He glanced over at her. Lina was blinking hard and staring off into space.
“Lina, say something. Even if it’s that you don’t feel the same way, or it’s too soon for that, or whatever.”
She took his hand. “I love you, too. And I’m sort of terrified by that.”
“Me too.”
She gave a shaky laugh. “What is wrong with us?”
“So much. You know how you said I’m assumption phobic? Well, part of that is just who I am, but part of it is because of this girl I dated a while back.” He scratched the back of his neck, wishing he didn’t need to mention Cammie, but feeling like he should.
“Go on.” Lina squeezed his hand.
“She had a lot of things about me she wanted to fix, and she often corrected things I said or did. Because I cared about her so much, I took those on. I believed there was something wrong with me. It wasn’t until after we broke up that I realized she would’ve been unhappy no matter how many hoops I jumped through for her.”
“I dated someone like that once,” Lina said, resting her head on his arm. “People like that are the worst.”
“When you started talking to me in the apartment gym, I avoided you.”
Lina sat up straighter and looked at him. “Like, on purpose? I figured you were shy or just really focused on your work out.”
“I was afraid of losing my head again and letting someone in who would hurt me like she did. And you’re exactly the type of person a guy could lose his head over. I’m glad you kept trying, because you’re totally worth getting my crap together for.” He laughed. “How’s that for romance?”
She smiled. “It’s perfect.”
***
His sweet honesty was what gave Lina the push to fully trust him. To believe him. Even if he changed his mind later or things didn’t work out, what was she holding back for? He loved her. She knew it was true because Dillon didn’t say things like that in order to gain anything, or because he was swept up in the moment. If so, he would have immediately apologized and explained that he didn’t mean it in that way. That’s just how he was.
Instead, he’d opened up more.
Dillon was different than any man she’d ever dated before, and as such, he didn’t deserve the caution she’d developed when it came to relationships. She had to be all in this time, not waiting for things to not work out.
She shifted around to a position where the rough bark of the mesquite tree wasn’t digging into her thighs. As much as she loved this tree, they might have to find a more comfortable private hangout in the future.
“I did the DNA test,” she said. It was completely off topic, and totally relevant, all at the same time.
“You mean, to try to find your dad?” he asked.
“Yeah. I have two matches for relatives, and I sent them messages today.”
“Did they respond back?” he asked.
She realized it had been a couple of hours and she hadn’t checked. She took out her phone and held it in her hands, biting her lip.
“If you don’t want me to see, I understand,” he said.
But she did want him to see, either to share her disappointment when there wasn’t a message, or her anticipation if there was.
“Look with me, will you please?” She unlocked her phone and went to her email. And surprisingly, there was an alert from the DNA website that a new message was waiting for her from her close relative, Garrett.
“What does close relative mean?” Dillon asked.
“Grandparent, aunt or uncle, niece or nephew, maybe a half sibling.”
“Oh, wow.” He bent his head a little closer as she opened up the DNA site app and opened the message.
Hi Lina,
