He nodded, smiling that cute shy smile of his. “That sounds great, Dain. Also, hi. How are you?”
I snorted. “Oh, right. Probably should’ve led with that.”
He snorted and leaned in to kiss my cheek. The move was so sweet it made my heart flutter. Good lord, why was he so adorable? His sweetness kept breaking down my walls, one brick at a time. Soon there’d be nothing left.
He glanced around, his smile growing. “You decorated for Winter Solstice.”
I nodded. “Yeah, after I was turned, I kind of adopted the holiday since all my friends and new family celebrate it. I grew up celebrating Christmas, but I don’t do that anymore. I usually have my little brother over on Solstice and do a little dinner thing together.” I shrugged. “What about you? Do you celebrate any holidays around now?”
“We do Winter Solstice as well. Just a dinner, like you.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yep. We exchange a few gifts too, but nothing too extravagant.”
“Gotcha. Paxton and I do the same.” I sent him a small smile. “Iced tea, lemonade, soda, water, coffee?”
He grinned. “Iced tea sounds great.”
“I knew you were going to say that.”
After fixing our drinks and passing him one, I put the giant serving bowl that was overflowing with pasta right in the center of the table, then added a pot of extra sauce beside it and set some parmesan cheese there as well. I’d already set the table, so I sat down, waved Lanche into a chair, and said, “Dig in.”
Since I was trying to be a good host, I plopped a big helping onto his plate.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Help yourself to the sauce and cheese if you want.”
“Mm. This all smells delicious.”
I sent him a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace. Sure, I wasn’t the best cook in the world, but I knew how to make a good meat sauce and spaghetti, but everything about this night had my nerves standing on end.
“Damn, this is even better than it smells,” he said after swallowing his first bite.
I snorted. “Thanks… I think.”
He grinned shyly. “This is the best pasta I’ve ever tasted.”
That made me chuckle. “You don’t have to suck up to me, Avalanche. You’re already killing me with cuteness.”
He snorted out a laugh that turned into a cough.
“Oh my Mother, are you choking?”
He shook his head, laughing again even as he coughed. “No. I’m fine.” He chuckled. “Just went down the wrong tube. I’m good now.”
As we ate, I began to relax, and when we moved into the living room and our conversation continued with Lanche making me laugh and making my belly flutter, I finally felt like myself instead of a nervous mess.
I really began to believe that Lanche was safe. He wasn’t going to hurt me. He never would. I was safe with him.
And he was so damn sweet, and very clearly into me, and I kept holding back on him. It wasn’t really fair.
I needed to tell him what happened to me so he’d understand where I was coming from. Then maybe I could stop feeling guilty every time I didn’t accept an invitation into his home or invite him back to mine. Then maybe I could get the fuck over it and stop letting my past haunt me so I could look forward to a possible future with a really great man.
“What’s wrong?”
That snapped me out of my thoughts. I took him in and met his eyes, eyes full of worry, hope, and something like affection. Honest eyes. Eyes that would never hurt me. I needed to tell him the truth.
