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Chapter Eleven
Abel
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I’m so exhausted Ican barely keep my eyes open but I don’t want to close them either. I want to stay here, in this moment, with Finley, and never leave.
“Can I see you tomorrow?” I speak into her hair, the darkness of the room shadowing her face from view.
“Itistomorrow,” she reminds me, snuggling deeper into my embrace.
“You know what I mean.” I kiss the top of her head.
“And if I were to say yes, what would we do?” she asks, trailing slow circles across my abdomen with the tip of her finger.
“Well, for starters we’d get naked.” I smile when she laughs. “Then I think a nice dinner would be in order. And afterward, you can come to the Trolley House with me. I’m playing there tomorrow night. Plus, I know the bartender so maybe I can get you hooked up with some of those sugary cocktails you seemed to like so much.”
“Another night of debauchery and breaking the law,” she teases.
“Rules are meant to be broken, right?”
“But laws are not. You break laws and you end up in jail.”
“You’re nineteen. I highly doubt someone’s gonna haul you to jail for having a drink a couple years before you’re technically allowed to.”
“Says the man who’s old enough to drink, so he doesn’t have to worry about it.”
“Actually, since I’m the one supplying the beverages, I’m pretty sure I’m the one that gets in trouble if you get caught. So really, it’s me taking all the risk.”
“My hero,” she jokes.
“Drinks or no drinks, I don’t care. As long as you’re there with me. What do you say?”
“Can I let you know?” Something changes in her voice and a small sliver of panic seeps into my chest.
What if I read this all wrong? What if she has no desire to see me again after tonight? What if this was just a one-time thing for her, the way I’d intended it to be for me when the evening started. What if I never see her again?
The thought of this being all I get is damn near crippling. And that in itself is enough to send another surge of panic straight to my core. The thought of never seeing her again shouldn’t bear so much weight, yet it feels like it bears the weight of the world.
“Sure,” I answer, sliding my hand up her arm.
“Abel,” she whispers against my chest after a couple of silent moments pass between us.
“Yeah?”
“Do you believe in fate?”
“I don’t know, I guess. I don’t believe that everything that happens is planned out, necessarily, but I do believe the choices we make ultimately guide us to where we’re meant to be.”
“Explain.”
“Take us meeting for example. I spent three hours leading up to meeting my brothers thinking of every excuse in the book to call them and cancel. But then something stopped me from doing it. Had I not gone, I never would have met you.”
“Abel.” Her voice is softer now, to the point that I have to strain to hear her.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to fall asleep now.” I feel her smile against my chest.
