Page 86 of For You & No One Else (Say Everything 3)

She tipped her head a little. “Of being straightforward?”

“Yeah. And talking about what you brought up on the phone.” He patted the stool next to him. “But let’s eat first. Neither of us are good when we’re hungry.”

She gave him a wary look but then glanced down at the po’boys. “All right. Those do look good and I’m starving.”

He smirked. “Come on. We’ll leave the adult conversation for after dinner. For now, let me tell you what Trent did to my cat sitter…”

He went on to tell her about the hell Trent had put the cat sitter through, rounding it out with the finale of Trent knocking the poor woman’s bowl of Froot Loops into her lap and then freaking out at the noise and climbing—and tearing down—her new curtains. He and Eliza were both laughing, and Eliza was near tears by the time he finished his story and they’d polished off their food.

Eliza dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “That poor girl is going to have to find a new profession. She’s going to have nightmares.”

“Yeah, she’s never going to watch Trent again for sure,” Beckham said, grinning and balling up the butcher paper so he could throw it away. “I think it’s all part of Trent’s evil plan to always be at my side every moment of the day.”

Eliza looked to Trent, who’d commandeered the dog bed in the corner of the kitchen. “And he looks so innocent.”

Beckham tossed the trash in the garbage can. “Smoke and mirrors.”

A few beats of silence passed between them, the distraction of Trent fading and the reason Beckham was here roaring back to life with a stench of awkwardness.

“So…” she said.

“So.” He took a breath and walked back to the counter, grabbing the bag he’d brought the sandwiches in. He handed it to her. “I brought this.”

“Dessert?”

He shook his head.

She peeked into the bag, brow knitted. “Oh.” She pulled out his special editionThe Rise of SkywalkerDVD and then gave him a curious look. “I thought this was have-a-serious-conversation night, not movie night.”

He rocked back on his heels, his thumbs hooked in his jean pockets. “I was hoping the two might not be mutually exclusive.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, on the phone, you told me we have to stop the physical part of our relationship.” Even saying the words left a sour taste in his mouth and a vague feeling of panic rippling through him. Not being able to touch her was going to be a special kind of torture, but he also understood and was trying to do the right thing. The grown-up thing. He’d known that part was temporary. They’d stated that from the start. “But does that also mean you don’t want to be friends anymore?”

“I—” Her lips clamped back together like she didn’t know what to say.

“Because if that’s what you need, I understand, but like I said on the phone, I missed you, too, Eli.” He leaned back against her counter, wanting to be honest but also walking a fine line. “These last few months have been more fun than I’ve had in a long time. And I’m not just talking about the sex, though that has obviously been fantastic. I like just hanging out with you. If no one’s bothered to tell you lately, you’re kind of a kick-ass human.”

She blinked, her lips parting slightly.

“You’re smart as hell, keep me on my toes, make me laugh, have great taste in movies and food. And…” He cleared his throat. “You talked about how on dates, you can’t be yourself? Well, I feel like that with…pretty much everyone on some level.”

She frowned, her fingers curling around the DVD case.

“But with you, I find myself telling you things I haven’t told my other friends. I…trust youin this weird, almost instinctual way. Maybe it’s the therapist thing, but I think it’s more than that.” He ran a hand over the back of his head, trying to find the right words. “I think we…get each other and that’s not an easy thing to find. So I’m not real excited to just walk away from you. Not having you in my life would kind of suck.” He grimaced. “No, not kind of. It would absolutely suck. A lot. You’ve basically become my favorite person. I want to call you first. For everything.”

Eliza stared at him, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. Then her eyes went shiny.

“Oh shit,” he said, pushing off the counter and going over to her. “What’d I say? I’m sorry, I—”

She shook her head and stood, her fingers coming up to press against his lips. “Shut up, Beck.”

He tried to say her name, but she shook her head again, silencing him.

“Just listen for a minute,” she said, her voice soft. “You said I’m a grown-up, and I think you’re right. I’ve always wanted to make the right choices, the mature ones. I wanted to knowhow to do life the correct way. Like there was some official test with an answer key. That’s probably why I became a therapist. Part of me thought I’d get to learn all the secret rules, avoid the pain of mistakes.”

He lifted his brows in response. She lowered her hand, but he could tell she wasn’t done.

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