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Licking my lips, I reach over and take his glass. “That obvious, huh?”
He grins. “You wear your heart on your sleeve, Bishop. It’s hard not to notice when something has caught your attention. Or someone.”
“She hasn’t just caught my attention though, Dad. She’s always had it, and I don’t know what I can do to prove to her that I never…” I shake my head. “I never want to hurt her again.”
“There is no grand gesture that will convince someone you love them. It’s a series of little things, small steps, tiny moments. It’s the daily ritual of demonstrating that they’re a priority—that they’re the priority. That’s all you can do.”
“And if she can’t forgive me? Can’t move past the fact that I’ve hurt her?”
He watches me for a beat then rests his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.
“The hardest part about loving someone is giving them the freedom to make whatever decision they think is right for them, even if it’s wrong for you.”
My dad pats my back again and then pushes back from the counter, stepping off his stool and grabbing his empty glass before rounding to put it in the sink.
“You’ll figure it out, Bishop. I know you will.”
“Thanks, Pop.”
He heads for the hallway that leads down to his room, but then something suddenly occurs to me. “Hey Dad?”
He stops, turns around.
“How did you get Mom to take you back, though?”
At that, he gives me a big smile. “I proposed to her in front of the entire elementary school during one of her assemblies,” he says.
I laugh. “I thought you said no grand gesture would convince someone you love them.”
“It doesn’t. I spent years showing your mother how much I loved her before that day. I didn’t need to convince her. She already knew.”
Then he turns and heads down the hall.
When I eventually go back to bed a while later, his words are still on my mind. Love is a million little things. The paying attention. The listening. The caring. The effort.
As happy as I am about the direction Gabi and I are moving, I know my girl. I know she’s going to pull back at some point like she did before, when I left for college. I’ll know better this time. I’ll know not to let her go too far.
But I can also start showing her all the ways I love her now. I can make sure if that day comes, I’ll have already done everything I can to show her how important she is to me, show her she’s it for me, and show her that will never change.
chapter twenty
Gabi
When we walk into Cedar Cider hand in hand, I can feel the eyes on us almost instantly. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had the attention of almost everyone in town, and I forgot what it feels like. The biggest news to hit Cedar Point High School during the summer between sophomore year and junior year was the fact that Bishop Mitchell had asked Gabriela Ventura to be his girlfriend.
I’ve always had a secret belief that people watched us and secretly rooted for us to fail. How could the town’s golden boy—the one who had all the promise to take the world by storm, the one who would make it big and put Cedar Point on the map—how could he fall for, as I heard one woman refer to me, “that emo girl with all the eyeliner”?
Granted, I’ve grown out of my sullen artist phase—for the most part. While that shouldn’t be a deciding factor in whether or not one is deserving of a man’s attention, there’s a part of me, the girl who always felt like people saw us as a mismatched pair, that wants to parade around the room with our hands in the air. It wants to show off this shiny new relationship—or I guess, this recently dusted off and repolished relationship—and tell people to get fucked.
I definitely do not do that, though, instead walking with Bishop up to the bar to order a beer before we sit in two comfortable leather chairs in the corner.
“Getting excited for the scrimmage series?” I ask, taking a sip of my beer then setting it on a round, branded coaster on the wooden table between us.
Bishop grins. “Very excited. I’m really proud of how everyone’s doing, and I think there’s a good chance they’ll actually surprise themselves.”
I nod. “How are things going with that kid?”
“Which kid?”
