AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Riley, what—?”
No. It’s my turn to talk. Taking a step forward, planting my foot firmly on the concrete floor, I cut him off. “You want to break up with me? Fine. But not until you give me one good God damn reason. Because everything you said up there was horse shit and you know it. You love me. I know you do. I saw it in your eyes after I told you. Which, by the way, that was a shit thing to do. Letting me tell you I love you and not saying it back when—” He cuts me off catching my mouth with his. Kissing me, not like it will be the last time but like it’s a promise of all the kisses yet to come.
I want to be angry. I’m so mad at him but also, I’m desperately glad he didn’t push me away. Now, all I want to do is lose myself in the moment.
Then, it ends.
“Riley, look at me.”
I’m not sure I can. How can I look him in the eye and let him break me all over again?
He places his fingers under my chin. I follow his touch. When our eyes meet, I can’t look away. There’s as much pain in them as there is in my heart.
My lungs shudder struggling to take in air.
Daniel swipes the pad of his thumb over my cheek, catching the lone tear that falls when, at last, he says, “I love you.”
“Now, was that so hard?”
We share a smile before he folds his arms around me pulling me against him. “I love you, Daniel.”
“You still want to yell at me though, don’t you?”
“A little,” I say into the firm wall of his chest.
His breath warms the top of my head when he bends to kiss my crown.
“Honestly,” I say craning my neck to look up at him. “All I want is to relax and get through the rest of my night off without any more drama.”
This sucks. What’s the point of even having time off if I can’t enjoy it? Even if I hadn’t spent half the day fighting, it goes by too quickly to get everything out of it I want or need. I don’t want to go hiking all the time but it would be nice for it not to feel like a waste of the little time off I get to go with my sister when she’s here.
“You should quit,” Daniel says reading the thoughts I’m sure are written all over my face.
“I can’t, Daniel. It’s a dream job.”
“But it’s notyourdream job.”
“It should be. It was…”
“You need to do what’s right for you, Riley. What doyouwant?”
“The answer is easy but I don’t know what being my own boss looks like. I’ve been too busy—working to please everyone else—to dream about what I want for myself. I’m not even sure I know how to dream.”
When I fall against him, he holds me close and whispers all my fear and anxiety about tomorrow—the future—away. “I’ve got you, baby girl.”
Everything’s going to be okay.
