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“I have.”
“Is this where you take all your first dates?” I asked, somewhat joking but also curious to know the answer.
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I don’t really date. I honestly never had much interest until recently.”
“Oh yeah? What changed your mind?” I teased.
I watched as Tori smiled up at the sky, and the way the stars reflected in her eyes somehow made them look even more beautiful than usual. “You see, there’s this girl. I kind of like her. I didn’t know if I should, but I couldn’t help myself.”
A tingle ran through my whole body and caused me to wiggle my toes because I couldn’t contain my giddiness. “I don’t get it. I’ve known you for so long, and I obviously always knew you were beautiful, but it was like one day I woke up and I saw you in a whole different light.”
“I think we had to wait for it to be our time.”
“But now it is? Our time?” I didn’t want to question it, especially after all of the signs from Willow, but it was hard not to.
Tori looked over at me and her smile dropped for the first time since leaving the house. “Are you second-guessing things?”
I rolled onto my side and put my hand on her cheek. “My heart isn’t. It’s just my head messing with me. But I promise I’m all in.”
“Good, because I’m in so deep already.” Tori brought her face closer to mine and my heart drummed in my chest, because I was sure she was going to kiss me.
I closed my eyes, but instead of Tori’s lips, a cool breeze hit them. When I opened them back up, I realized Tori had moved away from me.
She sat up and looked out into the distance. “Sorry. I’m not trying to play hot and cold. I really want to kiss you. Trust me. But I think we need to do something first.” Tori let out a long sigh. “I can’t get even deeper into this without knowing that Willow’s family is going to be okay with it. I know this is only our first date, but this has been building for a long time, and I already like you so much, but if they’re not okay with it…” Tori’s voice drifted off, and her next words were spoken just above a whisper. “They’re my family, Rosemary.”
She didn’t have to say anything else. I knew exactly what she was saying, and I felt the same way. Without the blessing of Willow’s family, this couldn’t go anywhere. It didn’t matter how much we liked each other. “I understand. Let’s enjoy this perfect date for now, and tomorrow we’ll worry about that.”
The smile returned to Tori’s face as she laid back down and snuggled into me. “It is pretty perfect, isn’t it?”
Chapter 14
“So, we’re actually doing this, huh?” Tori asked as we pulled into the Stones’ driveway.
We figured since my parents had the girls, now would be the best time to do this. Just rip the bandaid off, I reminded myself. “Yep. We’re doing this.”
Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “What if they hate us? Willow’s family is the only family I have. I can’t lose them.”
I reached my hand out and squeezed Tori’s knee. “I know that, and don’t worry, they’re not going to hate us. We’re asking for their blessing. If they don’t give it to us, then we’ll find a way to both move on. Our relationship with the Stones comes first. Just like we agreed on last night.”
Tori put her hand on top of mine and stared over at me, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “But I don’t want to lose you either.”
“No matter what happens, you’re never going to lose me, Tori. I’ll always need you, and I’m willing to have you in whatever capacity is possible.”
Tori nodded slowly. “Okay. I think I’m ready.”
When we got out of the car, I instinctively went to take Tori’s hand, because I had gotten so used to it the night before. When I realized what I was doing, I quickly moved it away. We were here to talk about a potential relationship, not rub it in their faces.
I knocked on the door since I didn’t actually know if anyone was home, and Mrs. Stone opened it up a few seconds later. A confused smile came to her face when she realized it was me and Tori. “Girls, what a nice surprise.” She craned her neck to look behind us. “Where are Emery and Bella?”
“They stayed at my parents’ house last night.”
“That’s so great. I’m sure both girls are very happy to have them here.” My mother-in-law moved to the side and motioned for us to walk past her. “Come in. Come in.”
I looked around as soon as we were in for any signs of anyone else in the house. “Is Mr. Stone home right now?”
“He’s over at Phil’s house right now helping him with some painting, but they are all planning on coming back here for lunch in about an hour or so. If you girls aren’t doing anything, you should stay and eat with us.”
I looked at Tori to see if that was okay and she nodded in response. “We would love to. We actually wanted to talk to your whole family about something so that’s perfect.” I looked at Tori one more time to try to secretly ask her if we should tell Mrs. Stone first, and she must have understood because she nodded once again. “If it’s okay though, we’d like to talk to you first. Right now.”
