Page 36 of From Us, Forever

I looked up only to find his eyes zeroed in on the creamy tops of my breasts spilling out of my dress.

“Eyes up here,” I commanded, mustering a stern voice.

His eyes averted to mine. “Well, what I was trying to say was that they say the best way to get over writer’s block is to distract yourself.” He raised a brow, a grin tugging in the corner of his lips. “And lucky for you, I can be the best distraction.”

“I don’t doubt that, but this isn’t like an actual writer’s block. I’ve had that before. Now, I just don’t really feel like writing at all.”

“Is this because of your querying responses?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged.

“So it is.”

“I said maybe.”

“When a girl says maybe, it’s usually a yes.”

I rolled my eyes. “When did you get so fluent in the language of women?”

“Since I’ve been dealing with an overthinking woman for the past ten years.”

“Haha, not funny. More like four-ish, not ten.”

“But it is true.”

“Only because my boyfriend is an actual child.”

“A child who has to clean up behind you.”

“I’m the cleanest person I know.”

“Say that to the mountain of cookie wrappers you left on the floor.”

“I did no such thing.” I totally did, but I wasn’t admitting it now.

He shook his head, his eyes soft. “Don’t let those responses get to your head. I would say fuck them.”

“I know,” I groaned, pressing my cheek on the grass.

“People love to criticize, Evelyn. They also love to be mean when they do it. I’ve had my fair share throughout the years. I know it doesn’t make what I put out less valuable. I don’t know much about novels, but I love your words. It goes straight to my heart, and that’s something not everyone can do.”

My heart flared with a bit of life. His opinion mattered to me more than anyone else’s. “Thank you,” I whispered, sliding my eyes to him.

“Maybe you should pick up a hobby since you have time off.”

“And do what?”

“Well, you could help me write this song.” He gestured to the crumpled papers in front of him.

I scoffed. “I told you I’m never doing that.”

“Why not?”

I scrambled up, leaning over to peer at the papers. “I don’t know. It always felt weird to me.”

“It’s not.” He smiled, holding out a hand. “Come here.”

I set aside his phone, grinning as I took a seat in his lap with my back flush to his chest. He immediately buried his nose in my hair, mumbling how good I smelled.

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