His eyes meet mine, looking hollower than before. He wets his lips and then after a few seconds, he answers, “Because you’re getting married, right? And marriage changes everything.”
And with that, he walks away.
“Hey, how was your day with Rupert?” Renley asks as she finishes hanging a sign above the bar.
Before answering, I take in the shop and what she’s been able to accomplish today after the regular jobs she did around town. She changed out the rest of the light fixtures, moved some jars behind the bar, and has now hung up the sign that Tilly painted for her. I’m in awe of my girl. Such a fucking workhorse.
I set down the basket of food I’ve prepared for us and round the bar, snag her by the waist, and pull her into my chest. My hand slides to the back of her head and my lips find hers, melting into a kiss that I’ve been thinking about all goddamn day.
When she releases my lips and her eyes meet mine, she whispers, “What was that for?”
“I missed you,” I say honestly. “Didn’t like that you made me wait all day to do that.”
She chuckles. “It wasn’t all day. I woke up with you this morning.”
“Yeah, and I’d like a repeat of that.”
She shakes her head. “There is no way I’m coming over to your place again after we traumatized Rupert.”
“We didn’t traumatize him. He’s just being dramatic.” I grip her hips and lift her up on the bar so she’s more even with me in height. Her hands go to my hair and she pushes it behind my ear, lightly playing with the strands.
“So did he forgive you after your day of fun? Or is he still playing hard to get?”
My eyes flit to the side as I think about what happened today. After he walked out, he showered and then left the house. Ididn’t see him the rest of the day. I waited in the living room for him to come back, but after an hour, I gave up.
Haven’t talked to him since.
“Why aren’t you answering and why do you have that look on your face?” she asks, concerned.
“We, uh, we fought today.”
“About the table?” she asks. “I think I can fix it. It was the leg we broke. I know it might be hard for him to get over the fact that our bodies were naked on it, but I have some good cleaning products.”
“No, it wasn’t that.”
Her brow knits together while her hand glides over my cheek. “What was it?”
How do I explain this?
I mull it over for a moment, trying every angle in my head that doesn’t involve the truth, but then I stop myself…because why am I avoiding the truth? We have said that we are going to communicate properly, so this is my moment. I can try to pretend that everything is fine and that my father isn’t the biggest tool in the fucking world and have that blow up in my face later on, or I can sit her down, look her in the eyes, and tell her the truth with the possibility that she won’t believe what we have together is real.
When my eyes meet hers again, I know exactly what I have to do.
Taking her hand, I say, “I need to talk to you.”
Her expression immediately morphs to worry as I lift her off the counter and bring her to the floor to sit, tugging her down next to me.
“What’s going on?”
“I need to tell you something that I don’t want to tell you because I’m afraid it’s going to hurt what we have, but if I don’t tell you, it will most definitely ruin the way you feel about me.”
“That’s not ominous at all,” she says, leaning away from me.
“Please don’t push me away before I can even start,” I say, feeling her body language retreat in the other direction.
“I’m not.”
“You are,” I say softly. “I can see it in your eyes, and I can feel it in your body. Just give me a chance to explain everything before you pull away.” I take her hand in mine. “Please, Renley.”
