Page 67 of Sweet on You
I excused myself and rushed for the bathrooms, taking a few extra minutes to splash some water on my face. After washing and dabbing at the red wine, it was pretty obvious that that stain wasn’t coming out. I sighed, but then again, losing a shirt wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Even if it was one of my favorites.
I tossed the paper towels in the trashcan and tugged on the door, exiting the bathroom. Standing right in front of the door was James. His muscular arms were folded, eyebrow arched, and his toe tapped impatiently. “Okay,” he said, his deep voice low but booming. “Spill.”
I blinked innocently. “What?” I asked.
James rolled his eyes. “Nate is keeping Lex company chatting about the building purchase. You’ve got three minutes to tell me why you’re acting like a crazy person out there.”
I sighed and filled him in quickly on what happened last night. “And then he calls me his girlfriend tonight without us even talking about it! What if I was seeing other people? What if I didn’t think we were exclusive?”
“Well, are you?”
“Am I what?”
James rolled his eyes again. He was a master at the eye roll. “Seeing other people.”
“No, of course I’m not.”
“Exactly. Ronnie, girl, I love you, but you need to move on from these hang ups you’ve got. A guy calling you his girlfriend isn’t something to get angry about. A man telling you he is falling in love with you is a good thing, usually. Why are you treating it like it’s bad?”
“Because I’m terrified,” I hissed. “Because he’s not respecting the boundaries I asked for when I said we needed to take it slowly!” I was whispering now.
James shook his head. “You two had sex on your first date, right? And you were the one who initiated that by dragging him up to your room?”
I buried my face in my hands. “Yes.”
“And you called him to come over again the next night?” I nodded and peeked at James through my fingers. “And the night after that?”
“Well… we had a training session scheduled so we just hung out after.”
“Maybeyou’realso sending some mixed signals? Ever think of that? Just because he’s the one voicing his feelings doesn’t mean you’re not also being confusing.”
I sighed, my eyes fluttering closed. “I just… I can’t go through what happened with Brandon again.”
James winced and pulled me into a hug. “I know. But are you going to run every time a man starts to fall in love with you? If so, you’re going to be running a lot. BecauseyouRonnie Tripp are very lovable.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes, wiping below them to make sure none of my makeup had smeared.
“Despite what you seem to think of yourself, it’s true,” James added. “Just… give the guy a break. He didn’t sayI love you. He said he wasfallingin love with you. There’s a difference, you know.”
I nodded. “I guess. I’ll talk to him… just, maybe not tonight. He’s sleeping at his own apartment tonight. You know… the baker in him has to wake up at the crack of dawn and bake all the things before they open.”
James offered me his elbow which I took as we walked back to the table. “As if you don’t also wake up at the crack of dawn. Don’t think I don’t see your Track My Run app on Facebook. You’re up at four in the morning most days.”
We got back to the table and I slid into my seat next to Lex. He offered me a small smile. “Everything okay?”
I pushed my bottom lip out, gesturing to my shirt. “I ruined my favorite shirt.”
He mirrored my exaggerated pout. “I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s just a shirt.”
“I-I’m also sorry for calling you my girlfriend,” he added with a quick glance at Nate and James, who were chatting about the menu. “It just sort of slipped out, but I know that on top of last night…” His words faded and he blew out a breath through tight lips. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with me.”
My heart surged in my chest. The last twenty-four hours hadn’t felt like us. It felt like the old us… not the Lex and Ronnie who talked things through and told each other everything. I reached over beneath the table squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I don’t want to date anyone else… and I’d rather you didn’t either.”
A smile flicked on his lips and my eyes wandered over his unruly auburn hair. “There’s no one else I want to be seeing, Ronnie. It’s you. It’s always been you.”
I lifted my glass of water, intentionally choosing it instead of my glass of wine, and held it up to Lex. “To my boyfriend?”
