What…oh my God.What?
I step inside and my jaw drops open. As the door closes behind me, I just stand there, staring at the neon glowing on the walls.
There’s not just one neon sign up anymore.
There aremultipleneon signs.
A neon blue sign declares:Fuck the risks.Another one, in bright rosy red, reads:I love you, Em.And the third, in glimmering green, says:I’m all in. For real.
I’m still speechless as I turn and see Rock standing in the doorway of our back office. He draws in a slow breath, then walks over to me.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hi,” I squeak out. “What’s—Rock, what’s—”
“Too much?” he asks.
“It’s a lot of neon,” I say, laughing. I focus on his eyes. “Are you serious?”
“I mean, it’s non-refundable, so.”
I screw up my mouth and punch him playfully in the arm.
“Hey,” he says. “Is that any way to treat your he-man?”
I bite back a smile. “Be serious. Do you really want to do this?”
“I really want to do this.” He takes my hand and squeezes it. “I’m too crazy about you not to want to give this a shot.” He takes something out of his pocket. It’s a little piece of bubblegum-pink ribbon. “I need to show you this. You know how long I’ve been carrying it around with me? Ten damn years. It’s from—”
“Prom,” I say, astonished. “My corsage.”
“Yeah.” He smiles at me. “You left it in my car. The flowers wilted, but I kept this piece of it. Em, I had the worst crush on you back then. I’ve always had a crush on you. It’s been that way since day one. Keeping my feelings buried has been harder than hell, but I did it, because I didn’t want to risk scaring you off or ruining our friendship. But I’m done keeping my feelings a secret. I’m done being afraid of the risks. I love you, and not just as a friend. I love you. It feels so damn good to finally say that.” He takes a deep breath. “And I want to do this for real.”
My heart is pounding like crazy. “Rock…I love you, too. But what if we mess everything up?”
“Then it’ll suck. A whole fucking lot. But I’d rather take that chance and find out if we’re as good together as I think we’ll be than never find out and live a life full of regret.”
I nod. As much as it scares me, I want to give us a chance, too.
“Okay. I’m in.”
His lips capture mine, and it feels like my heart doubles in size. I grin and pull back just enough so I can look him in the eyes as I say, “You really love me, huh?”
“I do, Em.” He wraps a hand around my waist and pulls me in tight. “I’m fucking obsessed.”
Later that week, on our day off, Rock and I go on our first real date. When he picks me up at my apartment, an overflowing bouquet in hand, I burst into excited-but-nervous giggles. I can tell Rock is nervous, too, even though he’s trying to act cool. It’s sweet how much he cares about doing all of this right. But the truth is, I don’t need everything to be perfect. Just being with him is all that matters to me.
Rock takes me to one of the nicer restaurants in town, where the lighting is low and all the tables have little flickering votive candles and soft piano music playing overhead. The food is delicious, but the portions are tiny. I cover my smile as I watch Rock resist making a grumpy comment about how small they are.
As he’s driving me home afterward, we pass by a drive-thru and both look over at it at the same time. I burst out laughing as hemakes a U-turn. We both get cheeseburgers and soft serve ice cream and eat them in a nearby parking lot.
“Mmm,” I moan, licking the ice cream. “So good.”
Rock looks at me with a tortured expression. “Jesus, Em. Don’t moan like that.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I say, grinning at him. I maintain eye contact as I lick the ice cream again, slower this time. He groans and looks away.
“That’s it,” he grumbles as I burst into laughter. “I’m taking you home.”
