Page 141 of Love Unforgettable
“If I should say it back. If I should wait. If I should make you say it again.”
My heart skips a beat. Just like a little girl.
Say it back!
I try to be nonchalant. “What do you mean if you should say it back? Do you want to say it back?” I take a few steps toward her, waiting to see if she’ll retreat.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Maybe. It’s so soon, but at the same time I feel like I’ve known you forever. Like I can see inside you, no pretense, no secrets. Just us.”
“That’s true,” I say. I take a few more steps toward her.
Except for this. I’m hiding this from you. Because you can’t handle my love. Not yet anyway.
“See?” she cries.
“No,” I say. “See what?”
“It’s so confusing.”
“Let’s do this,” I say. Finally reaching her, and rubbing my hands up and down her arms, in what I hope is a soothing motion. “You like me, right?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“Great. I’m happy with that. I like you very much too.”
“But now we are going backward.” She wipes under her eyes with her fingers.
Shit, is she crying?
“How are we going backward, exactly?” I ask gently.
“First, we were engaged, now we’re not. Then you said you loved me, now you just like me.”
She is crying.
Fuck.
“Let’s sit down.” I lead her to the couch. “Actually, you sit down, I’ll be right back,” I say. I leave the room, and come back a moment later, my pocket filled with everything I need for this moment. I pull it out and into my palm, then sit down next to her and pull her onto my lap, sideways so I can see her face.
She sniffles and wipes her nose on her sleeve. I grab the box of tissues and hand them to her.
“This is so ridiculous. I don’t know why I’m crying. I never cry.”
“You say that every time you cry,” I tease.
“I know,” she sobs. “I blame you.”
“I’ll take it.”
She laugh/cries at me.
I wait until she dries her nose and tears before talking again. “You know my family believes in finding their lightning bolt?”
She nods.
“It goes back generations. Every darn member of my family, fallin’ in love at first sight. Feeling that bolt of excitement spear through you when you meet the one.”
She looks at me, eyes wide.
