I met his gaze, and he kissed me softly. “I am not going anywhere. Breathe. I. Am. Right. Here.”
After a couple of minutes, where he just stood there, running his thumbs across my cheekbones, he said, “I know you are scared. Breathe, my love.”
Another minute went by, and I reached up where his hands were on my neck and squeezed on his hand as I nodded.
“Okay.” I said, shame now filling me. “I’m sorry, Rye.”
“No reason to apologize.” He kissed my forehead quickly, and I could feel the tension in his hands as he rested his forehead on mine and said, “I’m not mad. I know that he would be raging right now, but I’m not him. I won’t—”
“Rylie. I know you are not Justin.” I took a deep breath.
“Good. I’d never degrade you like that. You are the sun in the darkness, Sweetheart.” He sighed heavily, and his voice shook as he whispered, “I promise to prove it to you this weekend.”
What? Did he just say prove? He has nothing to prove. Gods, I had to pull myself together. Why was I second guessing this so much? Something was different about this trip, and I couldn’t fully figure out what was going on. I took a big deep breath and let it out, counting to ten as my therapist had taught me.
I looked at the clock and I asked, “How long does it take to get to the restaurant? You said we have a 7:00pm reservation, right?”
“They will hold the table all night. We go when you are ready.” His eyes searched mine.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“Arewegood?” There was a touch of fear in his voice as I reached up and put my hand on his cheek.
“Yeah. I’m good if you are.”
He nodded.
“Then I’m going to go get my hair and makeup done so I don’t waste this dress and dinner you apparently have planned.”
When I turned into the bathroom, I looked back at where Rylie was standing. He was running both hands through his hair, head tipped back, staring at the ceiling. I took one last long breath before stepping into the bathroom to finish getting ready.
Chapter six
Ryliewasjustgettinginto the car when my phone started pinging repeatedly. I pulled it out and shook my head.
Katie the PIMA BFF:
Like your surprise?
Come on, answer me.
I know you are with him.
God. Will you two stop fucking for just a moment so I can talk to you?
Just got in the car to go to dinner, bitch.
Yes, I liked the surprise.
A little warning next time would be nice.
How do you know these things?
Katie the PIMA BFF:
