Page 52 of All I Feel

I kept my hold firm on Tessa as she said, “There is no time and place I want to meet with you, Ryan. Please, I’m begging you. If I really did mean anything to you, just let me be.”

His expression changed, and his voice dipped lower. “I miss you, babe.”

Feeling Tessa’s body tense, I jumped in again. “Time to go.”

“Fuck you.”

Before I could respond, one of the staff members walked over and said, “Excuse me, is everything alright here?”

“Perfect,” I replied. “This gentleman was just leaving.”

Hastings looked at Tessa. “I get what you’re doing here with this guy. You want to get back at me. Do what you’ve got to do. I’m not going anywhere.”

Tessa didn’t respond, mostly because he turned and walked away. Only after he was out of the café did I sit in thechair on the opposite side of the table from Tessa. Her expression remained slightly stunned and confused.

I reached for her hand, covered it with mine, and asked, “Are you okay?”

She blinked, shaking her head in what appeared to be an effort to snap herself back to reality. “W… What?”

“Are you alright?”

For several long moments, she simply stared at me. I briefly wondered if she’d gotten lost in thoughts again and forgot that I was sitting right here. But suddenly, she spoke softly. “You kissed me.”

Right.

That.

Aside from wishing I hadn’t been here or needed to stop doing it, I’d loved everything about kissing her. Perhaps she didn’t feel the same. “I did.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Was it bad?”

Her lips parted, her eyes unfocused. I got the sneaking suspicion she was replaying the kiss in her mind. “I… No. No, it wasn’t bad at all.”

“But not good, either?”

“It was…” She let out a deep breath. “God, Ace, it was extraordinary.”

My lips curved into a smile. “I feel the same.”

“But why did you kiss me?”

I searched her face, trying to find any sign of what she was thinking or feeling. Tessa had said enough for me to know she didn’t have much experience. And it made me think that perhaps I’d made a huge mistake by kissing her the way I had.

“Your ex is a dick,” I declared. “He can’t seem to get itthrough his head that you want nothing to do with him, so I thought it might help to show him that you’ve moved on.”

Tessa lifted her chin slightly as understanding dawned on her features. “Oh, I see. So, it didn’t mean anything.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but a server walked up. “Okay. Are we all set now? Can I take your orders?”

Shit. I hadn’t even thought about food. Jerking my chin toward Tessa, I said, “Go ahead and order if you’re ready. I’ll decide quickly.”

While Tessa gave her order, I scanned the menu and found something appetizing. At this point, it really didn’t matter much to me. As long as it was edible, I didn’t care. What was important to me was dealing with what Tessa had said before our server interrupted. I rattled off my order, and a moment later, we were alone again.

Tessa appeared a little uneasy and a lot uncertain. I squeezed her hand and called her name. “Tessa?’

“Yeah?”