I move to the chair in the hopes she’ll take the couch. I’ve got a plan, you see.
“You must be pretty bored.” She snickers. “To want my company.”
That’s not funny.
“I missed you.” Yeah. I said it.
“Sure.” Becklyn’s smirking, but I know her better than she thinks.
“I did. I missed you. I have plans to cook dinner for you if I can get you to hang out for a bit.”
She doesn’t respond to that. Instead, she asks me a peculiar question. “So, why did you decide to come back to school? I figured you’d move to California or stay in Chicago. You had a job offer, right?”
Joe must’ve told them all that.
This is it. This is my chance to tell her the real reason I came back.
“Becklyn…” I look down at my hands. My fingers are intertwined, and I’m leaning forward a little, my elbows on my knees. It’s one of the few positions that don’t hurt. “I came back for you.”
There. I said it.
“Excuse me?” Her voice sounds squeaky. Her face is hot pink.
I look directly at her. Our eyes meet. “I mean it. I came back for you.”
Becklyn’s shaking her head. “You expect me to believe that. Af-After last spring?”
“No. I don’t expect you to believe it, but it’s true. After I kissed you that night, I had some real soul-searching to do.”
Her scoff-slash-snort is a bit off-putting but understandable.
Reaching my left hand out, I touch hers. The one that’s on her right knee. “Just hear me out. Yeah?”
“I’ll try. But I smell bull crap.”
“No. I’m not making this up. Just let me tell you my story.”
“Your story?”
“Yeah.Mystory.”
So, I do. I tell her that the man in my fairy tale from yesterday was me. And the fancy ball was her prom. And that it took me two years to realize that was the moment Becklyn stopped being that annoying little kid and turned into a beautiful, smart pain in the ass.
I don’t think she appreciated that last part.
“I’m not a pain in the you-know-what.”
“I like that part of you.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.”
“The thing is, Becklyn, I have feelings for you. It’s why I ruined your date. The thought of you out with another guy, well, I wanted to punch that guy out.”
That must’ve gotten her attention, finally, because her face softens as she asks, “You did?”
“I was so fucking jealous.”
“You were?”
