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“Okay,” I said, blowing out a breath and settling my cheek against his chest again.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. You suck at this.” There was a beat of silence, then his chest began to rumble as he chuckled.
“I do,” he said, still chuckling. “I really do.”
“I’m not much better though.”
“You are far better than me,” he whispered. “You didn’t shy away from telling me what you wanted.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
Simple question.
Simple answer.
“That’s what you thought you wanted before,” I reminded him.
“Not just thought. It’s what I’ve always wanted. But I gotta earn that right again.”
“You have to earn the right to want?” I frowned. That didn’t even make sense.
“No, I have to earn the right to pursue you,” he said. “I still want you. It isn’t just now. I wanted you before Homecoming. I wanted you at Homecoming. I was ready to take any scrap of attention I could get that night, as long as you were having a good time.”
“I did have fun,” I said slowly, sucking in a deep breath of him. “Until I wasn’t.”
“I’m glad for the first part.” But regretted the second. Well, we all kind of did.
“How is your hand?” I hadn’t really asked. I should have asked more.
“It’s fine,” he said, then stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Barely notice it right now, and I can still play.”
“You sounded great last night.”
“Thanks for letting me interrupt your homework.”
Tiddles began to purr, and my eyes were actually getting heavier, so I closed them and tucked my cheek a little closer to Ian. “Thanks for playing for me.”
“My pleasure, Angel.” He whispered that last bit.
“Ian…”
“I know, you said I shouldn’t call you that anymore.”
No, that wasn’t what I said exactly. “I was mad.”
“I know. I’ll stop if it really bothers you.” But he didn’t want to. That much was clear.
I wanted to trust him. I wanted to believe him. A part of me did.
But another part of me still reeled from having that rug yanked out from under me. “Nothing’s changed,” I reminded him. “All those things you said—all the stuff that happened. It’s all still there, and I’m still dating the other guys.”
“I know.”
“So maybe…”
