AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She hadn’t given me platitudes; her words had meaning, and she deserved the same from me. Thus, I needed to think before I spoke.
“There are three simple words that carry the weight of thousands, even millions. ‘I love you’ feels so inadequate, yet heaping on adjectives diminishes the magnitude of the emotion.” My eyes bored into hers. “I love you, Luisa. Everything about you. Even the things you don’t love about yourself. Or perhaps especially those things because each facet of your personality makes up the wonder of who you are.”
Her cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink. “Thank you, Press.”
“What you said about making love…”
“Did I make you uncomfortable?”
“Perhaps a bit. Please do not take this as a rejection of your desire. My body is one hundred percent in favor of lifting you in my arms, carrying you upstairs to my bed, and spending the entirety of the day learning every nuance of you. My heart and brain, though, aren’t ready.”
“I understand.”
“That you do, does not surprise me in the least. You know me so well, and while the same can be said about me with you, I want to know even more. You’re my closest friend, the person I feel safest sharing my feelings with. Since the moment we met, I felt as though I was put on this planet to protect you. Loving you has given my life meaning beyond what I knew existed. This change, our admission of feelings, is new, and I want to savor it.”
“This may sound as though I’m only trying to save face, but when I said you’re the only man I want to make love with, what I meant is forever, Press, not necessarily today.”
Her eyes hadn’t wavered from mine. Had she even blinked? I was astonished by how in tune we were with each other, and yet, we’d both misread the other’s feelings for so long. It was the reason for my desire to spend time getting to know one another on a romantic level before jumping straight into the sack.
“Does this mean we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” Luisa asked.
“If you’ll have me.”
“I’ll keep you as long as you’ll let me.”
Forever sounded damn good to me. “Is there anything special you’d like to do tonight?”
“I’ve never been big on celebrating New Year’s Eve. What about you?”
“There are a handful of family traditions my mother insisted on when we were home. My father mentioned one to my brother and me on our walk.”
“Will you tell me what it is?”
“Of course. We’d either think of or write down the things that angered, hurt, or frustrated us. Then, sometime before the last day of the year, we’d let it all go to make room for joy in the coming year.”
“I like that tradition. Did you share the things you wrote down with each other?”
“Sometimes. Sometimes not. My mum gave us the choice.”
By the way her eyes lit up, I knew it was something she wanted to do. While I’d told my father it might be difficult to make room for joy this year, as I thought about it, there were a good number of things I wanted to bid good riddance to.
“Shall we, then?” I asked.
Luisa nodded enthusiastically. “There’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t want to talk to Dr. Benedict today.”
Part of me wanted to suggest it would be good for her to talk to her therapist, but the wiser part of me accepted it was her decision. If she didn’t believe speaking with the therapist would be helpful, then it wouldn’t be. “You should do whatever feels right.”
“My sister is pregnant.”
“That’s wonderful news! I’m happy for her and Ridge.”
“You’re probably wondering what my sister being pregnant has to do with Dr. Benedict.”
I smiled, wanting so much to kiss her, but at the same time, wanting to hear whatever she had to say. “Now that you mention it…”
