“You don’t have to be sorry for him. You’re not responsible for his actions.”
“But I am for mine. I feel like I projected so much of my heartache onto you and it wasn’t fair.”
I shook my head.
“He broke my heart. He broke my heart big time and after that I decided I wasn’t going to let myself love again. I couldn’t handle it. Not another heartache. I internalized that shit so much that I just blocked myself off from seeing the truth.”
“Which is?”
“That just because Wyatt chickened out, it doesn’t mean every guy is like him. Not everyone is closeted and scared to live their truth.”
“And is that what you did? You projected that onto me?”
He nodded and took my hand.
“I did. But Warren helped me see the truth.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“That you’re nothing like Wyatt. You’re out and proud and I wouldn’t have to hide anything if I were with you.”
“You wouldn’t,” I said.
He nodded.
“But I did also realize I can’t…I can’t put my heart on the line again. Which is why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to ask you.”
“Ask me what?” I asked and braced myself as my heart slowed down and my stomach clenched.
“I…I wanted to ask…Gosh, I don’t know how to say this,” he mumbled and let go of my hand. “I need to know if I…if I give myself to someone—to you—that you want the same things in life. That you want what I want. I know is stupid to talk about marriage and kids before we even know if we can co-exist with each other, but it’s important to me that you don’t break my heart and I don’t break yours and I think this is a good place to start. Talking about what we want in life, from a partner.”
I took a deep breath and willed my body to calm down, and then I smiled.
He didn’t want to dump me. He wanted to date me. That was what he was getting at, wasn’t he?
“I want a husband, I want kids, I want a happy life. A simple life, but a happy life,” I said. “You?”
Dare smiled too.
“Same,” he said. “I want all of that too.”
“With me?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Oh good, because I’ve had a crush on you since the first moment I saw you, but…I didn’t know if you were queer or even interested in me?—”
“Fuck!” he exclaimed. “Are you serious? I’ve had a crush onyousince I met you.”
My smile widened.
“You have?”
Dare sighed.
“We’re both idiots.”
I laughed.
