Page 126 of All I Ask
“Maybe she’s trying,” I suggest.
“Maybe she had a lobotomy or was abducted by aliens last night. Either way, you guys need to stop…touching and stuff.”
“Nice to see you too, honey,” I say with a smile. “Derek and I were just checking the temperature of the sauce with our mouths.”
Derek steps to the side before clearing his throat. “I’m…”
“Oh, don’t try to placate her, she’s being an ornery teenager. Like we’re not going to catch them making out with their boyfriends? Please.”
His eyes shoot to mine and then it dawns on me what I said. I said that we were going to. Not me. Not him. But as though we’d be raising them together and catching them. I don’t know when that shifted.
When did I start thinking of us as a couple? A real couple.
It’s always been me doing it on my own. I’ve had it all mapped out because I never saw it any differently. Now I’m talking about being a team with him. It’s foreign but at the same time, deep in my gut I know that it’s what I want.
My world has been turned around and finally, I have hope for more.
“Yeah, I guess we will.”
Chastity groans and leaves the room. “I should’ve moved in with Grandma.”
Both of us burst out laughing. “Well, I guess I’m glad she didn’t say her father. Thank God none of us had to see him all that much when he was here.”
Derek stops laughing and something in his face changes. I’m not sure what, but it was so weird that my stomach drops a little. He turns his face and starts to busy himself.
Why did he turn away when I said something about Keith? He hadn’t shown up again after that night at my parents’, and from what I’ve heard he left town yesterday. I’m just grateful my life can go back to normal.
“Derek?” I call his attention.
“Teagan?”
“Why did you turn away?”
He straightens his back and sighs. “I hate thinking about Keith.”
“Well, no one really likes to think about him, but you seem…I don’t know…weird.”
“I hate him and I still hate what he did to you. And that there even is a tape.”
My heart sinks. I thought maybe after he knew the whole story, he’d understand. He didn’t seem bothered by it after. He was angry, which I get, but not at me. Derek felt a lot of self-hatred for not protecting me—which is stupid.
He couldn’t have stopped it. I don’t even know that I would’ve told him.
“I get that, but it’s in the past, seriously.”
He nods. “Agreed, but I still don’t like him.”
“Oh, me neither.”
“Good, then let’s stop talking about him.”
“Okay,” I say apprehensively. “Dinner is done anyway.”
Derek gives me a quick kiss. “I’ll head downstairs to get the girls.”
This could be so easy if we can get the girls to be civil, which seems to be happening on its own. There are no hurdles to overcome other than merging our lives. I don’t think we’ll struggle there. Even though years of us being apart has changed things about us, we’re still the same.
We just—click.
