Page 37 of It's Always Been You
He turns his head and kisses my cheek. “Come on, let’s go get you fed.”
Chapter Twelve
Gabe
“So fucking good,” Molly mumbles over the last bite of her pancakes.
She swallows and grins at me, looking around the brightly lit diner with a happy expression on her face.
“I love this place. I can’t believe I’ve never been here.”
I push my own plate away and lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “I found it when I first got to the city two weeks ago. It’s a little tradition of mine. I’ve had to travel for work a bunch over the years, and no matter where I am, the first thing I do is hunt down a diner.”
Molly takes a sip of her chocolate milkshake and eyes me. I can see the wheels turning in her head, wondering about what I just told her. I wish she would just ask me. I want to tell her everything, but so far tonight has been a lot of small talk when what I want is big talk. Enormous talk. Flay myself open and tell her all my truths and make her tell me all of hers talk. But as eager as I am to get her back in every way imaginable, I know that is absolutely the wrong move. Slow is the way to go here. But that doesn’t mean I can’t give it a little push.
I reach over, gliding a finger over the back of her hand, and relish in the little shiver I see run through her at my touch.
“Ask me a question, Rory.”
“What?”
“Ask me something. Anything. Big or small. There is so much I want to tell you, and so much I want to know. I figure the best way to start getting to know each other again is for you to ask me a question. And then I get to ask you one. A question for a question.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “What if I ask you something you don’t want to answer?”
“You won’t.”
“I might.”
This time, when I reach over, I lay my hand on hers. When she flips her hand over and links our fingers together, butterflies swarm my stomach. I have this outsized reaction to every bit of affection she shows me. She could have kicked me out of her office that first day and never talked to me again. I would have deserved it. She could have bailed after the first restaurant was a disaster. The fact that she didn’t, that she’s sitting here with me in a cracked plastic booth in her pretty pink dress, smiling at me and eating chocolate chip pancakes like almost no time has passed, makes me absurdly grateful.
“I promise there is nothing you could ask me that I won’t answer. I want to tell you everything, and I want to know everything about you.”
She stiffens, just a little. “What if you ask me a question I don’t want to answer?”
I glide my thumb over her palm, and she relaxes back against the booth.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not ready to tell me. I hope one day you’ll want to tell me everything, but that’s your decision to make. I came here for you, Rory. I want you.In ten years, there has never been a single day that I haven’t wanted you. But we go at your pace. You’re in charge. If I ask you something you don’t want to answer, you can ask me a bonus question.”
She nods, seemingly satisfied, and gives me a sly grin. “I do love being in charge.”
I chuckle, enjoying her so much. “I know how you do. So, take charge. Ask me a question.”
She thinks for a second and then asks, “Why do you look for a diner in every city you go to?”
I wait until her eyes are on mine before I answer. “Because diners remind me of you. We spent half of college eating chocolate chip pancakes in diners, and it was my little way of taking you with me, no matter where I went.”
Molly opens her mouth and then seems to change her mind and closes it; then she does it again, shaking her head and huffing out a little breath. It’s unlike her not to say exactly what’s on her mind, so I’m instantly curious.
“Just say it,” I tell her.
“Say what?”
“Whatever it is you’re trying to decide if you should say.”
She shakes her head again. “It’s not fair.”
“That doesn’t matter. I said you could ask me anything, and you can. You can also tell me anything. None of this will work if we’re not honest with each other. So, be honest with me, Rory.”
