“Good. I hate walks in the park. They’re boring. I prefer life at a much faster pace.”
A glorious laugh slips from between her lips, and it cracks the tension in the air. I breathe a little bit easier, preparing myself for her next reason we shouldn’t give this a shot.
“Right now, I feel uncharacteristically cranky, and I know if I check my blood sugar, it’ll be low.” After checking her phone, she pops a few gummy bears into her mouth and gives me a look that saysI told you so. “It’s an alarm waking you up in the middle of the night because my blood sugar is dropping. Or vomiting and ruining bed sheets or your clothes. It’s having to stop driving because I spiked and suddenly feel dizzy.”
She pauses to eat another gummy. “It’s a lot, but truthfully, I love every single part of this journey. The good days. The bad days. Even the ugly ones. Each day is different, and I’m finally starting to feel comfortable with that. But with that comes boundaries I have to set, and I can’t be with someone who smothers me or treats me as a burden.”
She has said that twice now. Now I know what she’s scared of.
I swallow hard, weighing her words. “You need a happy medium.”
Mallory nods. “Exactly. And you don’t have to be that, Gray.”
“Don’t do that,” I beg.
The issue isn’t that she called me Gray. That’s normal nowadays, the alternating between my first and last name. This time, I’m sure she’s using it as a wall to keep me out.
“Please don’t go backwards, Ed. We’ve come so far over the last few months. Do you not want me to try?”
“I do,” she says quickly. “I’m sorry. I just want to be completely honest with you because I’m scared.”
“How can I make it less scary?”
She shrugs. “Communication is important. I need you to be honest with me. When it gets to be too much, tell me. Don’t lie to preserve my feelings. Without trust and transparency, there’s no future for us.”
Forus.
My mouth goes dry at the possibility of a future being spoken into existence, and she’s the one who said it.
Mallory is just as scared as I am. There’s a chance she could hurt me too. The conditional love I’m so used to could be right around the corner, but I know I can trust her to give me the kind of love I’ve always wanted.
“Done and done,” I say, and even though her eyes roll at my promise, she opens her arms.
Like a magnet, I’m pulled toward the stunning, vulnerable woman I’m lucky enough to be trusted by. I practically sprint across the room and drag her onto my lap, drawing lazy circles on her back as she counts the freckles on my forearm.
“I’m really scared, but I’m also really excited. I like you a lot, Gray,” she whispers, and the quiet confession makes my heart pound even harder.
“I like you even more, Eddie.”
I’m about to kiss her when the door swings open, revealing Cade’s silly grin. “Hey lovebirds, I don’t mean to ruin the moment or anything, but all of this food Kent brought over is about to get demolished if you guys don’t hurry up.”
Mallory’s head pops up. “Lunch?”
“Chinese,” Cade and I say at the same time.
“Egg rolls?”
I loosen my hold on her hips. “Of course. Can’t forget your favorite food group—”
She’s up and out the door before I can finish. Cade gives me a quick thumbs up and takes off after her. The sound of my two best friends fighting like siblings makes me smile until a body hits the ground. I jump up, but my body relaxes when Mallory let’s out a celebratory hoot, which means it’s Cade laid out. Shay yells at them to calm down before three chairs screech across the ground.
“Hurry up, Gray!” Mallory yells. “I can’t fight him off for much longer! No, Cade! That’s mine!”
I follow the voice of the woman I’m in love with. For once, everything is going right.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“I don’t like beingblindfolded and I don’t like surprises, so this first date isn’t off to a great start.”
