“Knight.”
Pop nodded. “You have to tell him what you need to be protected from. Otherwise he’ll fight any and everything trying to figure it out. That’ll only sow the seeds of contempt.”
“What if he doesn’t care?”
And there it was. Through all the waste and filth—the kernel of truth.
What if Calvin didn’t care?
No one else ever had. Every man I’d been romantically engaged with, at the end of the day, justhadn’t cared.
Pop took my face into his hands again. “If more people had partners that looked at them the way Calvin looks at you, kiddo, the world would have far more love and less hate in it.”
Breathe.
I took in a deep, gasping breath and felt my insides alight.
“It’s okay to not be the strongest or the bravest,” Pop continued. “It really is. He loves you for your wit and intelligence. Your humor and your charm.”
“I’m not handsome.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” He smiled and let go of my face. “And of course you’re handsome. Look whose genes you have.”
I laughed, although it sounded kind of pathetic, and carefully dabbed at the corners of my eyes. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.” My mouth worked, but even though I felt drained and oddly clean inside after that sobfest, my lip wouldn’t stop quivering. “I feel better, though,” I added.
“I’m glad.”
The kettle started whistling loudly. Pop moved to take it off the burner.
I used my T-shirt to wipe my face dry one more time. “I know he loves me.” I looked up at the fuzzy outline of Pop. “He came out for me.”
“That’s true,” Pop said, pouring the water into the mugs. He set the kettle down and faced me again. “And did you ever stop to think, his ex is precisely that?”
“An ex?”
Pop nodded. “Instead of comparing yourself to someone who came before you, consider the reasons why what the two of you have works better.”
Huh.
“What does Calvin think of you talking to Neil?”
“He doesn’t care.”
“Probably because he focuses on the fact that you two function in sync and not against each other, like you had with Neil.”
I leaned back against the counter. “Straus and Winter sounds like a tax firm.”
Pop laughed softly. “A bit.”
“Snow and Winter sounds like….”
“A happy accident?” Pop supplied.
I picked up my sunglasses and fiddled with them for a moment. “Sounds like forever.”
Chapter Eleven
“IS ITokay with you if I stay the night?”
