Her fingers are still in her lap. Her shoulders soften just a fraction. “And the way you look at me sometimes,” I add, quieter now, more careful, “doesn’t match the way you talk to me.”
Her eyes flicker. She looks away for half a second before forcing herself to meet my gaze again. “I do…like you,” she murmurs and that makes me smile, “I just don’t know…I feel like if I say it out loud…I may jinx it and you may…vanish.”
“Baby,” I cup her cheeks, pressing my lips gently on her forehead, “You don’t have to say it if you feel that way, I know…you like me.” I chuckle, “Although occasional confessions may help.” I pout and it's her turn to chuckle.
“Why me?” She asks in a small voice and I sit with that question for a second. Not because I don’t have an answer. But because I want to give her the right one.
“You want the honest version?” I ask. She nods. “Because you don’t make it easy.”
Her brows knit together slightly. “That’s supposed to convince me?”
I shake my head, a small smile touching my mouth. “No,” I say. “It’s just the truth.”
I let that settle before I continue. “You don’t try to impress me,” I say. “You don’t say what you think I want to hear. You don’t act like I’m something special just because I have money or a title.”
Her lips press together, like she’s trying not to react to that.
“You treat me like a person,” I add. “A very irritating person, but still.” That earns me the faintest flicker of something at the corner of her mouth. “I have always felt so lonely too…because anytime I tried to build a genuine connection with someone, it turned out them being interested in my…power and so…I have craved this for too long too.”
Her hands come up to mine as she squeezes them, “And more than that,” I continue, my voice dropping slightly, “you make me want to show up better.”
She blinks. “That doesn’t happen easily,” I admit. “Not for me.”
Her gaze sharpens slightly, curious now. “When I’m with you, I notice things I usually ignore,” I say. “Like whether someone’s eaten. Or how long they’ve been working. Or when they go quiet for too long.”
Her breath slows. “I don’t feel like I have to perform around you,” I add. “I just…am.” The words hang between us. “And I like who I am when I’m around you,” I finish quietly.
She looks at me like she doesn’t know what to do with that. Like it’s too much and not enough at the same time. “And you don’t…get tired?” she asks after a moment. “Of this?”
Her hand lifts slightly between us, gesturing vaguely. “Of me being like this?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Not even a little?”
I consider that. Then answer honestly. “I get frustrated sometimes,” I admit. “Not because of who you are. But because I can see how much you hold back.” Her eyes flicker. “But tired?” I continue, softer now. “No.”
“Why?”
Because you matter. The answer is simple. But I don’t say it like that.
“Because you’re worth the effort.” Her breath stutters. Just slightly.
Enough for me to notice. “I’m not trying to fix you,” I add gently. “Or change you. Or rush you into something you’re not ready for.”
Her shoulders drop a fraction more. “I just…” I pause, choosing my words carefully, “want to be someone you don’t have to fight all the time.”
Silence fills the car again. But it feels different now. Not tense. Not guarded. Just…quiet in a way that lets things settle. She looks down at her hands again. Then back at me. I watch as she shifts in her seat and sits on her knees as she reaches for my face,my heart skips a beat at the way she’s looking at me, so gently, I have rarely seen her like that, maybe never.
She cups my face, her hands so tiny, and she presses her lips against mine as she murmurs, “I promise…I will try my best to open up to you,” her breath falls on my lips and I smile because that’s more than enough for me, “I am not sure if I will succeed but thank you…for being so patient with me.”
I crash my mouth to hers as I kiss her desperately, almost as if I am trying to show her all my feelings, as if I want to drown in her which I do. “For the matter of fact, I likemeanyou…” I smile against her lips and she returns it.
“So tell me where are you taking me,” she smirks and I chuckle doing a happy dance inside me because this feels like a breakthrough and I haven’t been so happy ever.
“I am taking you bowling, Sunshine.” I wink as I press my forehead against hers.
Her face falls a bit, “I have never…” She takes a deep breath, “I will suck at it…and I don’t like losing.”
