“What?” he asks as he watches my face. “Tell me everything you just thought.
I shake my head. “I’m just running through all the things I would say if one of my friends came to me with the story of us meeting and…falling in love.”
“You would tell her to be careful. That it’s trauma-driven. Once you’re safe you won’t feel the same. Am I in the ballpark?”
“Yup. Right on home plate, actually.”
He smiles. “You a baseball fan?”
“Not really. More of a hockey fan. What about you?”
“Same.”
We smile at each other.
“Now what?” I ask slowly.
“Is there something specific we’re supposed to do once we admit to having feelings for each other?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I’ve never done this as an adult.”
“You’ve never been in love?”
“Not like this. Nothing has ever felt the way it feels with you.”
His expression is somber. “Same.”
“It’s a little scary, right?”
“Very.” He reaches out to drag his knuckles across my cheek. “But worth it.”
“Agreed.”
“My sister will be happy. She likes you.”
“I like her too.”
“What will your dad say?”
I frown. “You know, I honestly have no idea. I’ve never introduced him to a guy I was dating, much less in love with.”
“Other than Pete.”
“That was high school. Seriously, it didn’t mean that much.”
“He was your first everything, though.”
“Yes, but that mostly taught me what Ididn’twant in a relationship. Or with sex. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve dated plenty. I just never felt like, oh, he’s the one. Not until now.”
“I’ve had a lot of casual relationships but never anything with depth.”
“Right but you were in the military for, what? Eight, ten years? That’s a hard life and women either really want it or don’t want it at all. When you’re on the front lines like that, risking your life every day, I imagine it’s hard to think about falling in love.”
“Ineverthought about it,” he admits. “Not until you.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Landon
