Page 55 of Teach Me to Laugh

What wasn’t I getting here? “Peanut, gonna have to clarify for me.”

“Beckett,” my name was a frustrated curse on her pretty lips. “I figure you know this, but I’ll tell you anyway—I don’t date.”

“You do now.” Okay, maybe that was a little too firm and caveman-like. Oh well, not like I could take the words back. Hell, I didn’t want to take the words back.

“So wearedating?”

Eyes narrowed, I took her in. Her face was the picture of innocent confusion, so I took pity, “Yeah, baby, we are.”

“Okay,” a slow breath in and another out. Her chest rose and fell under my shirt—and holy fuck, her nipples were hard. “So, what does that mean?”

“What?” My eyes lifted to her face. This time, hers were narrowed.

“What does dating mean for us?”

I frowned. “It means we’re in a relationship.”

She fisted the blanket into her little hands, clearly frustrated. “What I mean is—never mind.”

“No, talk to me.”

“You’re too hard to talk to!”

“I’m trying to listen. I’m trying to communicate the way you need me to communicate, Amara. Don’t give up on me yet. Don’t just shut down because we’re not communicating quite right. We’ll get there eventually.”

Silence pulsed and her fisted hands loosened their grip on the blanket. “Okay. I guess I’m trying to ask what dating entails. I don’t know what I’m ready for—or even if I’m ready to date. I just don’t know about all this. It’s all happening really fast. I hadn’t even considered dating you and then all the sudden you’re tickling me and then you’re kissing me and I’m liking it and . . .”

“Amara,” I cut her off, pulling her fidgeting hand into mine. “Hey, don’t freak, okay?” She bobbed her head so I figured it was safe enough to proceed. “You sure know how to talk a mile a minute. Ever think about becoming a lawyer? Or an auctioneer?”

“Beckett,” I was pretty sure that was the first time I’d ever heard Amara Bloom whine. This, too, was fucking adorable.

“All right, sorry,” sending her a rueful grin, I forged ahead. “How about we don’t make boundaries for our relationship? If I do something you don’t like, you tell me and vice versa. We’ll take it day by day, slow and steady, yeah?”

“Slow and steady?” She sounded disbelieving. “I can do that.”

Was she trying to convince me, or herself?

“You sure?” I asked, needing clarification.

She lifted her free hand, “One thing,”

“What’s this one thing?”

“You say no boundaries—does this mean we’re not exclusive?”

I wasn’t expecting those words to fall from the lips I’d been kissing only a couple hours before. I didn’t want anyone else kissing those pretty pink lips. As far as I was concerned, they were mine. All of her was mine.

“We’re definitely exclusive, Amara. I’ve never been the sharing kind.” Did she prefer it the other way? For some reason, I doubted that.

Tipping her head forward, a sigh of relief sounded. “Good.”

“Good.” I echoed, feeling my inner gorilla roar. “How about we get some shut eye, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I watched as she snuggled down into the bed, pulling the duvet up to her chin before I lowered myself next to her. Listening to her short soft inhalations, I could practically taste the sweet aroma of her nervousness.

“Is this the first time you’ve slept with a man?”

---