Page 52 of Surrender
That was why she’d wanted them to talk. It would give them a chance to take responsibility for their parts and the things they had said to each other. Colbie wasn’t sure they should have the conversation at school, regardless of the convenience of him having detention for skipping her class.
“Take a seat,” Colbie stated, gesturing to the desks.
“You’re going to make me serve this detention?”
“Yes,” Colbie replied, turning to erase her board.
“This is bullshit.”
“Well, I wasn’t the one that gave it to you. So, if you don’t like it, you can take it up with Mrs. Harding, which means you need to take it up with Principal Coe because she’s probably the one who ordered it.”
“We’re just going to sit here in silence?” Dallis asked.
Colbie sighed. They weren’t currently but they could. “That’s the plan. Besides, you’ve made it clear you didn’t want to talk to me, and it isn’t a discussion we need to have a school.”
“That’s funny because you didn’t want to talk either on Saturday, Ms. Morris,” Dallis countered
Colbie looked at him and lifted a brow. He didn’t call her that when they were alone. Not since they had started dating, and they were alone now. She didn’t like it and didn’t know what to think. She refrained from saying anything and turned her attention back to the task at hand. Whatever this game was, he was trying to play; she wouldn’t play it with him. Especially not there. She knew it might have been counterproductive in fixing things up between them.
She heard Dallis sigh, and a second later, she heard a thud behind her. She turned around, not realizing he’d moved to stand behind her to the left of her desk. Colbie’s eyes traveled down to the backpack he’d dropped before coming back up to his. He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his chest.
“Being mad at you is exhausting,” he told her.
Colbie wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back. She’d missed being in his arms, spending time with him. However, she knew that they still needed to talk, and she didn’t need anyone passing by to see them.
Pulling away from him, she gestured for him to sit down, and she watched as he made his way to his desk.
“I do want us to talk,” Dallis started. “I’m fine with us doing it here because I can promise you, I have no intention of getting upset or losing my temper again.”
Colbie stared at him for a moment before she went over and sat at the desk in front of him, turning the chair around.
“Okay, but I want to start,” she told him, and he nodded, gesturing for her to continue. “I apologize for calling you a child. I shouldn’t have done that when you’ve shown me time and time again that you aren’t one. I also apologize for not considering how you felt about keeping us a secret from your parents. I should have been more understanding. I chose to be in this relationship with you. So, it isn’t unreasonable to tell them,” she finished.
Dallis was quiet for a moment, and she wanted to know what he was thinking.
«--------------»
Dallis listened to Colbie’s apology, and to be honest, yes, he had been mad at her, but he’d concluded that he couldn’t blame her for being scared. From her point of view, he was asking her to risk a lot in having dinner with his parents. However, he wasn’t. She simply didn’t know that.
Had he just come out and told her when he had gotten there Saturday as he had planned, they may have been able to avoid this. Yes, she would have still been mad, but he was sure they would have gotten over it much faster than they had in this situation.
Dallis knew that this time, he was going to tell her. That way, while they were already talking about the situation, she could get mad, and they could work through it now. Though, it seemed that she might be more susceptible to the news. The fact that he had kept it from her may anger her instead.
“I apologize as well, baby. I shouldn’t have said any of the things I said to you. However, I meant it when I said you hadn’t thought about how me being your secret indefinitely would make me feel. I also can’t apologize for getting mad at you when I felt as if you doubted us, though I could have and should have addressed it differently.”
“I know, and I’m not upset that you pointed it out because you’re right. I hadn’t thought of how it would make you feel because, in the beginning, on some level, I still just thought that this was a fling to you. As we spent more time together, I knew it wasn’t, but I hadn’t thought about what would happen after you graduated.”
Dallis took a deep breath preparing to drop the parent bomb. “So, this means you’ll come to Christmas Eve dinner?” he questioned, to be sure he had gathered correctly from what she’d said.
“Yes, even though I’m a bit worried about how your parents will react.”
“They’re going to be completely fine with it,” he started, watching her raise a brow at his words. “Because they already know.”
Dallis watched as her eyes grew wide, and she seemed to sit stalk straight in the chair. “They what?”
He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk. “They already know. They’ve known from the beginning.”
“You told them when we started dating?” she questioned, and Dallis had to admit that she was taking it better than he thought she would have. That could have been because she had already decided to meet them.
