Page 28 of You Loved Me Once
“My roommate needed to study or more like sleep with his girlfriend, so I decided to take a walk. As I passed this bar, I felt the need to come in and see it. Then, I saw you. And I know it makes no sense, but I needed to talk to you.”
“And here you are ...”
“Here we are.”
My heart sputters as he says ‘we.’
“Yes, we,” I smile. “Let me ask you some questions,” I play along.
“Shoot.”
“Are we going to be happy in our marriage?”
Bryce takes my beer, drinks some, and puts it back in front of me. “I believe we will. You share well and I’m a giving man.”
“Hmm,” I muse. “Do you randomly propose to girls in bars?”
“Never.”
Good to know, I think to myself. “And what’s your major?”
“Architecture.”
“Interesting,” I tap my chin. “I assume you built a lot of Legos?”
He chuckles and I wish I didn’t enjoy the sound of it so much. “Guilty. What about you, future wife, what are your career goals, other than making me deliriously happy?”
He’s smooth. I’ll give him that. I lean back in my chair, taking my beer with me and watching the way he studies me. Bryce’s gaze is intense, but there’s a warmth to it. I don’t know that I’ve ever had this kind of a reaction to a man before.
I’ve been hit on plenty of times at the bar, but never wanted more than a free drink. Just the idea of him getting up and walking away makes me want to ask him to stay. However, I promised myself no boyfriends or anything like that before I graduate. There’s no way I’m screwing up my chances at med school.
Yet, here I am, wondering what it would be like to see him again. I’m clearly nuts if his game is working.
“I’m finishing my undergrad, but then I’ll be going to med school.”
“Wow, a doctor. What year are you in now?”
“Junior,” I yell over the music. “I should be a Senior, but I took a year off.”
“Well, another thing we have in common.”
I raise my brow. Not many kids I know with ambitions like mine take a year off, but my mother was fighting cancer and I wanted to be there to help. Once she was out of treatment, I dove headfirst into school.
“You took a gap year?” I ask.
Bryce grins. “Yeah. Felt I needed another year to figure my goals out. Plus, it’s a lot of schooling, huh?”
I take a sip of my drink. “It sure is, but after is much worse. You know, that means you’ll have to accept that my job is demanding. Do you think you can handle that and still love me eternally?”
I’m having way too much fun with this. It’s a little crazy, but I’m sure I can scare him off with this one.
Bryce leans forward, his fingers tangle with mine, and his deep voice is filled with promise. “I guess we’re going to have to marry each other and find out.”
If it’s possible, I just fell in love with him. I should lay off the alcohol, but instead, we spend the next hour talking and by the end of the night I know without a doubt, this is the man I’m meant to marry.
Chapter 8
Istand outside the door of Westin’s apartment wondering how many more bad decisions I’m going to make today. Instead of going to Allison’s room and telling her the truth, I ended up here.
