Page 109 of Safety Net
"No, I ordered a ride share," he quickly confirmed. "Got really friendly with my driver. He invited me to a barbecue."
I laughed. "Of course he did. And you assembled everything? In one night."
"Ellis helped some. When he wasn't sleeping. So did Jack, later."
"My aunt said you stayed here all night."
He looked down at his feet, sheepish. "I screwed up so badly, I was trying to make sure everything was right on time. I didn't want to waste a second."
I brushed my thumb across his cheek. He leaned into the touch, planting light kisses on my palm.
"I won't ever do something like this again," he whispered. "I won't ever ruin something this important to you. That party was a mistake."
"And it's okay to make mistakes," I said. "I should have been more concerned about why you wanted to be there for so long. Lincoln, I didn't mean what I said about us not fitting."
I couldn't think past how happy he seemed and how horrible I'd been at talking to people. The insecurity made everything black and white.
"I was miserable, not happy," he confessed. "And being surrounded by people was the only thing that used to help whenI got this way. I had forgotten I had other ways to cope. That I could choose better ways of coping."
"You can make a mistake," I repeated because he needed to know he deserved grace. "Sometimes I might need a break. I might need to walk again, but I won't leave you forever, Lincoln."
He nodded, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against mine. "I was so afraid you would. All night and morning. I was in the parking lot for half an hour before this started, terrified I was walking into the end."
"You should have picked up your phone," I said. "I called you like five times."
He sighed and laughed. "It's dead. I lost my charger while gallivanting all over town for your flowers."
I smiled. "Gallivanting?"
He gave a signal behind his back, and Henrik placed the flowers in his hand. They fumbled the hand-off, and I laughed. He offered me a bouquet that was almost too big for me to hold. I cradled it to my chest, completely in love.
"Gallivanting seemed like the only word that fit," he said. "I'd gallivant all over the world for you. The universe, too. Whatever space station'll have me."
"You're so silly."
"I know. But you love it," he teased.
I nodded. "I do."
"You love me." There was a hint of uncertainty in the way he grabbed my hand and brought it to his cheek. Lincoln kissed the middle of my palm before holding it in place.
I smiled and, without hesitation, said, "I do."
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
LINCOLN
Before I got too far from my reality check, I forced myself to keep pushing (after a decent night's sleep that turned into ten hours of rest, resulting in a concerned Henrik checking in to see if I was still breathing).
"You never make a sound when you sleep," he said when I finally woke up and dragged my way to the kitchen. "I had to get a mirror to check if you were breathing."
"Such a worrier," I teased before grabbing an orange and starting back upstairs.
"Are you busy?" he asked, because our early mornings usually consisted of hanging out in the kitchen or near the pool, posing scenarios to one another, and being infinitely curious about how the other would react.
If the zombie apocalypse happened, but you were in space, would you try to come back down or live out your days exploring space? What if we found a door at the bottom of the ocean with the words "don't open"? What if, all this time, a higher being has been trying to combine different DNA to remake one person they lost? Once they found them, does this human experience cease to exist?
"Got to get organized before practice," I explained. "Lots of catching up to do. We’ll scenario later, I got plenty of good ones for you.”
