Page 71 of Storm Bound
“Can we wake up every day like that?” he asked beside me.
“That would require getting up earlier than we already do,” I said.
“Okay, fine. Then weekends. Like today,” he said.
“Don’t remind me.”
He laughed, making the bed under my shoulders bounce.
“It’s just dinner. Come on,” he said, and that brought back my earlier thoughts.
He was so quick to agree to a family dinner and make deals with my grandma, but he hadn’t even touched on the subject of moving in since I mentioned it last week.
“You know, we could wake up like this a lot more if… you know… I lived here,” I said before I could talk myself out of it again. “Have you thought about my proposal?”
“Your proposal? Is there a ring and I missed it?” he asked, but I wasn’t kidding, and my face said that. “I’m sorry... I have.”
I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at him.
“I’m sorry I panicked and I’ve been weird about it.”
“You’re still not telling me why?”
He sighed.
“I… it’s hard,” he said, but I must have made a face because he pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and continued. “I used to be in this relationship, and it wasn’t the best experience after he moved in. Things went downhill.”
“But I’m—”
“But you’re not him. You didn’t let me finish. That was why I was reluctant when you mentioned it. It scared me. And I thought I’ve come such a long way to get trapped in my own home again. But I was being stupid. Hung up on... the past. You’re definitely nothing like my ex, and I was stupid to even compare. T-that’s why, I’d love for you to move in with me,” he said, and I smiled as the relief tumbled all over me.
I still felt like he was keeping something from me, but we were making progress. One step at a time, I had to remind myself. It might have felt like I’d known him for ages, but we’d only been together for three weeks. I couldn’t expect giant leaps.
“I know it was a bit presumptuous of me to ask in the first place. And out of the blue. I’m sorry I was weird about it, too,” I said.
“You weren’t weird at all. I was. But…” He let the pause dangle between us as if he couldn’t decide if he could say what was on his mind.
“But? You can tell me.”
“I was… I was just going to say I was weird about it, but I shouldn’t have been because I’m… you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I trust you. And I’m falling in love with you, Charlie Karagiannis,” he said.
I expected him to say a lot of things, but I hadn’t expected that. And yet when he did, everything around me, around us, got even more colorful, brighter, more beautiful.
My heart raced in my chest and all the words got jumbled in my brain, but I managed to put them in order.
“I love you, too, Adam Kravitz.”
Yes, there were still things we hadn’t told each other, but at the end of the day, did it matter? Wasn’t love all about taking a leap of faith?
I’d fallen in love with Adam the moment I set my eyes on him, and I’d been falling in love with him every day since. One look at a time. One touch at a time.
I was in love with Adam.
And we were moving in together.
No one could have prepared me for this before I left Detroit. But now, being here, in my hometown, surrounded by my family and friendly faces…
I was so ready for this. Ready for this next chapter in my life and all the potential ahead.
