Page 282 of Safe With You

I turned back.

“I think it should be simple. That’s different.”

I didn’t say anything.

He lifted our joined hands slightly.

“I like you.”

A small laugh escaped me.

“That’s your big speech?”

“I wasn’t giving a speech.”

“Clearly.”

He smiled.

“I like you. I want to spend time with you. I want you here. None of that is something you have to keep earning every time I see you.”

My throat felt tighter than it did a second ago.

“And if that changes?”

The question was out before I could stop it.

Ellis didn’t flinch.

“Then I tell you.”

I stared at him.

“I don’t make you guess. I don’t punish you until you figure it out. I tell you.”

He made it sound so simple.

Maybe with him, it was.

“I don’t know if I’m good at believing that yet.”

“You don’t have to be.”

I looked at him.

“You don’t have to believe me tonight.”

His thumb brushed over my knuckles.

“Just keep paying attention.”

My eyes burned before I could stop them. Not enough to cry, but enough that I blinked and looked down.

Because that was what I’d been doing. Paying attention.

Every time he said he’d call and did. Every time he showed up when he said he would. Every time I gave him an opportunity to leave and he looked at me like he couldn’t understand why I was offering it.

He hadn’t asked me to trust a promise.