“You told Jace,” is the first thing to come out of my mouth and Blake chuckles, stretching a bit before looking back at me.
“No, you told him. He’d already known by the time I told him.” He sighs, opening both eyes to stare me down.
Did I really?
“I didn’t–”
“You did. He told me you called him after getting piss poor drunk with the girls one night,” Blake says amused by the clear frown on my face.
“I don’t remember that,” I groan as he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me closer.
“I bet.” He yawns, falling back asleep but I’m wide awake.
I pry myself from Blake, checking my phone for the time. I search high and low for my pink cell phone only to find it plugged in by Blake’s desk and mirror.It’s then that I notice that I look completely different from the night before. My hair is covered by a pink bonnet, my face is makeup-free, and my clothes have been swapped with an oversized t-shirt.
I move swiftly around Blake’s room, unaware of the now wide-awake man on the bed as I stumble over my own platform heels.
I face the bed when the faint sound of stifled laughter rings through the quiet room and narrow my eyes on Blake.
“You were mad at me last night because you thought I aired out our dirty laundry?” He asks, raising an eyebrow as I nod. Blake takes my words into consideration and nods before sliding to the edge of his bed, sitting directly in front of me. His hands find my waist, holding me in place as he speaks.
“How about this, we don’t speak about our relationship to anyone until we’re both ready. Our relationship is sacred to us, we shouldn’t fight before we get a chance to get closer,” He says and my nose scrunches at his wording.
Relationship?
This is not a relationship.
“Blake, honey…I’m going to say this once. We are not in a relationship until I have the title of girlfriend. Until I’m properly asked to be that, we aren’t in a relationship. Now, I have to get back home. I forgot that I promised my brother that we’d hang out today,” I say, turning on my heels to face his door, ready to get out here.
Classic, Cleo…letting past transgressions affect your current greatness.
It’s not Blake’s fault that I’ve become like this over the past couple of years, a major part of me knows that, but the less logical, smaller part of me has an inkling that if I were to pursue anything with Blake Wilder, I’d only end up hurt in the end.
“Why’re you so pouty today? Did The Sugar Hole run out of Pink Truffle?” Ryan asks from the other side of our booth at Doug’s Diner, his choice of location for today’s lunch date.
After Dad pointed out that none of us (specifically, me) have been spending time together, Ryan and I instantly made plans to have a Brother-Sister day.
My brother runs a tattooed hand down his face, giving a passing girl a quick smile before focusing back on me.
“Nothing.” I shrug, taking a sip of the Shirley Temple I’d ordered. Lemon-lime and Cherry flavors explode on my tongue, and I sigh as the cool drink is swallowed.
“You’re a shit liar, sis. How's your lover boy?”
I tense a bit at the mention of my “lover boy”. After I’d walked out of Blake’s room, leaving him dazed and confused in bed. I turned off my phone and proceeded to ignore everyone.
My fear of commitment came about after dealing with Marcelo and his constant antics towards me. It wasn’t even something I was aware of until I tried to go on a date a few weeks after our initial break up. The guy was nice, albeit, a littletoosweet and mentioned how he was dating to marry and not for a fling.
I’d immediately left him there and proceeded to walk around Central Park until I could come to senses with the fact that my life was changing and I didn’t want a man to be able to affect me anymore.
Dad wasn’t the one who’d come up with the “no boys” clause of our agreement, he’d simply agreed to it and said he would hold me accountable to my word unless I genuinely wanted to give men another try.
Ryan eyes me for a long moment before tutting and nodding his head. “You havegotto get out of your own head.” He sighs.
I frown looking up at the sky as my shoulders drop in defeat, he’s not wrong. I’m cock-blocking my future with Blake—and for very rational reasons. He likes playing sports, I’d rather watch. He’s a red guy, I’m pink through and through. He’s overly confident yet shy at times which I think is cute, but I tend to lack confidence in myself sometimes. He’s like the sun, always bright and glowing,and I’m like the moon, always there, yet hidden. And as I list all of these reasons, I realize they’re all completely irrational.
I’m just making excuses, so instead of bringing any of my thoughts to my brother’s attention, I change the subject.
“How’s that girl you’re supposed to be seeing?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as he chokes on his water.
