and runs the back of his fingers across my jaw. He tucks my hair behind my ear. He places both hands beneath my jawline and looks into my eyes. He leans in closely, hovering for a moment, and then presses his lips hard against mine. I feel my body relax against his. I kiss him back, feeling his mouth move against mine. He pulls away and lightly presses his forehead against mine.

“I didn’t see you coming, Dani. But I didn’t know I was waiting for you either,” he says. “I love you. I don’t know what this can be but I know I want to give it a try. I know I want to find out. If you’re willing, Dani?” He kisses my lips again and waits.

I breathe in sharply. I hear Kate Nash singing in my head and smile. “I want to see if we can be something,” I say.

Lucas smiles and kisses me over and over again. He wraps his arms around me and picks me up so my feet aren’t even touching the floor. He carries me over to the bed and lays me down. He lies down next to me and props himself up on his elbow.

I could get used to this. The way we are with each other. Perhaps I already had. Lucas was right. We didn’t know we were waiting for each other. Not until we found each other. Not until it was here, daring us to be more than we were.

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