AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course.” I look away, clear my throat. “It’s hard not to feel that way with you.”
“I feel the same way. I just… want to do things right with you.”
“So why did you do it?”
Ethan waits a beat, and when he speaks, his voice is solid. Certain. “Because I’ve wanted to kiss you again for a long, long time. Four years’ worth of long times.”
For some reason, I distinctly remember the last time I asked him this question. This is a better answer. The answer of someone who’s thought this through. But even so, I can’t bring myself to meet his eyes. Instead, I stare at the bedspread. Why does every roadside hotel have the same loud, splotchy blankets? It seems like such an odd choice to get people to relax…
Focus, Val!
“I don’t know where to go from here,” I say quietly.
Ethan shifts. “I know. This is… complicated. I’d be lying if I said that spending all this time with you didn’t feel right. But I’m happy to pretend the kiss never happened, if that’s what you want.”
I genuinely can’t imagine being able to forget about that kiss. My lips are still tingling with the memory of his mouth, and my body heats at the mere thought of being wrapped around him in the water.
I shrug, risking a glance his way. “That kiss was pretty memorable.”
Ethan’s lips—pressed into a concerned line—now tug up at the corners. He’s shifted to face me. “Oh, yeah?”
My heart is banging around my ribcage so loudly, I’m surprised he can’t hear it. “Yeah. I… might be open to another one someday.”
His expression shifts and he leans slightly towards me. That invisible thread between us feels suddenly undeniable.
“I want to be honest with you, Teeny.” His voice is low and gruff, like a wave about to break. “I wanted today to feel like a date without actually asking you out, and I realize now that that was stupid. So I want to tell you, point blank, that I want to win you back. I want to date you, court you, whatever you want to call it. I want to be the man for you because I’m still crazy about you. Have never stopped being crazy about you.”
His eyes are a storm of contradictions—a mixture of tenderness and fierceness, passion and calm. And yet, through it all, he seems set. Determined.
My stomach is a mess of butterflies and nerves. I focus on the blanket again. “You’re serious?”
“Serious as I’ve ever been.”
My mom’s words come back to me. If he’s showing you his whole heart…
All of a sudden, I wonder whether she’s right. I’ve been so consumed with not repeating the past, not moving backwards. But in doing so, have I closed myself off to what’s happening right here and now?
New Val would be brave. She wouldn’t run away from what she’s feeling.
I make a decision. Finally meet his gaze. “Okay… let’s give it a shot.”
There, I said it. Put it out in the open. And the smile that brightens Ethan’s face makes my heart ache. “Prepare yourself, Teeny, you don’t know what’s coming for you. I’m going to date you so hard.”
I laugh. “That sounds ambitious.”
“I’m a very ambitious person,” he jokes and his expression becomes tender again. “But we’ll take it as slow as you feel comfortable with.”
His face is full of this innocent joy that makes me want to be closer to him. I scooch over slightly. He places his hands by his side. Not pushing me or urging me to come closer, but there for when I’m ready.
“Whatever makes you happy,” he says. “I just want to be with you.”
I giggle. “You said that already.”
“I’ll say it again. However many times you want to hear it.”
My legs have somehow developed minds of their own and are now draped over his thighs. His arm cradles behind my back, and he holds me as I rest my head on his shoulder. Everything feels disjointed, but not in a bad way. More like things falling into place after being out of whack for awhile.
“You’re such a sap,” I murmur.
