“Sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll be better prepared for that next time.”
“No. I’ll be ready.”
We traveled along the highway in silence as I took in the rural, green landscape of forest and grass. Neither I nor Niklas said a word. He kept his gaze out the window, his fingers woven through mine.
This wasn’t the direction to my own home, and part of me craved the familiar landscape of concrete and aging brick houses, separated by patches of overgrown grass. Southfield Highway certainly wasn’t the most picturesque entry into Michigan, but after months away, even the seventies-era high rises had our appeal.
Niklas squeezed my hand. “Are you sure you don’t want to stop at your parents’ place first?”
I shook my head. “I need a little time to adjust to being here. With you. But I told them we’d be there for dinner.”
He raised his eyebrows, and I swallowed hard.
“But you don’t have to go,” I added quickly. “I can just, you know, find a cab or some—”
“I, I’d love to go,” he cut in. “I’m just surprised. I thought you hadn’t told them about me.”
I looked down at my hand, buried under his.
“I haven’t really,” I whispered. “I just said I was bringing someone. I think it’s better that way.”
I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look up. My parents saw my trip this summer as a last fling before marriage to Brad, not a break for independence. The last thing they’d expect is for me to bring home another man. The fact that I was staying at his house? Much worse. Better if my father met him first, then pieced together the story, so he didn’t write Niklas off from the start. After all, Niklas could be charming when he wanted to be.
Niklas lifted his other hand to my face and coaxed it up towards his.
“Okay, if that’s what you want,” he said, stroking my cheek, “but sometimes you put off hard discussions because they’re hard, not because it’s better that way, remember?”
I winced. His voice was gentle, but the words hit me hard. I had done the same thing to him in Stockholm, and he was reminding me that it had hurt him, too. I tried to look away, but he didn’t let me. He tilted his head down for just a hint of a kiss.
“I just want to make sure you’ve thought this through,” he said.
I nodded a little.
“I have,” I said, kissing him back. At least I thought I had.
“Okay, trial by fire it is,” he whispered, chuckling.
