Page 75 of Promise Not To Fall

“Where are we going?” I finally ask.

“There’s this place near Caves Point. Sapodilla’s.”

I nod but don’t say anything, my eyes taking in the turquoise waters below the bridge.

“I’m sorry about last night,” he says, reaching over to touch my thigh. “I shouldn’t have acted that way. It wasn’t… me.” There’s an undisclosed honesty and vulnerability in his every word. “It was a real shit move I pulled against the side of the house.”

Jake waits for me to speak, and knowing he’s waiting for it drives me back into the emotions I’d been feeling all day. I can barely get it out. Finally, I find the courage. “Jake—”

“Just let me get this out, okay?” Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he touches my face with his left palm.

“Okay….”

He sounds sad, and I think I know what he’s going to say next. The realization that it’s coming tightens my throat and burns my eyes with tears I don’t want.

He waits until we pull up to the restaurant. Turning off the engine, he stares out the windshield as he speaks. “When you first walked into that bar, part of me knew exactly what you were looking for. I was ready to be that for you. I wasn’t lying when I said I would be anything you wanted. But then you came back the next day.” His voice has a hint of anger behind it you can’t miss. “I was actually upset that you came back the next day.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want you to be anything to me.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Jake.”

“Listen to what I said.” He pauses, my eyes drifting to the blackness under his left eye, a reminder last night really happened. “I told you I would be anything you wanted. Not anythingIwanted.”

The realization slowly hits me.

“I never wanted you to be anything to me,” he repeats, slower this time.

“After one night I meant something?”

Jake nods, his eyes on mine.

I don’t reply, and he doesn’t wait for one.

He’s quiet for a moment, staring at me, before he finally asks, “Were you with Liam? I have to know.”

“No.” I frown, thoughts of last night running through my mind. “I wasn’t.”

An audible sigh leaves his lips. The breath he’d been holding awaiting my response is enough of a reaction to calm both our nerves.

Had it really only been days? How could I have fallen so hard and so deeply in love with this man in such a short timespan? There’s a saying that goes something like “the heart knows what the heart wants,” and I think that, in this instance, both of our hearts were speaking the same language.

No words can touch this. Whatever these feelings mean, I know now there’s a place in this world that will be our special place… untouched and pristine like the tropical paradise we’re in. But how can we find a balance between what our hearts crave and need versus the reality that we live in?

Inside the restaurant, I’m once again in awe of the food here. Everything I taste is so amazing, and combined with the atmosphere and the live music, it’s everything I hoped for my last night here. I said this before, but there’s something so refreshing about Jake that I need. We both know that. The way he thinks, his incorrigible passion, and his take on life is something I needed to experience. I met him for a reason.

“I hate that I’m leaving tomorrow.” I sigh and blink slowly, taking in the dim lights and romance.

Sitting across from me, Jake reaches forward and runs his hand over my hair, keeping his eyes on mine, silently letting me know he’s listening to me.

“I’m scared that when my plane leaves, I’ll never feel like this again.”

He smirks. “You could stay.”

I contemplate my response because, believe it or not, I have thought about this a lot lately. “I can’t. I don’t really have a choice.”

He sits back in the chair, his head tilted to one side watching me. “There’s always a choice.”

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