Page 97 of It Was Always You

"Once you've proven yourself trustworthy again, then most likely yes."

Lexi slumped back in her chair and groaned.

I cleared my throat. "I'm sure you have certain rules that will help us prove trustworthy again."

Mr. Stevens smiled and nodded. A smile was good, right? He'd probably been curating some sort of list for many years in preparation for a day like this.

He turned to Lexi with a stern expression. "My first rule is that Noah is not allowed inside our house unless either Easton or myself are home."

Lexi and I both nodded obediently. He raised a second finger in the air. "The next rule is that you, Noah, will, under no circumstances, ever enter her bedroom. And if you ever defile my daughter in anyway, I will not hesitate to turn you in to the police. You're eighteen and Lexi is still a minor, so I hope I'm not being stupid in allowing this in the first place."

I gulped and felt the blood drain from my face. "I completely understand. I wouldn't want to do that to Lexi anyway." He was not messing around.

He raised his eyebrows. "That's good to hear, son."

He then told us about her curfew and other embarrassing things, like how there would be no kissing in cars or while lying down.

Once he was done, he looked at me with a gaze that made me think he might somehow be able to see into my brain. "Do you think you can abide by those rules?"

"Yes,” I said. “Those sound very reasonable."

Lexi reached for my hand under the table. "I'm kind of mortified right now. But yes, I'll follow those rules."

Her dad smiled, appeased. "Great, because believe it or not, I'm kind of looking forward to paying for you to go to Yale."

"Areyou sure you're still interested in dating me after all of that?" Lexi followed me out onto the front porch after our awkward conversation with her dad.

I rubbed behind my neck. "I don't know. That's a lot of rules."

Her eyes went wide before she stared down at her shoes. "I understand. My dadispretty paranoid."

I lifted her chin in my hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes. "I was just joking, Lexi. Do Ilikeall those rules? No." I most definitely didn't like them all. "But do I understand them? Yes."

"I really do understand if you want to back out now. I mean, I probably wouldn't want to worry about so many rules, and I can't believe my dad threatened to call the police on you if something were to happen. Which it's not. Not that you would even want it to in the first place." She was speaking so quickly I could barely understand her.

I put my finger on her lips to quiet her down. "Lexi. It's okay. I want to date you. Your dad could add another ten rules to the list, and I would still want to be with you."

She narrowed her eyes like she wasn't sure she believed me. "But it might be way easier with someone else..."

I laughed. "Stop trying to talk me out of it, Lexi. You're stuck with me. I don't want to be with anyone else. As crazy as it may seem to anyone on the outside, I kind of really dig the whole nerdy vibe you've got going on."

"You do?" she asked.

I smiled and stepped closer. "I totally do."

"Good." She smiled back.

"Now get over here and give me a kiss before I gohome. It sounds like this might be our last moment alone for a while."

She closed the gap between us, and I gave her a kiss that told her just how much I wanted to stick around with her.

37

LEXI

Noah was waitingfor me at the front of the school the next morning.

Easton stepped up beside me and spoke in a low voice. "Looks like yourboyfriendis waiting for you." He was still a little touchy over the fact that he really did have to share his best friend with me now, but I figured he'd get over it eventually. Maybe if things didn't work out between him and Mercedes we could try a double date with Juliette sometime. I had definitely noticed some sparks between them before she left, and he had acted really depressed those first couple of weeks she was gone.

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