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“Keene!” I sat up in bed. “Are you okay?”
I scratched the back of my head, looking at him, trying to figure out what could be wrong. “Tell me, please.”
He sighed. “This is part of the ‘more,’ honey. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but it’s not just my life on the line if I spill the beans. It’s a lot of lives.”
I slumped.
He had said that.
“What’ll it take for you to tell me?” I sobered.
“About six months in a committed relationship and knowing that you’re the one.” He looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“Does all this count toward our time, sir?” I batted my eyelashes at him.
His lips twitched. “Are we in a committed relationship?”
I bit my lip.
The thing was, I wanted to be in a committed relationship.
But other than the last few weeks of us talking, we didn’t really have much time under our belts. And talking to someone over the phone to get to know them versus getting to know them in person were two different things.
“When I get back home,” I said. “I don’t want to say ‘no’ because I do really like you, but I can’t say that we’ll ever get further than just casual banter until we can spend some real, face to face time with each other.”
His lips tipped up at one corner, the smirk making my heart rate accelerate. “Yeah, that’s kind of where I’m at, too.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t still get to know each other,” I said. “Because I think it’ll make it easier for when I’m actually home.”
“Are you planning on staying home for a while?”
I grinned. “Until you can trust me and decide if I’m the one… and if I can decide you’re the one right back.”
Dating in this world was tough. I’d had my fair share of dates in my twenty-nine years of life, and all of them had left me… underwhelmed.
When you had a dad and brothers like I did, you kind of expected the entire world to be better than they actually were.
It was a disservice and a kindness all at once, because I knew I wouldn’t settle for anything less than everything.
I wanted a man who loved me. Who was as truly devoted to me as I was to him. Who would go out and buy me a new pot just because I mentioned that I needed one—something my dad did for my mom just last week.
I mean, literally, my dad knew what kind of pots my mom favored. He’d listened to her, and retained the information that she needed a new ‘large’ pot. He’d gotten the largest one he could find when he’d stopped for milk that he knew was running low.
My dad taught my brothers every day that it took nothing to notice the things around you.
And that was why, even single, they went over to my house and noticed when I needed things fixed. Then came back and fixed them for me.
Like… how perfect were they?
Normal guys weren’t like that, and I’d met my fair share of them.
Dated a few.
Realized that maybe my expectations were set too high…
“Hey, what happened to that blanket?” he laughed, startling me out of my thoughts.
I looked down at the blanket now pooled at my waist.
