Page 62 of The Perfect Love

“Missed you,” I whisper.

She clears her throat and steps back. “I missed you too.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and fuuuck. I wish I was the one doing that to that pouty bottom lip.

I card my fingers through her hair, twisting one of the strands around my finger.

“How was your day?” she asks.

“Boring. I hate school stuff. The only bright spot was texting you. How was your day?”

She lights up. “It was good. Texting you is always a bright spot in my day. And looking forward to tonight. I missed our lunch date yesterday, and I kept thinking I wanted to see you, even though I knew I’d be seeing you today. Actually, you’re kind of infiltrating my brain.”

“Uh oh.”

She smacks my chest. “It’s not bad. It’s just…”

“What?”

“Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?” she asks in a rush.

As much as I’d love to say yes to that, it’s not my call to make. Not totally.

“Do you want us to be?”

She’s chewing on her lip again, but this time it’s out of nervousness.

“Yes? No. I don’t know. I want thateventually, but—”

“Okay, here’s the deal. Until you can look at me and enthusiastically tell me you’re ready for that, then we’re not going to use labels. This is new, and we agreed to take it slow, so the ball is in your court. Whenever you feel ready for that, just let me know.”

“But—do you want to be my boyfriend?”

“Of course I do. I already see myself that way. I’m going to treat you the same regardless. I’ll eat lunch with you, walk you to your classes, take you on dates, be there whenever you need me. But I don’t need a label that will only add pressure and expectations to what we’re doing. I’m yours, Chels, in whatever way you want me. You tell me when you want to add the label.”

She stares at me, lips parted, an adorable look of surprise on her face.

Then, out of nowhere, she pinches me hard on the arm.

“Ow. What was that for?”

“I needed to make sure you were real.”

I laugh and cup her face in my hands. “If you’re questioning that, I must be living up to the fantasy book boyfriend reputation.”

She rubs her mouth, trying to hide a smile. “Something like that.” A moment of comfortable silence passes between us, then she takes a deep breath. “Ready for our date?”

“Absolutely.”

The sound of air bubbling through a straw makes me laugh, especially when Chelsea makes a satisfied “ah” and looks down at the now-empty cup in her hand.

“That was delicious.” She bounces over to the nearby trashcan and puts it in before returning to my side and grabbing my hand so we can continue our walk through the zoo.

There’s an event here tonight. Some kind of fundraiser for a local women’s shelter. There are food trucks and even a mobile tattoo shop. Chelsea was tempted by that but ultimately couldn’t pick which design she wanted, so we continued on.

We sampled several food trucks, but then Chelsea saw a sign for milkshakes, so we got some before enjoying a walk around the zoo.

“I’m learning food is the way to your heart.”

She grins up at me. “Took you this long? You haven’t even fed me garlic bread yet.”

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