Page 12 of The Plan
The silence stretches out for a couple of minutes as we both sit, lost in our thoughts. It’s a comfortable silence, and although he’s at the other end of the bench, my body’s still on alert. I’m aware of every breath he takes, every twitch and movement.
“Are you okay?” he whispers.
I just shrug my shoulders because I truly have no idea. I thought I was, but the bombshell from the estate agent has me questioning everything.
“What happened?”
“There’s a problem with my credit check, apparently, and I can’t rent where I wanted to,” I reply sadly.
“I’m sure there’s a way around it.”
“Maybe.” I feel totally deflated. It’s like all my fight got up and left me with that one phone call.
“You can get your credit report online.” He gives me a look that says I should know this and it pisses me off a little. “And you can stay at Addy’s as long as you want—she won’t kick you out. You don’t need to rush into anything.”
“I didn’t move back here to sponge off Aunt Addy. I moved here to start a new life, but that has already been blown to shit,” I snap.
“Hey, calm down,” Blake says, sliding closer to me. The heat radiating from him makes me realise how cold I am, and I shiver. Without saying anything, he closes the final bit of space between us, puts his arm around my shoulder, and holds me tightly.
That one bit of affection is all I need, and the dam breaks. I stutter in a breath as the tears drop from my chin.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he says, turning me and pulling me into a full bear hug. I don’t think I’ve ever been held like it before. I feel so safe and secure in his arms, and that thought alone has me crying harder.
He holds me for the longest time while I cry. I cry for the home I’ve missed. I cry because at the same time as feeling like I’ve found a missing part of myself by being here, I also feel lost…more lost than ever.
When my sobs begin to subside, I pull back and look out over the sea, too embarrassed to look at Blake. It’s bad enough he witnessed my meltdown. I blow out a big breath as try to pull myself back together.
“It’s okay,” he whispers as he rubs his giant hand up and down my back. It makes me shiver. “Let’s go and get you warm,” he says, mistaking my reaction for coldness, when in actual fact it’s the effect he has on me.
I nod my head once and go to get up. He steps in front of me, stopping me, and I look away. I know I look a mess with mascara running down my red blotchy face.
“Hey,” he says, placing his palm on my cheek and turning my face towards him. I keep my eyes downcast until he growls my name in warning. If it’s not his deep rumble that makes me look up, it’s the feeling his touch ignites in my body. Why does he affect me so much? “There you are,” he says as he rubs his thumbs across my cheeks, wiping away my tears. He stares into my eyes and I see his mouth drop open like he’s going to say something, but he must change his mind because no noise comes out. Instead, my stomach growls loudly, making him laugh. “Let’s go and get you some food. You seriously missed out earlier; your pie was epic.”
“Epic?” I parrot.
“Epic! Seriously the best pie I think I’ve ever had. Don’t tell my mum that, though.”
“Okay,” I agree with a small smile.
“You’ve got a beautiful smile, Addison,” he announces, making my steps falter.
“I—”
“Just accept the compliment. Come on.” He grabs my hand and tugs me along with him. I feel like I should argue and pull my hand away but I can’t; it feels too right to fight it. His hand is huge and engulfs my tiny one. The rough skin on his fingers slightly scratches against mine, reminding me this is a very different man to the one I was used to, who’d never done a day’s manual labour in his life.
It’s not long before some lights appear in front of us and I realise exactly where we’re going. I smile to myself as all my old memories start to reappear. I look to my left when I feel like I’m being watched to find Blake looking down at me with a smile on his face. His attention makes me blush and I’m grateful we’re still in darkness. Blake must be almost a foot taller than me with my flat boots on. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as petite and feminine as I do right now. I swear he could break me with one of his giant hands alone.
When we get to the source of the light, Blake holds the door open for me. The already strong aroma of fried food and vinegar hits my nose full force and I can’t stop my mouth watering.
“What do you want?”
I look up at the illuminated menu, it’s exactly the same as when I was a child, only the prices have almost doubled from what I remember. I swear Mum used to send me down here with only a fiver for fish and chips for the both of us.
“Umm…battered sausage and chips, please,” I say to the young girl behind the counter, deciding that if I’m going to do this, then I’m going to do it right. She nods and starts hitting the keys of the till.
“Fish and chips, please,” I hear Blake say behind me, “and curry sauce.”
“Yes, curry sauce,” I say, with more excitement than I intended.
