Page 76 of Don’t Forget Me

“There you go again,” I scoffed.

“No, you’re not doing that. I will not accept the way you diminish yourself in your own head. You are brilliant! You’re perseverant and insistent. Others would have given up, but you… you chose to fight for yourself. And now you’re here. You’re here, with me.”

I smiled and lowered my gaze to my trembling in my hands. My nervous system seemed to be cause tremors throughout my body whenever I spoke of my stepfather, and I hated it. I had to find a way to stop this feeling.

“You deserve the very best in this life,” he whispered, gently moving my chin upward. There was a painful comprehension in his ocean stare. “And I’m going to do everything in my power to give that to you.”

I laughed, wrapping my arms around his torso. “Oh, what gallant words.”

“Anything for my favorite girl.”

“So, are you trying to say that you have other girls that you don’t have particular preferences for, like you do with me?” I questioned, scrunching my nose.

He rolled his eyes, dropping his arms. “I thought we talked about this already.”

I chortled. “I’m sorry.”

To be truthful, I wasn’t sorry. I loved teasing him.

In fact, I loved everything about him. It surprised me how much he was able to understand everything that I felt, even though I felt like I couldn’t even put my pain into words. Somehow, he understood the darkest parts of me and embraced them.

Ezra huffed before stomping across the rest of the bridge, leaving me by the railing. I smiled as he glared back at me.

“Wait for me,” I chuckled and followed after him.

There was no way of saving me from this fall.

thirty three

LYSANDRA

I’d always assumed that the day I had a man sleep in the same bed as me would be the worst night of my life. But Ezra proved me wrong, once again. He’d never embraced me so tightly. As though, he would lose me if he let go. I didn’t know how to explain it but there had been some sort of telepathic connection between both of us.

Neither words nor actions were needed. All that was required was a simple gesture. A hug. An embrace. Solace. Consolation for the lost years between us.

I awoke and noticed that he was gone. His figure had still been engraved on his side of the mattress. I extended my hand over to where his body had once been; it was warm but starting to grow cold. Pushing out of the sheets, I decided to make my way to the other sections of his apartment. Perhaps I would find him. Maybe we’d share a good morning like we’d shared a good evening.

He was pouring coffee into a black mug. His piercing ocean eyes met mine. “Good morning. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, I didn’t notice you’d left this morning,” I said with sorrow.

“You say that like it was a bad thing I left the bedroom this morning,” he joked.

Ezra knew me too well, and part of me adored that about us, but also hated that I’d been so transparent for him. Not a single thought passed through my mind without him know about it.

As he poured frothed milk into the large mug, a tulip’s image appeared above as he swirled his wrist. It seemed as though he practiced making the latte art.

Tulips were my favorite designs for my lattes. I wondered whether he knew that about me. It was one of my newly developed quirks about my coffee. Was this a detail that he noticed during the long nights that we worked together on the film?

I shook my head. I couldn’t be that delusional.

There was nothing I could do at that moment to hide my despair but scowl and roll my eyes. “Shut up.”

He grinned. “I made you breakfast. It was going to be breakfast in bed, but you’re here now. I hope that’s okay.”

Always so thoughtful, so giving. I smiled. “Thank you. What did you make?”

Ezra turned, then set a navy-blue plate before me. Pancakes were perfectly stacked on one another, a mixture of blueberries and strawberries beside them, and a cooked egg on the side. I beamed.