Page 69 of The Lake House

I chuckle. “I couldn’t be anyone else if I tried.”

He laughs. “I just mean, thank you for being genuine and not trying to be fake.”

I turn to face him. “What do you mean?”

He shakes his head back and forth. “I’ve dated plenty of women in the past, but there have only been a select few that I’ve introduced Lily to. In fact, I can count on one hand how many of them have met her.”

I nod. I knew if there have even been any at all, there wouldn’t be many.

He sucks in a deep breath. “Of those that have met her, all of them have tried so hard to get her to like them. They’d say things and do things that they typically wouldn’t just to get on her good side so that they’d get on mine. But nor Lily or I ever fell for the fakeness, you know? Like when you can just tell someone is just trying too hard, and it doesn’t work out in their favor at all.” He pauses for a second and then says, “Shit, I don’t even know if that makes any sense.”

“It makes a ton of sense. It’s the same way when a guy is trying really hard to impress a girl. If they’re not being themselves, it just fails and their plan backfires.”

Declan smiles again. “I love how you get me.”

“We get one another,” I say.

He leans forward and kisses me quickly. I think he does this so Lily doesn’t happen to look over and see her daddy making out with some mysterious woman she’s just met. I’m not mad about it at all. I actually really love how hard he loves his daughter.

As we pull back, he searches my eyes, and I can tell he wants to say something. But for some reason, he’s holding back. I wonder if maybe he wants to say that he shouldn’t be kissing me around Lily. As much as I love whenever he kisses me, I wouldn’t be upset about it.

Then he speaks. “Giules, would you be my date to Roger and Rachel’s wedding?”

I’m totally taken aback by his question. I knew he’d be going to their wedding, but I had no idea he’d be asking me to go with him. In fact, the thought never even crossed my mind.

When I don’t answer right away, he takes it as a sign of hesitation since he talks again. “I know it’s a little short notice, with it only being a few weeks away, but I’d really love it if you would—”

“Yes!” I announce, cutting him off.

His eyes widen. “Really? You’ll go with me?”

“Of course.” I nod. “I would love to.”

Declan smiles from ear-to-ear and leans forward, kissing me once more.

No matter how many times he kisses me, the feeling never gets old.

“I’m so glad you’re going to come with me. It’s going to be a blast.”

I smile. “I can’t wait.”

* * *

Before I know it, we’re all hanging out at Dave and Liv’s. Declan, Lily, Roger, Rachel, and I are all here like it’s something we’ve been doing for years, as if we’re all the best of friends. It feels so good to be around people and joke and laugh for a while. When I was with my ex, I never really got to see any of my friends, let alone my best friend, Liv, who lived so far away. Now I see her all the time, and I am making new friends. It’s great.

Getting together was a last-minute thing, but all in all, everyone seemed to love the idea. It’s as if our friends were all secretly waiting for us to set up the meeting. I knew Liv couldn’t wait for me to bring Dec around because she always believed he was it for me. I’d like to believe that, too, but I guess we’ll see how things go. So far though, everything with him has been so wonderful, and I’m happy I decided to give in and go out with him.

While the adults sit on Liv and Dave’s patio chairs out back, Josie and Lily seemed to hit it off, too. They headed to Josie’s room almost immediately, and we didn’t hear a peep from them. After about twenty minutes of silence, Rachel, Liv, and I went to check on them. As we inched closer, a fit of giggles erupted from the room. As we peeked in, we had even more confirmation that they were fine. Scattered on Josie’s bedroom floor were about a million dolls and all their accessories. Pink tulle dresses and tiny Barbie hair brushes and shoes were sprawled out in a circle around them. It was little girl heaven.

“Who knew they’d get along so well?” Liv says as the three of us make our way back out to the back patio to join the men. It’s funny thinking about it now. All three of us are in different stages of relationships. There’s Liv and Dave who have been married for years, Rachel and Roger who are going to get married within the next couple of weeks, and then of course there’s Declan and me. We’re still at the very beginning of a relationship.

But things seem to be going great. I can’t believe I’ll be going to their wedding with Declan. I’m beyond thrilled.

“The girls okay?” Dave asks as we take seats next to the guys.

Dave’s question catches Declan’s attention as his eyes scan the three of us to see who’s going to answer. He squeezes my hand slightly.

It’s Liv who replies to her husband. “They’re having a great time playing with Barbies and dolls.”

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