Page 85 of Fall I Want
“No, I’m fine,” I say, but she doesn’t take her eyes off me.
“Well, it was great meeting you. Please join us for supper sometime soon,” her mom says.
“He’sverybusy,” Autumn offers.
“Actually, my calendar is clear. Any time, any day, just name it,” I say as Autumn stands. I follow her lead.
“This was fun.” Autumn hugs her parents and then they pull me into a hug, too.
“Don’t be a stranger. Either of you,” her father says.
“Okay,” Autumn tells them with a grin, and I smile with a nod.
She takes my hand, pulling me down the hallway toward the front of the house.
The space is cozy and peaceful. The living room opens up to high, vaulted ceilings, and a gigantic brick fireplace stacks up the wall. Pictures of the mountain cabins in snow are hung aroundand an oversized rug is splashed across the dark, hardwood floors. Autumn glances back at me before she twists the knob to the door.
When we’re outside, I stop walking and she turns to face me.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” I ask, noticing how she’s in a rush to leave. Her parents noticed too.
“I want to go running,” she tells me. “It helps me clear my mind. I have a lot to think about.”
“Like?”
“Do you believe Harper is right?” she blurts out. “Stop avoiding the question.”
I smirk. “Pumpkin, I could meet another woman tonight, the one I’m supposed to be with. I don’t know. It might not be you.”
To be clear, the thought of that hurt my fucking heart.
Her brows furrow and I think she’s offended.
“Do you want it to be?” I ask.
“I . . . Uh.”
“Until you know the answer to that question we’ll take it one day at a time.” I walk toward her, placing my hand on her shoulder, leading her to the Jeep. “Okay?”
She walks to the passenger side and I open the door for her. She climbs in and I stand in the doorway, then reach over and buckle her seat belt for her, but she’s lost in her head.
We drive down the mountain with the windows down and the music plays low on the radio. She twists her long hair around her fingers, revealing the softness of her neck and her sun-kissed shoulder.
I find a parking spot a few blocks from her place. The traffic is too thick to pass through quickly.
“I want your sister to read me, or whatever it is she does. I want a road map for us, too.”
“Is that what this is about?” I burst into laughter. “Scared I have the upper hand?”
“Yep.” She smirks, and before she can reach for the handle, I get out and open the door for her.
“What about your dreams? That has to be some sort of advantage.”
“It’s not the same.”
We make our way across the street and each time our fingers brush together, tiny sparks flood through me.
“Thanks for meeting my parents,” she says.
