So I take a deep breath and make the last few steps toward Cupid.
“I thought I told you not to contact me,” I say, shooting him an unsure smile.
Cupid shrugs. “You also told me to cut my hair.” He ruffles a hand through his mop of hair. “That was never going to happen either.”
I grimace and direct my attention to the ground between us. “I never should have said that. I happen to like your hair.”
“I think we both said things we never should have said.” Cupid nudges my shoe with his boot. “Hey,” he says, urging me to look at him. “I’m really sorry. For what I said. For not telling you the truth.”
My lips tighten as I swallow. I’m trying not to let the lump in my throat turn into tears in my eyes. I don’t know what to say. I want to move past this, but it’s not as simple as a one-time apology. I need to know if I can trust him before I hand over something as fragile and precious as my heart.
Suddenly, my mind goes back to something he told me on our drive.
“What you told me about repairing broken things—the kintsugi…” I hesitate, chewing on my next words. “Does it make that broken thing stronger, afterwards?”
“It can,” he says. “When done right.”
I blow out a breath. “Okay.”
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I notice an open cardboard box in the back seat of his car, absolutely overflowing with stuff.
“What’s all this?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
“Oh!” Cupid perks up and pushes off the side of the car. “Thanks for reminding me. I brought you some things,” he looks at me shyly, “to say I’m sorry.”
I’m about to tell him that wasn’t necessary, that he shouldn’t have. But he’s already craning the top half of his body to grab the box, and his ass still looksso goodin those jeans. I’m only human.
“Here.” He whips out a bouquet and hands it back to me. “I wasn’t sure if you liked flowers,” he says, still digging, “so I got you these chocolates, too.” I snatch those from him right away,immediately tearing into the box. Oh mygod, this chocolate is delicious. My eyes roll to the back of my head as I savor the bite.
When Cupid turns around holding a framed photo of my ex, I almost choke.
“Why do you have a picture of Bryan?” I ask, eyebrows arched so high you could summit them.
“It goes with this.” He presents me with a baseball bat. “Some things are better off broken,” he says with a wink.
Maybe I’m weak—or maybe I’m just stupid for Cupid—but in that moment, I let the flowers and chocolates fall to the ground, and I kiss him.
Cupid drops what he’s holding and pulls me closer. I wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss, pressing my body to him and using my tongue to nudge his lips open.
We’re so caught up in each other that we jump when we hear a deep voice yell from across the street, “CAN YOU TURN THAT FUCKING RACKET OFF?” This, followed by: “Yeah! And get a room!” I look toward my building and see Janae leaning out of my apartment window with a huge grin.
My face heats in embarrassment. Cupid, of course, takes it in stride by flipping the radio off and taking my hand in his.
“What do you think, Love?” he asks, cupping my jaw and stroking my lips with his thumb.
I don’t say a word—just squeeze his hand and lead him toward my apartment.
23
Cupid
I drove for eight hours straight to get back to San Francisco, to Felicity, only stopping for gas along the way. And then a quick stop to buy the gifts, because when I got about twenty minutes away, I started to panic, just a little bit.
I weighed my options when I realized she hadn’t just run away from our conversation—that she’d left the hotel, and Las Vegas, for good.
She told me not to follow her, and I wanted to respect that. At the same time, I couldn’t have thelast thingI said to her make her think that she’s unlovable. I hadn’tmeantit like that, of course I hadn’t. It didn’t matter, though, because that’s what she heard. And what she heard—between my conversation with the Fates and my bumbled explanation—hurt her deeply.
The last time I felt this way about a woman, I let her get away. I didn’t fight for her. When all was said and done, I vowed that I would not make that same mistake again.
