AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I smiled, enjoying the feel of his warm cheek under my palm. Zac had always been the type of guy who was good at leaving work at work and not bringing it home at the end of a shift. Unless he needed to talk something out in order to fully process it, I usually didn’t press him for details.
“That’s totally okay. But if you need to talk, I’m here.”
“I know, love. Thank you.”
My stomach flipped. He used to call me that all the time but hadn’t done it at all since he’d been back. It was for obvious reasons, I supposed, but hearing it now made my limbs tingle and my chest ache. Was this really happening? Were we really back together after I’d spent so long desperately wishing for this?
“Sorry, you said you were hungry. Let’s go.” He let go of my hand after giving it one more kiss—on my knuckles this time—and got out of the truck. My mind still spun as he came around for my door. When he opened it, he couldn’t resist leaning in foryet anotherkiss before offering me a hand down. “Sorry. I’ve got a lot of making up to do in the kissing department.”
“You’re off to a good start.”
We walked into the restaurant and got seated quickly for a Friday night. Normally, this place was packed, but the odds were in our favor tonight. After we ordered our beers, we looked over the menu. I kept peering at him from over the top of mine, still a little stunned to be sitting here with him.
Zac and I used to come to Landry’s all the time when we were dating. It was the best date-night restaurant in town, hands down. And their menu was huge, which helped a lot, since coming here over and over again would get old if we always had to order the same things.
Memories floated through me as I watched him from across the small table. Like that night we celebrated my birthday with all of my friends, and Zac didn’t care at all that he was the only guy. They were his friends too by then.
Then there was the time with my parents and Lyndi. He’d fit in so well with my family, you would have thought he’d known them his whole life, rather than only six months at that point.
My parents had been just as supportive as Lyndi when I’d told them we were giving it another go. Part of me wanted to scream a little at how easy they were able to forgive him, but that was dumb. I should be grateful they weren’t planning to be rude to him like another set of parents might have been. It was a lesson in grace, I supposed.
And then there was the night we came here for our two-year anniversary, about three weeks before he left me. It had been one of the most romantic dates of my life, and we’d had a lengthy discussion about marriage that night. I’d been sure a ring was coming any day. In hindsight, I might have been right. But it was what it was.
“Do you know what you want?” Zac asked, not looking up from the list of offerings.
I gulped. Yeah, I definitely did. I wanted a lobotomy so I could erase all the past hurt and love him with abandon again. There I’d been, reminiscing, thinking of other pleasant nights with him, only to let our breakup creep in and taint the memories. It was like being on an emotional roller coaster, and I wanted it to stop already.
“Lay,” he said, putting his menu down and bumping my foot with his. “You okay?”
“Yes. I’m … I don’t know, thinking.”
“You’ve been doing that a lot tonight.”
“I have a lot to think about.”
He took my menu and set it down, then slipped his hands into mine. “Try not to think so hard. Just enjoy the here and now.”
So much sincerity swirled through his big brown eyes that I couldn’t help but nod. “Okay. I will. Sorry. This is obviously going to be an adjustment.”
“Hey, we’re taking it slow, right? We’ve got plenty of time. Well, unless you wanna be home and in bed by eight, in which case you’d better hurry up and decide what you want to order or we’re not gonna make it.”
Smirking, I picked up my menu again, and this time, I planned to actually read it. But before I did, I looked at him. “It’s a weekend for me, so I think I can stay up a little past my usual bedtime.”
“I have to work tomorrow. But next weekend, I’m all yours.”
“Can’t wait.”
Our server came and took our order then, with Zac going first so I had time to pick something. When she was gone, we talked about my day at school until our food came. I’d ordered the chicken parm, just to mess with him, and said I wanted to have the good stuff before I tried his so it was fresh in my mind for comparison. Obviously, I didn’t plan to insult his cooking. But it was fun to tease him.
“Can I ask about Grayson’s mom?”
Zac’s eyes flew to mine, and it looked like he was taking great care not to choke on the bite of steak he’d just taken. Oops, bad timing.
“If you’re not comfortable talking about it—”
“No.” He shook his head and swallowed the food, cutting me off. “It’s fine. I don’t mind talking about it if you’re sure you want to know about it. It goes with the trust thing, right?”
“Right.”
