Page 111 of Just for Fun
“Kyle!” I can’t help the giggle escaping my mouth. “I had a lot of time to think about everything. I understand why you talked to Alex about me. That still doesn’t excuse the way he talked to me. I…” Sighing, I wonder how I should tell him this next part. “I understand that you’re good friends, but I don’t want to have anything to do with him. Not now, not ever.”
He watches me with sad eyes that are also full of understanding.
“I totally get it,” he rushes to assure me. “And I would never force you to be in his presence. I…” He runs out of breath while talking. “It’s so weird to say it, because I don’t know what these feelings in my head are. But…”
I break into a sweat, and my hands become instantly clammy. I am so focused on his mouth, worried that I will somehow miss a word of what he’s about to say.
“I’m pretty sure that I am falling in love with you.”
This is what I was hoping he’d tell me, and now that he has, I feel the sudden urge to cry.
“Fuck! I thought this was going to be a good thing. I hoped that…”
I jump up and press my lips against his. “I’m falling in love with you, too, Kyle.”
The tears are now running down the sides of my face and pooling on my lips. I am a complete mess. I thought love was supposed to be beautiful. But it’s messy and unexpected.
“I’m scared that we are going to mess it up,” I confess to him. “I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want you to leave me when things get hard or you found someone better… Or for me to do that either.”
I will never get over my parents’ divorce. It is something I should probably get counseling for at some point in my life.
“I get it.” Kyle pulls me into a tight hug, pressing the side of my head into his chest. “I swear that I get it. And I promise that I will always try to talk things out. I’m sure that we’ll fight…”
“I hate fighting,” I mumble into his chest.
“It’s bound to happen, babe. It happens to everyone. We’ll just have to learn to work through tough situations.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on tight. The future looks bright, and a lot different than it was a couple of months ago. So many good things can happen, and any of the bad ones will have to just be tests that we will pass. I never failed a test in my life, and I am not about to start now.
I lean my head back to see his face better. He looks down, smiling like he just won the lottery.
“We’re really going to try this then?” I ask.
“I’m pretty sure your brother is ready to kick my ass if we don’t try it. So we have to.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “To save my life.”
The joy I feel bubbling inside of me is like nothing I felt before. Kyle Kelly is my first love, and I pray that he will be my last. We haven’t exchanged officialI love you’sjust yet. We have to work toward that, earn theI love you.
We will give us a chance.
No doubt about it.
EPILOGUE
Six months later
Kyle
I stareat the bar area, wishing I could order a shot to calm my nerves. I don’t even know why I am this nervous. It doesn’t make any sense.
The last six months have been so good, I’m scared that I will somehow ruin what me and Zara have if I say anything today. But I already told her we’d do something special today, and I dropped so many hints about it, that I’ve been driving both of us crazy with it for days now.
Now that the day is here, I don’t know how to proceed. The initial plan was for me to take Zara out for a romantic dinner where I would finally tell her that I loved her. This has been a long time coming, but neither one of us wanted to rush intosaying the words until we were hundred percent sure that’s how we felt. I’ve been feeling it for a while now, maybe even from the very beginning, and I can’t take it anymore.
I am as prepared as I can be. I even went and got my hair trimmed so that it doesn’t constantly look like I just rolled out of bed. I have a buttoned down dress shirt and dress pants on. At first, I put on a pair of dark wash jeans, but it looked too casual, and like I didn’t really put any effort in. Then, I tried a pair of khakis, but I looked like I worked at a golf course. The dress pants looked more appropriate for the occasion.
“Okay, this is it,” I tell myself as I stare at my face in the mirror. I reach up to take my glasses off, but then I change my mind. They do help, and Zara seems to like them.
I take a couple of more minutes to pump myself up, then walk over to where I have a large bouquet of flowers sitting on the side table by the door. I pick them up, making sure the wrap looks perfect. Finally ready, I step out the door and walk to my truck. I get in, place the flowers on the passenger side, and push the start button on the truck.
