I was scared I would start crying if I verbally responded, so I just nodded and ducked my gaze away from his face. It hurt too damn much to see that realization dawn over his handsome features. Of course, that lasted about three seconds before I needed to see his expression.
"Jesus, little bird," he muttered, running a hand over his face in exasperation. "I'm not in love with Riley. I briefly entertained a crush on herthree years agoand have since realized it's purely platonic love, just like how I love my brothers."
I puffed out an embarrassed breath. "I know thatnow," I admitted.
A tense silence descended over us. We truly were terrible at communicating with one another.
"If you were so interested," I started to ask in a quiet voice, then needed to lick my lips before I could finish my question, "then why did you never look into my story and find out I'd given you a fake name?"
He shifted his position, moving a fraction closer to me. "I thought about it. When you turned me down for a dinner date for the third time, I guessed you were hiding something, and I went so far as drafting an email to request a full background work up."
That confession shocked me. "But you didn't do it?"
He shook his head. "It felt wrong. I wanted you to tell me when you were ready. I wanted you to trust me, eventually. Digging around in your private life without your consent seemed like a bad way to start out, don't you think?"
My jaw dropped slightly. "Um. Yeah. Fair point." My voice was a husky whisper as Dylan's information bomb detonated inside my brain. "So, you just planned on wearing me down slowly?"
I still found that hard to believe. I'd spent so long thinking of him as Dylan Booty-Call Grant that it was taking alotof mental gymnastics to reassess our entire history together.
He gave me a sheepish smile. "I wasn't in a rush," he told me. "I just thought... the more time we spent together, the more you'd grow to trust me. Maybe then you'd tell me why we needed to be so secretive. Maybe you'd eventually fall for me as hard as I'd fallen for you."
Wow. Just... wow.
"But I already had," I mumbled under my breath, still not meeting his gaze despite feeling his eyes locked on my face. "Shit, what a mess."
He gave a soft laugh, then reached out to take my hand in his. "I wouldn't change a thing. It worked out exactly the right way, even if it took us a little longer to get here." His thumb rubbed circles over my skin. "So... can we both now admit that we're madly in love and it has nothing to do with our baby growing inside of you?"
My heart raced and my mouth went dry. Thatwaswhat we were saying, wasn't it? For all our arguments and miscommunications, the core of it was pure. Dylan loved me... forme. It was like a freaking Christmas miracle.
"Yeah," I whispered, then swallowed heavily. "But we need to establish some ground rules." I finally plucked up the courage to meet his eyes, and my heart pounded harder in my chest. His gaze was pure adoration, and I just wanted to lose myself in the clear depths of his eyes.
He gave a nod, his smile soft. "You mentioned something about rules in your text this morning. I'm guessing you mean more than just not sneaking into your house to leave gifts?"
I bit back a smile. His gifts had been next-level thoughtful.
"I did. I need to be clear with you on this... you know, this thing, between us."
"This relationship?" he clarified for me. "I'm listening."
"I'm not moving in with you," I told him in a stern voice. His eyes flashed with stubborn defiance, and I shook my head. "This is nonnegotiable, Dylan. I need my independence. I need to find myself without being under anyone's control for the first time in forever."
Hurt crossed his features. "You think I'd control you?"
"I think it wouldn't be deliberate," I said gently, "but yes. It's just... your personality. And that's not a bad thing, I wouldn't want to change you for anything, but I also need to find out who I am—the real me. Does that... Can you understand that?"
He stared at me for a long moment, then breathed a long sigh. "I guess I can't argue," he finally responded, sounding unhappy but resigned. "But just because you're not moving in doesn't mean we're not together, right? We can still have sleepovers like any normal couple.”
Those words sent butterflies erupting through me.Like any normal couple.
I nodded, biting my lip to hold back the delirious smile that wanted to come out.
"Alright, agreed. You keep living here for now, and we can date—get to know each other properly this time. And then later...?" He looked down at my flat belly, and I heard his question loud and clear.
"We can deal with baby things as they come up," I assured him. "I won't cut you out of that part. But we have seven months before we become parents. Can we make the most of that time for us? Just us, not the baby."
His gaze met mine again, his lips curving in a wide smile. "Us," he repeated. "Fuck, I love that word off your lips, little bird."
I huffed, quietly loving that he'd repeated my thought from earlier. "Shut up and kiss me, pterodactyl."
