Page 92 of Apex of the Curve

I smiled.

“I’d like that.”

Fenris came around the table and held his hand down to me. I took it and let him help me to my feet. I traded goodbyes and farewells with the people at the table and led Fen back to my car just around the corner. He leaned me back up against it, hands on my hips, dipping his head to meet my mouth with his.

I kissed him, and the tension and apprehension I felt in my shoulders eased marginally.

“I love you,” he said, and his eyes held… worry.

I smiled, and it felt brittle. “I love you, too,” I murmured.

“Text me when you get home, baby. I need to know you’re safe.”

I nodded.

“Okay,” I whispered.

He kissed me again and opened my door for me.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said as I started my car and rolled down my window for him. I nodded and smiled.

“Okay.”

He rapped twice on the roof of my Prius and stepped back to allow me to shift it into reverse and back out of the parking space. I smiled and waved through my passenger window steering my little, environmentally conscious, boring car choice out of the lot.

I couldn’t help but feel that keenly… that I was utterly boring, especially after leaving the gathering. All of these doubts about whether I could or would be good for Fenris almost immediately started crowding in.

I just didn’t know if I was cut out for ‘the life’ as he called it. I certainly didn’t feel entirely welcome.

I felt tears well in my eyes as I took the freeway on-ramp onto I-5 South.

Maybe, just maybe, it would be the wiser course of action to end things now… if I waited much longer, it could hurt so much worse when things ended badly, and right now it really felt as though it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but when.

I had a lot to think about.

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