I sigh, slumping. “I panicked when he told me he loved me. Then I ran. It was like the floor opened up and almost swallowed me whole. Because if he loves me and he means it…” Fuck, I know he means it.
“If he means it, then that means you have to tell him,” Theo finishes for me, and I nod. “And if you tell him, then that means he might tell you no outright. Not just hypothetically.”
“Exactly,” I whisper. “And that would fucking hurt.”
Theo leans back, bracing his hands behind him. “I’m gonna be honest, okay?”
I nod. “Okay.”
“He might say no.” My heart nearly cracks in two. “But,” Theo says quickly, “he might say yes. And you won’t know until you talk to him. Until you give him all the facts and let him choose.”
“I’m afraid,” I choke out, my voice barely audible.
“I know…” Theo glances at me. “For what it’s worth? I talked to him in the diner. He’s… fuck. He’s really in love with you. It was written all over his face. He was… wrecked.”
I know he was. I saw it too. It’s been playing on a loop in my mind all day. That look is the reason I’m here.
“What do you think I should do?” I whisper.
Theo squeezes my hand. “I think you should go talk to him.”
I nearly laugh. “And say what?”
Giving me a sad smile, Theo exhales a breath. “That you love him too and that you’re terrified. And then tell him why. Give him a chance.”
I really am terrified. Everything could go wrong. But hell, it’s already wrong. How much more wrong could it be? He could tellme for sure that he doesn’t want kids—or me. And if he does… Well, at least then I’ll know. That’s gotta be better than this, right?
“I’ll go talk to him,” I hear myself saying. “I think I have to. At least then I’ll know for sure. You won’t…” I pause, glancing at Theo. “You won’t tell anyone about this, right? I’ll tell everyone eventually. I just…”
Theo shakes his head. “I won’t tell a soul.”
Relief floods me. “Thank you.”
“Any time,” Theo says. “Any time at all.”
Chapter 8
Jasper
Myphoneismockingme. Mostly because I shut it off when I kept going through my messages with Arlo. It wasn’t doing me any good. All it did was make the ache in my heart almost unbearable, so I shut it off.
Better for me and for my heart.
The urge to text him is overwhelming. The need to hear his voice, even if it’s just in the short message of his voicemail, is nearly killing me. So, yeah, phone off is better for all of us.
Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t run away from me again at the diner. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that he wouldn’t speak to me at all. Or even want to be in the building with me. I saw him crouching in the alley next to Luca when I pulled out.
Yeah, that hurt quite a bit.
I sigh, turning off the TV. It’s not holding my attention, anyway. Nothing really is. Maybe I should just go to bed.
I’m pushing to my feet to do just that when the crunch of gravel in my driveway catches my attention. I squint at the window, nearly blinded by the headlights in the otherwise dark night.
I walk to the door, opening it to look outside. My heart skips a beat when Arlo climbs out of his car. He pauses when he sees me, eyes widening and mouth falling open.
We stare at each other for a second, and then he’s walking toward me. Am I dreaming? Is Arlo really here, walking toward me with determination etched in his expression?
There’s a hint of fear there too, his eyes darting to the side nervously as he gets closer.
