“Yeah.” I pause, not wanting to lie to her. I’m an overly honest person, but I don’t want to cause her to worry. I certainly don’twant to give her a reason to pauseus.I nonchalantly pat my abs. “My stomach is having sort of an off day. I hadn’t left the house yet.”
“That’s no good.”
I wave, dismissing her concern. “If I had to diagnose this, I’d say it was mostly related to butterflies.” That earns me a raised feathered eyebrow and a flirty smile, and I tack on, “I have no idea what species they are, but they moved in last weekend, and it’s clear they’re taking over.”
My heart swells from her joyful giggles, and we lock our gazes and stand frozen. The corners of her eyes crinkle in the cutest way as she retorts back, “I’m afraid they aren’t butterflies.”
“They aren’t?”
“Nope, not for you. You’re more special. You have little baby axolotls in there, hopping around.”
“I do?” Our laughter mingles together perfectly in sync. “I think you’re right. That’s exactly what I have.”
She takes a step further into my kitchen, glancing around. “It’s been years since I’ve been here. Not much has changed, huh?”
“Nope. When my parents moved, I left everything exactly as it was. You know me.” I wink and shoot a playful finger gun at her. “I like routines.”
As she continues to look around, she tosses me a smile that transforms her face. It’s flirty, but yet it has the sort of expression that says she’s testing me.
I step behind her. “Are you looking for something specific?”
“Nah, just seeing what your life is like.”
I casually extend my arm, ushering her further in. “You’re welcome to take a tour. Mi casa es su casa.”
“Oh.” Her eyes round, glinting with bright green specs. “Are we at that stage already?”
“Baby,” I tease, my voice lower than normal. “I’ll meet you at any stage you want. You tell me. What stage are we at?”
She holds my gaze, and I don’t waver as I’m ready to see this through.
She’s all I ever wanted.
Her teeth dig into her plush bottom lip, flushing it to a darker pink, and I can literally see the wheels turning in her pretty little head. The anticipation of her next words makes those stomach axolotls come alive. They’re gearing up to swim a marathon. She can say anything, and I will agree.
Does she want to be my girlfriend?
Yeah, I’m there.
Heck, does she want to get engaged?
I willrunto the jewelry store with bare feet.
Would she prefer to skip the engagement and get married?
Vegas, here we come!
I don’t want to close my eyes, but if I do, all I will ever see is her beautiful face etched into my brain.
Because it’s already been there forever.
She’s etched into my soul.
“Gia,” I whisper, my voice growing with concern because she hasn’t answered me yet. “What do you think this is?”
“I didn’t think we were allowed to put a label on it yet.” Her cadence is slow, as if she is weighing each word carefully before allowing it to make a sound.
My heart deflates. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s all in. Maybe she’s not ready?
