Page 96 of It Was Always You

I slipped my hand into his and squeezed it. "I had a good conversation with my dad yesterday, and I think it might be a good idea for us both to go talk to him right now."

He swallowed. "You do?"

I smiled, hoping to reassure him. "He's not as mad as he was on Friday, I promise."

"I would hope not, because I kind of saw my life flash before my eyes when he dragged me out of your room."

"Me too," I agreed. "Anyway, sneaking around is probably about the worst thing that I can do right now if I want my dad to ever trust me again. So how about we go talk to him together and see if we can convince him to let us hang out without it feeling wrong?"

"You promise he's not going to come after me with his shotgun?"

I smiled. "It's locked in the safe. You'll have a full minute's warning before you're in danger."

"How reassuring," he said, dryly.

"Well, I don't want to give you any false hope." I winked then pulled him to the front of the house.

36

NOAH

I nearly crappedmy pants when Lexi first dragged me into her kitchen to talk with her dad. I'd always been afraid of the man but walking into the house holding his daughter's hand was probably the scariest thing I'd ever done in my life.

"Dad, can we talk to you?" Lexi asked.

I didn't miss the grimace on Mr. Stevens' face when he saw me, but he smoothed his expression and said, "Sure."

My legs wobbled as we took the two seats across from him.

"In honor of being upfront and transparent in everything I do, I wanted you to know that I didn't go to get the mail. I went to get Noah."

Mr. Stevens' eyes narrowed. "Sneaking around again already?"

Lexi smiled, and I had no idea how she was so calm right now. I was practically shaking in my snow boots.

"Well, I wanted to find out if he was going to dump me or not first." She shot me a quick smile.

I give her hand a brief squeeze then addressed her dad. "I promise I have the best intentions where your daughter is concerned. And I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I just wanted to start off by asking for your forgiveness."

I had been ready to sputter all kinds of apologies that I'd practiced over the past two days, but Mr. Stevens nodded and said, "It's okay, Noah. And I'm sorry for my behavior the other night. I've had time to cool down, and your dad called me again last night to give me all of the facts."

"He did?" I asked.

He nodded. "I was too quick to judge and I'm sorry for that. It seems that I have not quite reached perfection yet, either."

A small laugh escaped Lexi's lips. She covered her mouth with her hand. I was worried he'd get mad at her for being disrespectful or something, but when I glanced at him, his eyes crinkled at the corners—he was indeed joking.

"Does that mean I have permission to spend time with Noah again?" Lexi asked.

My heart pounded as I waited for Mr. Stevens’answer. I hadn't really expected her to just come out and ask right here and now—I figured we'd slow our way into it. But apparently, Lexi was the kind of girl to jump in with both feet and keep running.

"You can see each other only during school hours for the next week. Once you have finished your service to Mrs. Vincenzo, we'll take things slowly."

"Can Noah drive me to school?"

Mr. Stevens shook his head. "You will ride with Easton to and from school for the next week."

"Are we ever going to be together without a chaperone?"

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