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“Lia, please look at me.”
“I can’t,” I whisper out, barely holding myself together.
“Lia, look at me,” he quietly urges.
I lift my gaze, my lips trembling.
“What do you see?”
“I don’t understand,” I reply.
“What do you see when you look at me?” he repeats.
“That’s kind of an odd question,” I reply, biding my time.
“Okay then, tell me what you feel when you look at me. You can be honest. I can take it.”
I heave out a sigh, honesty all that I have left. “I feel scared, Drix.”
“I frighten you?” he asks, flinching.
“Not like the way Martin did, not like that,” I reassure him.
“Why do I scare you, Lia?” he gently asks.
“Because you make me feel…” My voice trails off as I press my eyes shut, trying to gather myself. When I open my eyes, the intense way he looks at me catches my breath.
“I make you feel what?” He flexes his fingers and I know he wants to reach for me again but doesn’t.
“You make me feel safer than I’ve felt in a long, long time,” I admit in a rush of breath, and then as though a dam has been breached my words come flooding out. “You make me feel like I’m worth something, that I’m interesting, worthy of your attention. You make me feel good about myself.”
“You are amazing, Lia. God, it’s me that’s not worthy of you,” he says with a shake of his head.
“You make me believe that there’s a chance…” I drag in another faltering breath as he waits, staring at me intently. “You make me believe that there’s a chance I could be happy again.”
“I want you to be happy, Lia, and I want to be that man who makes you happy.”
This time he reaches for me, his palms covering my hands, enveloping them in their warmth. “Ignore Carl, he means nothing. Trust what you feel, Lia. If you can’t fully trust me, trust that.”
“I’ll try, Drix.”
“That’s good enough for me,” he replies, smiling broadly now.
Toby yells from the climbing frame, and we both turn to face him. “This is so much fun!”
We both laugh, his childish exuberance the tonic we both need.
“We should probably get him out of there or we’ll never get any shopping done,” Drix says with a chuckle.
“About that,” I begin.
“I know you don’t want me to buy you anything, but will you at least allow me to treat Toby?”
I consider his offer as Toby runs over to us both, his happiness a remedy to my barely stitched together heart. How can I possibly deny him?
“Okay,” I say, nodding as Toby throws himself into Drix’s arms.
“It might just be your lucky day,” Drix says, hauling him into his arms as they both laugh.
