Page 55 of If You Stayed

“That’s true.”

“Okay, my go.” She rubbed her hands together as she turned to face me more in her chair. She folded her legs into the chair and got comfortable. “Heart and Soulsis one of my all-time favorite movies, I love puzzles, and I’m in love with my husband.”

My chest tightened from her last one. “You don’t love him.”

She tugged on the sleeves of my sweatshirt and slowly shook her head. “I don’t love him.”

“Have you said that out loud before?”

“Not until now. Not until here.”

“Why now?”

Her shoulders rose and fell swiftly. “I guess you just make it easier for me to be real.” She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands in her lap. “Your go.”

“All right, um.…” I took a big chug of my wine before setting the glass down. “I want to draw you right now, I’ve had multiple dreams about you, and I love grilled-cheese sandwiches.”

Her eyes widened with astonishment as she whispered, “You hate grilled-cheese sandwiches.”

“I hate grilled-cheese sandwiches.”

Her full lips stayed slightly parted. “Which means the other two are true?”

“The other two are very true.”

“Okay.” She tugged on the sleeves of my sweatshirt more, before standing and pulling her chair back away from me. She then sat and posed. “You can draw me.”

I gathered my materials and began to draw her. We sat in silence again for at least twenty minutes as I sketched until she said, “You really dream of me?”

“Often,” I stated, staring down at my sketchbook.

“What are the dreams about?”

I paused my pencil strokes and looked up toward her. “About me loving you.”

“Oh,” she murmured. “Do you wake up happy after them?”

“No,” I quickly confessed. “Because when I wake, I know that the dreams aren’t true.”

Her lips turned down as a somber thought found her. She looked like she had a lot to say. As if her thoughts were spiraling so fast that she wasn’t certain what words would make the most sense to express. She glanced at her phone. “What time is it?”

I glanced at my watch. “Two in the morning.”

“Geez, I should get going. If Henry comes home and I’m not there, it will be a whole thing.” She stood from her chair and smoothed her hands over my sweatshirt. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Not a problem.”

I drove her home in silence while my mind debated repeatedly whether I’d overshared during the two truths and a lie game. I was beating myself up with my thoughts about it the whole time, but what was I supposed to say?Sorry for telling you the truth, Kierra. Oh, also by the way, not only do I dream about you, but I think about you every waking day of the week. No big deal.

As I pulled up to her place, she thanked me once more before she opened the passenger door.

“Gabriel?” she asked, turning back toward me.

“Yes?”

“Sorry, there’s something important that I need to get off my chest. It’s been bothering me for a while. I’ve been thinking about it for hours tonight, ever since you’ve brought it up, and if I don’t say it, I’ll explode.”

Nerves built up within me at an alarming speed. “What is it?”

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