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“Lexy.” Her gaze is stuck on her knees. I lift her chin with my hand, and she hesitantly lets me guide her dulled blue eyes to me as she stares blankly. I shift to grip her neck, my thumb firmly locked on the side of her face to keep her focus on me. I need her to hear me.
“I’mnotleaving you.”
Her eyes narrow as she studies my face as if she’s trying to determine the answer to her question before she asks. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. After what happened with Todd, I’m trying to be conscious of how my actions affect you. I don’t want to be selfish with you.” I pause. “Except with your body,” I add, chuckling, in an attempt to lighten the mood. The corner of her mouth twitches up before resuming its downward position. “This is a big decision, and I want to include you in it. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up.”
Her face softens like my words are getting through to her. “Do you want to buy it?”
I sigh, letting my thumb skate across her cheek. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought much about what I want to do yet. I love bartending. It would also be nice to use my business degree and have something that’s mine. But it’s in Oregon, which is a problem.”
She’s silent for a moment. “Why is that a problem?” Is she asking me a trick question?
“Because we don’t live in Oregon…”
“Do you wish we did?”
Why am I nervous? I’ve gotten so good at reading her, but I really can’t tell how she feels about this. “Uhhh.”
“You can tell me. Honesty is your thing, Troy. It’s the reason I trust you. I know I’m not the most comfortable in serious conversations, but I’d rather have them with you than you be worried about talking to me.”
“Yeah? Okay. I don’t know. As far as location, I like Oregon more. Part of me thinks it would be great. But these past two months have been great too.”
“This is such a big opportunity for you.”
“What are you saying?”
“If you did want to move to Oregon, would you want me to come with you?”
I don’t hesitate. “Yes. I wouldn’t want to go if you weren’t with me, but I can’t ask you to do that.”
“How long do you have to decide?” she asks before chewing on her bottom lip, vulnerability filling her eyes.
“I have a couple months, but Lexy–”
She cuts me off. “I’m not promising anything. I don’t want to be like my mom—blindly following some guy. And I’ve never been to Oregon. I might hate it.”
She hesitates, and I take the opportunity to interject. “I would never ask you to make any sort of move in your life you aren’t comfortable with or don’t truly want.”
Her eyes flicker across my face as if she’s searching for the truth in my words. “I told Mack I would be at his final show in April. Maybe we could go together and check it out?” Once she finishes, it looks like she’s holding her breath waiting for my response. It’s so fucking cute.
“I love that idea.” I stick with that instead of confessing that I love her. “Thank you for this, Lexy.”
She grins, but then it fades. “I don’t want to say something ridiculous like ‘I don’t care where we are as long as I have you’ because that's… well, ridiculous. We basically just met. But I can admit I kind of like you, Troy, and I want to see where things go with us before a big decision is made that takes an opportunity away from us.”
“You kind of like me, huh?” I stand, reaching for her hand and finally pulling her out of her fetal position on the couch. I wrap my arms tightly around her waist, pulling her into me.
“Shut up, and do some of the other things I like.” She smirks right as my lips land on hers, and in one smooth jump, her legs wrap around me tightly before I carry her to my bed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
TROY
Lexy:Let’s have a contest.
Me:What does the winner get?
Lexy:You don’t even want to know what the competition is first?
