Page 49 of Fall Twice

I hold up a box from the grocery store. “I was supposed to bring you a pumpkin pie when I figured out our answer.”

“Oh?” She seems nervous. “What’s that?”

“I think in life we have the opportunity to fall in love twice. Sometimes with two different people, sometimes the same person, at different times. I don’t know, but I believe back then you weren’t the one for me and I fell for someone else. But it was meant to be that way because you were meant for me now when I’m quite possibly a better person.”

She lowers her head and doesn’t seem happy about my theory. “Reid, this…”

“Think about it. You were supposed to be with Oscar’s father. You made a child with him, and now you can love someone else, because you and I were quite possibly always going to find one another.” She scoffs a bitter laugh, and I don’t understand, as it all made sense in my head. “You can have it all, Lena. The incredible sex, the guy who cares, the relationship that maybe you’ve been preparing for your whole life. Maybe I’ve been preparing for it too.” I step closer to her which causes her body to perk up in attention. “We didn’t get it right with someone else, but we don’t regret that. You don’t leave my mind, the only thing that makes sense lately is having you in my life.”

“But as what?”

I tilt my head to the side. “Do you want to go out next week? There is this indoor trampoline park that I’m sure Oscar would love.”

“As in a date?” She’s confused.

“Yeah,” I answer.

Her arms fall to her sides, and she breathes a long exhale. “Reid, don’t ask things unless you know what you’re signing up for. It’s all or nothing.”

“Tell me what that looks like then,” I request.

I can tell her body is running on adrenaline. “It’s going slow. Snail’s-pace slow. Romantic dinners, the kind you never asked me on before. No sleepovers until Oscar knows who you are in my life. And that only happens if we are certain we’re in it for the long haul. It looks like logistical planning around when I have Oscar and when I don’t. It involves awkward first meetings with my ex because he needs to know who is in Oscar’s life. And then one day maybe we will move in together if you can handle my crappy knitting skills, my new addiction to burning sage, and a boy who is number one in my life. It’s not easy. It’s complicated, it’s scary as hell, but that’s maybe what excites us the most.”

A long silence takes over as I register everything she just said. I can see her chest nearly heaving by the movement of her scarf around her coat because she’s nervous, and fuck, I don’t want to hurt her. My mind quickly runs through the list she just presented to make sure I’m making the right decision, the decision I made already weeks ago but couldn’t admit aloud.

I stall for a moment and our eyes hold.

“So, would next Sunday work for the trampoline park?” I ask again.

Her mouth begins to form a smile.

17

LENA

Reid looks at me with a fixed smirk because he knows he has me. I pull my coat tighter around my body, my breath visible in the night air, and I try to keep my smile from spreading uncontrollably.

But the fact he’s staring at me has me under his magic as I stride once toward him. “So, about that pie,” I say.

He knows I’m teasing him by not giving him an answer. Reid groans as he steps closer to me, his free arm looping around my middle to pull me abruptly to him. I reach up to play with the lapels of his coat, distracting me from the fact that it feels like so many moments have led us on a long journey to this scene. It’s a dream that never left me, even if I buried it.

“I’m not going anywhere.” His voice sounds determined.

My eyes flick up to meet his. “I don’t want you to,” I confirm. Leaning up on my toes, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he meets me halfway for a kiss, the kind that steals my breath and sears my lips. It’s powerful and only heightened by the fact he pulls me up against his body, leaving my feet to dangle before setting me down again.

When he pulls away, he places popcorn kisses on my lips, my chin, cheek, everywhere.

“I kept thinking about what I would do if you had the answer I wanted. I wasn’t sure if this is a route I should go down at this moment in time, for Oscar or maybe even me. But it didn’t feel right, that idea, because it wouldn’t matter, you always linger in my mind. And you’re right, I think we weren’t meant to be then, but now we have no excuse because we may just be everything we were waiting for.”

He leans his forehead in to touch my own. “You’re mine, and I’ll be damned if I let you go this time.”

“That’s good because you have pumpkin pie and that’s quite critical for this evening,” I quip. Offering my hand, we head inside.

It takes a few moments to turn the lights on and get our coats off, but it takes only a second for his hand to land back on my body as we walk to the kitchen. Of course, he chooses my lower back just above my ass as the destination for his hand, and all the while he leans in to kiss my neck as he walks by my side.

My smile doesn’t fade, even when we nearly drop the pie. In fact, we carelessly throw it on the counter, right before he hoists me up and plants me on the marble surface. He steps between my knees, causing my thighs to part. Then his mouth is on my lips again, and I just can’t get enough, but we have time. My fingertips land on his chest to create distance.

He studies me with his elated look as I lean and reach into the drawer to grab two forks, then quickly hand him one.

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