Page 10 of From Us, Forever

I shook out of it before my mind started drowning in daydreams that I didn’t know would ever happen.

“Maybe,” he answered my question.

I let out an offended scoff. “You were supposed to be a good boyfriend and say no.”

“You called me your boyfriend.” His face transformed with a wide grin.

My cheeks blazed, noting my spill. “Yeah, whatever. But you still were supposed to say no.”

“It’s a good thing if you put on weight,” he teased, his eyes sparkling under the elevator lights. “More skin for me.”

“I think you owe me a hundred dollars every time you make a sexual innuendo.”

“I think it’s supposed tobe a penny, darling,” he pointed out as we exited the elevator and walked toward the door.

“I think you could afford it, rock star, and you know what, I’ll increase it up to a thousand.”

“Fine, ma’am.” His teeth clamped over my bottom lip just as the thud of the front door closed behind us. “Now, enough of you being a smart-ass. It’s my turn.”

My giggles carried through the apartment as he showed how smart he could be when he got me naked under him.

And it lasted all night long, till we fell asleep to the early morning lights spilling through our windows.

CHAPTER 3

“I think I messed up.” My eyes darted around the warm wooden backdrop as I breathed in the scent of chamomile and mint that always lingered in this room. “Once, though.”

“How so, Evelyn?” Sarah’s soft voice beckoned my gaze back to her kind blue eyes.

“Well…Jay and I were going to this event. I was fine, excited even to support him in the public—in front of everyone. But then I let my insecurities get the best of me, and Jay had to talk me out of it.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered, picking at the invisible lint on my dress.

“What happened after that?”

I swallowed. “After he reassured me, I felt a lot better, and when we arrived at the event, I suddenly decided that I wanted to walk the red carpet with him.” I leaned forward, digging my elbows into my thighs. “I just… I just didn’t want to let my insecurities win.”

Sarah nodded, her impassive face giving nothing away as she adjusted the glasses higher up her nose. I’d been seeing Sarahfor the past couple of weeks now, but I hadn’t told a soul that I’d been going to therapy.

Well, except for Mikey, who suggested I see her. I didn’t know the whole story, but he assured me she used to work with his mother, and she was the best in town.

And she was.

She had me open up about all the deepest, darkest wounds of my past, and instead of just skimming through them, she had me delve in, grieve, accept, and grow from them. It also felt comforting when she offered me a listening ear and a different perspective rather than judging me.

“And did you do it? Walk the red carpet with him?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you want to?”

“It scared me, and I kinda wanted to say a big ‘F’ you and just do it.”

“And how did you feel after?”

“Good, actually. It wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be.”

---