Page 41 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

Indy grabbed the snack tray. “What do you have planned?”

Rory had set up a few games to play. Kit hadn’t had a party like this before. It was so small and so intimate. While everyone was taking a seat and she handed out Post-it notes, he pulled her into the kitchen so they were alone.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I want this to be fun. There’s just a lot of stuff in my life I haven’t really ever talked about. But you are important to me,” he blurted. He realized from her expression that it might not be what she was expecting from him, but still it had to be said. “I’m sorry for starting things before everyone got here. But the truth is... I’m nervous.”

She looked up at him, then put her arms around him and hugged him close. “I’m nervous, too. Since you came into my life I’ve been just diving into things with you, trying to find someone to have in my life. I’ve been in a rush to know everything about you. And that’s not fair to you.”

He tipped her head back and looked down into her eyes, then kissed her long and slow. Everything felt better when she was in his arms. He needed to stop worrying and try to find the right words to say that would make her understand.

Because the truth was, there wasn’t a way to explain what was between the two of them. He would do everything in his power to be the man she wanted.

“I think I want that, too,” he confessed. “I’m not used to sharing things. I’ve always kept everything to myself.”

She sighed. “And I’m trying to share it all.”

“We’re waiting, ladybug,” Dash said, approaching them. “I’m glad you two are having a moment, but it’s time for me to kick Con’s ass.”

“What exactly is this game?” Kit asked as Rory laughed at her brother.

“It’s the Post-it note game. The category is favorite Disney villains.” Rory explained the rules, which involved putting the name of a character on the Post-it and then putting it on the person to the left’s forehead. A series of yes or no questions were allowed until someone guessed who they were.

Although Kit had never played it, he had a lot of fun, which wasn’t surprising, but finding that Dash and Conrad were men that he probably wanted to be friends with was.

Somehow in his head it was okay for him to fall for Rory but actually liking Dash and Con...that was going to take a lot more time to get used to.

Rory watched Kit more carefully than she had before. It was one thing to tell herself she wanted to take risks and feel completely alive, but the reality was that at times it was still scary.

Her world was so small after she awoke from the coma and she was proud of herself for expanding her horizons and really going all in with Kit. But there was a lot she still didn’t know about him—stuff that hadn’t seemed to matter before but now did.

“Hey, kid, you okay?” Con asked as he was eliminated from a round of the game and came to help her in the kitchen, refilling drinks.

“Yeah. It’s just... I didn’t know how this night was going to go,” she said. Then realized that might have sounded dumb. “I mean you know how Dash is and you were all big and scary the last time you met Kit.”

Con laughed. “I tried to be. But your man held his own.”

“I’m not sure he is.”

“Your man?” Con asked.

She shrugged. Why had she mentioned that to him? It might be the rosé that she’d been drinking more of than usual tonight.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar,” he said gently. “I’m not going to pretend I have any advice for you but I will say this. Falling in love with Indy changed something inside me and I had no control over it. It was terrifying and I fought it with everything I had.”

He grabbed three beers in one hand and Indy’s glass of sauvignon blanc in the other.

“So everyone feels...out of control in relationships?” she asked her cousin.

“Just the ones that matter,” he said with a wink. “Can you get those two?”

“Yes,” she said, picking up her glass and Elle’s.

They rejoined everyone else and as she sat down on the couch next to Kit she looked over at him. He put his hand on her thigh and gave her a squeeze, then their eyes met and he lifted one eyebrow. She just smiled and nodded.

---