Well, now she could stop smiling. The worry rose in Ani again, and she straightened in her seat. “What’s that?”
“If you’re not—if you don’t really feel it, or don’t think we could have anything together…if you’re still pining for someone—”
“I’m not.”
“—just say it. Just tell me no. If you don’t think this has potential, you and me—if your gut feeling is saying no, then please, you have to tell me now. I can’t…”
He trailed off, like he was getting choked up. He was the one who was worried. He was afraid of something; of what, exactly, wasn’t clear yet. She stayed quiet to let him speak.
He stared down at the table, straightened a fork. “I can’t go into this with all this hope just to have you leave me. I’m notsure I could take being left by the one person I’ve started to care about.”
This whole time, she’d been bracing for the crash—so sure that if they ever actually got together, he’d eventually walk away. But here he was, sitting next to her in a booth, admitting that his biggest fear washerleavinghim.
He had meant every word. No ego, no performance.
And it startled her, honestly. The depth of it. The vulnerability.
Ani picked up their still-clasped hands from her lap and kissed his. “Raffi jan, I can’t guarantee that down the line we won’t realize we’re not compatible and break up. You know that, right? Neither of us can.”
He stiffened, and she really felt for him. He’d been hurt so much. She’d never accounted forhisfears before. But now that he’d shown Ani that side of himself, she could do her best to allay them. “Icantell you that right now I am one hundred percent enthusiastically in—”
Now he brought their joined hands to his mouth and laid several kisses on hers.
Ani continued, “To the point where I’m not sure how this is real. Because you’reyou, and I’m just me. Average—”
Raffi cut her off. “No, nope. No talking about my girlfriend in that way. You are exquisite, Ani jan. A treasure. And I’m not wrong about these things.”
Girlfriend. Ani reddened, knowing he could see it, liking that he could.
“One thing I wanted to ask—you mentioned you didn’t want to date…vendors.” He gave her a smirk and continued. “I understand that. If you wanted, we could keep thingscompletely private, at least until the wedding is over. What do you think? Would that be okay for you, or is there some other arrangement—?”
He remembered, not just in passing. He understood how much her work mattered to her. Ani’s entire body felt light, fizzing with something too big to name, something that made her want to grab him by the collar and kiss him stupid.
“That’s perfect,” she said, interrupting him, a ridiculous grin stretching across her face.
He was so easy to be with. That was what struck her most. No tension, no second-guessing, no exhausting mind games—just Raffi, giving her space when she needed it, teasing her when she could take it, and standing by her in all the right ways.
Ani smiled. “You are something else, Raffi jan.” She hesitated for a second, then sighed. “I was so wrong about you. Every time we’re together, you’re so sweet, so thoughtful. Generous. Not just more than I expected—but more than anyone I’ve ever known.”
He squeezed her hand and lovingly ran his thumb along it.
“Plus, your phenomenal six-pack you so conveniently showed off after getting drenched.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Finally, someone appreciates my true talent—being aggressively shirtless.”
Now it was her turn to laugh, and even after it faded, the glow of it lingered between them. Ani looked up at Raffi, their hands still joined, the warmth of his thumb brushing over hers.
The golden light of the restaurant flickered in his eyes, and she found herself wanting to memorize every inch of him.
“So let’s date?” he asked.
“So let’s date.”
He tilted her chin up, and a slow, shivery heat bloomed in her chest. “I’ve been dying to do this again,” he said.
“Same.”
He kissed her, and just like the first time, the world liquefied. His lips savoring hers, his hands framing her face, reverent and sure, as if memorizing the shape of her, of them.I am dating him. We’re dating.
