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I take another step closer until I’m almost touching him.
“I know you want me,” I say. “And I get that you’re scared. I’m scared, too. But Lake? You and me? We’re worth the risk.”
He stands in front of me.
And he doesn’t say anything.
He opens his mouth and closes it.
I wait.
Opens.
And closes.
Not a single sound escapes.
I still wait.
He grabs the back of his neck and drops his head back, eyes locked on the bright blue sky above us.
“What do you want me to say?” he asks.
I eye him calmly. My insides have settled from the earlier chaos now that I’ve said it out loud.
I want a relationship with Lake. Nothing less will do.
“I want all of you,” I say. “And having less than everything? It’s just not good enough. That’s what I want from you.”
He lets out a mirthless laugh.
“It’s that simple, huh?”
“Yes.” I cross the few feet between us until I’m in his space. “You have a choice. You can take a chance with me. Or you can go on like you have so far. You can be on your own. Never risk your heart for anybody. And you’ll be safe and steady and sound and there will never be any lows. Smooth sailing. But Lake? You choose that? You’ll also miss all the highs. Every last one you could have with me.”
He stares at me silently, and I can see the fear and the hesitation and the longing swimming around in his gaze. I can feel it inside me.
“Maybe that’s enough for me,” he chokes out.
“Maybe,” I echo. “That’s something only you get to decide.” I take a step back and wait until he looks at me. “I’m gonna go.”
“You’re leaving me,” he blurts. I don’t think he means to, but it’s out there anyway.
“No.” I shake my head. “But the ball is in your court now. You need to figure out what you want. Because I want you. All of you. Every annoying, irritating, lovely, perfect inch of you. And if you can’t say the same about me? Then end it.”
He doesn’t say anything. I force myself to turn away from him, but just before I’m about to walk away, I turn back again.
“You look me up again, I’ll assume you want to finish what we started,” I echo his words from the long-ago night in his car.
Back then, it was a challenge for me.
It seems only fair to issue that challenge to him now.
LAKE
It’s another day of renovations at Rachel and Sawyer’s place, and this time nobody had to bribe me with pizza to show up—I volunteered even before Rach could get the whole question out. Anything to get my mind off Ryker.
We’re putting up drywall, and it turns out it’s strangely therapeutic. It keeps my hands busy and doesn’t really allow my mind to wander.
