“I’ll admit I’m curious about why you started dating him in the first place.” I brush my knee against hers under the table, and her eyes meet mine as she sips on her milkshake.
“Let’s just say he was nice until he wasn’t. He shows this person who is a charismatic, fun-loving guy to everyone at school, but he’s much different one-on-one. And now that he knows about us? You saw him. He’s pissed. I’m just waiting for him to say something about us to someone and really cause us trouble.” She heaves a deep sigh.
I look down for a second and pick at a stray thread on the tablecloth before I catch her eye. I don’t want her to see how ticked off I am that he’s doing this to her or that I’m about two seconds from jumping out of my seat and going after this guy. I’d be happy to put an end to it once and for all by putting my fist in his smug fucking face.
Instead of doing that, though, I keep my cool and give Hadleigh a chance to see that she’s not the only one who makes mistakes. No one is perfect or has a perfect relationship. “You know, I didn’t exactly pick a winner for my last girlfriend, either.” I let it hang there for a second, watching the questions flicker over her face. “The reason Willow wanted to meet you the other night was because of Tara, the girl I dated before you. Willow spent a lot of time picking me up and helping me not feel like a total failure after Tara was finished with me.”
“What happened with her? I didn’t know if I should ask you about her when Willow brought her up the other night.”
“We dated for most of last year, and then I found out she’d been playing the field while I thought we were exclusive.” I sigh. “I trusted her, and I guess I shouldn’t have.”
“Isn’t that the normal thing to do, though? In a relationship, I mean?” She shrugs. “Not that I’m a great judge of what a relationship should be like. But shouldn’t it mean there is a certain level of trust there?”
“I think that’s why it hurt so much. She’d done nothing but lie to me. It took me a long time to get over it.” I skim my thumb back and forth across the back of her hand. “But then seeing a certain pretty brunette at a bar helped in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”
Hadleigh’s face slowly lights up, and she questions softly, “You mean me?”
I nudge her knee with mine, then leave it touching her, liking the way it feels. “Who else would I mean?”
She smiles, the first real, true smile I’ve seen from her all day. If only she knew. I’d do anything to make sure she has no reason to do anything but smile from now on. And if that means I have to take this whole matter with Ed into my own hands, then I will. I’d do just about anything for her, and that realization should scare the shit out of me given how fast it’s all happening, but it doesn’t. It just doesn’t.
We work our way through the rest of our meal, and I try to steer conversation back to light, easy topics. I eat everything on my plate while she mostly sticks to her fries and only manages to eat half of her burger. “You know, I promised myself I was just going to take you out to dinner to try to get your mind off of things, and I feel like I did a terrible job of it.” I reach across the table for her hand.
She groans, scrunching up her nose. “It’s okay. You’ve helped a lot. I just can’t stop thinking about how embarrassing that whole scene was in the workroom earlier. And with Damon and Jake walking into the middle of it, too.”
“Everyone has shit days. I’m sure they both understood. They were mostly just concerned. They both inquired after you when you went to the bathroom, you know.”
“Oh, jeez.”
I wave it off. “They didn’t care about Ed. Like I said, they just wanted to make sure you were okay. Come on. Let’s get out of here.” I toss enough money to cover the food and a tip on the table and stand, then hold out a hand for Hadleigh.
“Thank you.” She takes it and scoots off the seat. I think I surprise her when our fingers intertwine and I don’t let go of her hand because she frowns up at me.
“What? We aren’t anywhere near school, and I haven’t seen a soul in here I know. Have you?”
She purses her pink, pouty lips. “No.” She squeezes my hand tightly.
“Good.” We walk out the door and around the corner of the building to where I parked my truck. When we get there, she reaches for the door handle, but I put my hand firmly against the door. She turns to me, wavy strands of her dark hair peek out from under her knit hat and whip around in the wind. I put my hands on either side of her head, tipping her face up to mine. I could gaze into her dark eyes forever. No matter what kind of day we’ve both had, the fact that she’s here with me makes everything better. I can only hope she feels the same way.
With a smile on my lips, I cover her mouth with mine. The kiss is soft and slow at first, creating heat where there was none out here in the cold air. Her fingers clutch the front of my coat and pull me to her. She moans when I deepen the kiss, my tongue meeting hers. It’s a sensual sound that has my dick hard in three seconds flat.
Reluctantly,
