Page 122 of From You to Me

“Whew.” I scrunched up my nose. “That sounds disgusting.”

“What?” he mumbled. “That’s my favorite.”

I rolled my eyes. “Only you would have weird favorites.”

“You calling me weird?” He pointed at himself. “The weirdest person in the world is calling me weird?” He gasped, mocking me.

“I’m sure you’ve met more weirder people in your life.”

He tapped a finger to his chin as if he was thinking hard. “Not that I can think of. And I’ve met a lot of people.”

“Ass,” I muttered under my breath.

“I heard that, you know,” he said, sipping on his wine.

Minutes slipped into hours as I cuddled closer to him, talking about nothing and everything as we watched the fading city lights while the night grew darker.

We avoided bitter topics. It was as if we were edging on a fragile line. It made my heart thunder with each passing moment.

I swallowed the sudden lump that formed its way up my throat as I peered at him. I asked the inevitable. “Why the date, Jay?”

An instant frown marred its way up his forehead. “What do you mean?”

“Like.” I waved a hand around. “Usually, people go out on dates to get to know each other. But that’s already been established for us. Ours is a weird situation. It’s neither of our fault that we ended up this way. We’ve never been the problem all along. But that still doesn’t stop the fear that creeps into my heart. I think all this lost time has changed us, Jay, and understandably so.” I shrugged. “Yes, the passion, the familiarity, and the trust still exist. But the gap is glaring. We’ve grown apart so much, Jay.” I whispered the last part.

He heaved a heavy sigh, lacing his fingers with mine while drawing small circles on my palm with his thumb. “Then we’ll get to know each other again. It’s not our first rodeo, so let’s do better this time. Let’s fix the gap and battle out our fears. You’ve sacrificed a lot for me, and I won’t forget that. But let’s not let that ruin what we should’ve been. What we are meant to be.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “You are all I ever wanted, sweetheart. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing hurts us again. We have our entire lives ahead of us. Let’s live it the way our younger selves would be proud.”

I smiled, nodding as I brushed my lips to his. A surprised smile spread across his lips, and I gasped as his tongue swiped every inch of my mouth. The softness of the kiss tingled my core. Imelted against him as his big hands pulled me closer to him, tilting his head as he went deeper. My hands roamed all over his back, relishing in the feel of his strong body.

I could feel the resolve in my heart shattering.

I felt soft and vulnerable in his presence again, my heart opening for him.

I let myself go as I deep dove into the unknown, this time holding his hand and trusting my everything to him.

“Hey.” He grinned, kissing my nose as he pulled back.

“Hello.” I pulled out a groggy reply, my head still in a daze from that kiss.

He brought my back to his chest as he clamped his arms around me. I sighed happily as we enjoyed each other’s presence and sat comfortable in the silence.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he whispered.

I stilled, somehow knowing exactly what he was talking about.

“I know you went through some pretty hard times. And you had no one by your side, and I know it took a toll on you. Hell, you were having panic attacks just trying to talk about it. That’s a lot to bottle up for this long. You’ll feel better once you let it all go.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I croaked through the thickness of my throat. “I guess I didn’t have time to deal with all that. I don’t even think I’ve fully dealt with it even now.”

“It’s okay not to deal with it.” He nuzzled his face on my neck. “It’s okay to take your time, and one day it’ll just be a nightmare.”

“I hope so.” My whisper carried in the wind, rustling us.

Time ticked away as we sat in heavy silence, but he didn’t prod me after that.

“She cornered me one day. White,” I said as a forced laugh slipped out of me. “I found out after that she planned the whole thing. I don’t know why, but from the very start, somethingabout her irked me. I just didn’t like the way her eyes followed you everywhere and the look in her eyes when she saw us together. I could never buy her whole ‘I’m so nice’ act.”

I could feel his muscles tighten around me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t see it.”

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