Page 58 of One Night With You

My heart fell, and I moved forward, wrapping my arms around him. He immediately hugged me back tightly, resting his cheek on the top of my head.

“I’m so sorry.”

“How the hell is he going to be able to get better in order to get medicine that’s going to hurt even more? I don’t fucking understand.”

“I don’t either. But you’ll be there for him as soon as you can. He’ll get through this. You both will.”

“I just don’t know,” he whispered, and I held him close, knowing there was nothing I could say. But I was there for him, and it had to be enough for now.

13

CLAIRE

“I’m still a little surprised that we’re on a date,” I said, the words slipping out from my mouth before I even realized it.

Kingston took my hand and raised that very sexy brow of his.

“Really? Considering all we’ve done. You’re surprised about the date?”

I blushed, and ducked my head as we made our way to the check-in of the ice-skating rink. I was not great at ice skating, although Kingston was as he had played club hockey in school, but I was going to try. If I accidentally cut myself or fell or broke a hip, I would just have to deal with it.

The fact that I could even look at the blades on those skates and not have a panic attack meant I wasbreathing through some trauma at least.Therapy might be helping.Another shocking event for the day.

“We go on dates,” Kingston said with a frown, and I realized I may have said the wrong thing.

“We do dinner, usually at home because we’re both working too hard, or we meet up with our friends when we’re already out. I don’t think we’ve done a full date that wasn’t part of a larger plan. Not that it’s a bad thing. I mean, I’m not complaining. We’re both just so busy. And I like staying home. I like watching movies with you, even if we’re watching them from two separate beds.” My face fell as he continued to frown before he walked away to get us our skates. He went for hockey skates, while I got the figure skates. He knew my size without even asking. Had I told him? Or had he just known?

“Kingston?” I asked softly as we moved our way to the bench to put the skates on.

“I’m just thinking. You’re right. I’ve never taken you out on a date.”

“You have. In just our way. I mean we did start off on a cabin date.”

“That happened accidentally because of a storm.” He scowled once again, before leaning forward to take my chin between his thumb and forefinger and brushing his lips over mine. The sensation was so smooth, so soft, that my toes curled.

“Happy first date then,” he whispered. “And I’ll do better. Because I like dating you, Claire. Because maybe if we actually went on dates, you wouldn’t look shocked every time someone calls you my girlfriend.”

I shoved at him playfully, and unlaced my shoes so I could put on my skates.

“I don’t look shocked.”

“Your eyes go wide, and your mouth drops open, before you stumble your way into agreeing.”

“And you seem perfectly okay with it. You don’t freak out at all?” I probably shouldn’t be asking these questions, especially not in public. But dating was so you could get to know one another. And while I knew Kingston because we had been friends for so long, I liked getting to know this version of him.

“I don’t know, I worry about so many other things, something like being called a boyfriend doesn’t bother me. Should it?”

“I’m not the right person to ask that considering I look like a guppy apparently every time someone mentions it.” I laced up my skates, as Kingston’s shoulders shook next to me.

“More like a goldfish.”

“Jerk.”

“Butyourjerk. At least according to other people.”

He stood up first, and I did my best to pull my gaze from the way that his jeans molded his ass.

There was just something about Kingston Montgomery that did things to me. But that had always been the case with him, even when he hadn’t seen me the way that I might have wanted before.

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