Page 68 of Love in the Storm

“Good. Um, I guess I should be upfront and tell you the offer to stay with my mom doesn’t mean you have to date me or even like me.”

“Oh, good. You can go now.” Lyric playfully gestured to the door.

Asa tried to hide his smile. “I don’t know where we left off, but can we start over?”

“I’d like that,” Lyric agreed.

“I want to see where things go for us. If you want that too.”

“I do.” She was speaking without thinking again. Asa would call it impulsive. She called it following her heart.

“I’m not looking for a fling. I want something real and forever.”

The word forever caught her off guard. He wanted forever, and he still wanted to date her. He was a single father, and she knew his life wasn’t entirely his own. He had a son to think about before making every decision. Did that mean he thought Jacob would like her? Would she like Jacob? What if she didn’t? What if he didn’t like her?

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you with that big word.”

Lyric squeezed his hand. “No, it’s okay. I don’t want a fling either. I want…forever.” The word sounded sweet on her tongue and oh so tempting.

Don’t hope too much. Don’t hope too much.That would be her constant chant.

“There’s one rule,” Asa said.

“I can follow rules.”

Asa chuckled. “Can you?”

She put a hand over her heart. “Promise.”

“Here’s the deal: leave the past here.”

Her hand still rested on her heart, and the rhythmic beating sped up. It was exactly what she’d been trying to do since she decided to be sober. Leave the past behind? She could do that. She had to.

“Okay. I will.”

He looked around the sparse apartment. “Have you had lunch?”

“No.” Her appetite had been absent since the eviction notice.

“Can I take you to Sticky Sweets?” he asked.

“I’d love that, but I really have to get this stuff packed up.”

He squeezed her hand. “I’ll help you. After we eat.”

Lyric looked down at her pink sweatpants. “I need to change.”

Asa released her hand and leaned back against the bar. “I’ll wait here.”

“Five minutes. Ten tops.”

Lyric ran toward the bedroom, practically giddy. That date he’d asked her to go on when they were still at the cabin felt like a forgotten dream. This wasn’t the exact date she’d envisioned. It was better.

23

ASA

Asa brushed his shoulder against hers. They were same-siding in the booth because he wanted to be beside Lyric when she met his family. They were taking a step in their relationship that was usually reserved for weeks or months into a stable relationship and transplanting it to the beginning. Their first real date had been six hours ago when he’d treated her to lunch at the bakery.

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