Page 79 of Lovestrung

So, I’d give him time while I secretly hoped he’d miss me so much, the next time I saw him, he’d be bursting to tell me.

“I need to go,” I chuckled against his lips, wrapped up in his arms outside the front door to the apartment complex. We’d been standing here, saying goodbye, for almost twenty minutes. “And you need to go to work, or you’ll be late.”

He groaned. “Fuck my job. I need you again.”

I barely suppressed a whimper when I felt his big hands squeezing my ass. “No,” I murmured. “This girl needs a break from all the sex,” I tried to explain. “Or my lady bits do, anyway.”

Chuckling, he raised his head and kissed my forehead. “Fine, fine. I get it, or I think I do.” The boyish grin that shined down on me almost weakened my resolve. It was so carefree and combined with the dark blue color of his eyes, he’d never looked more delectable as he did right now.

“Text me tonight?” he asked.

I pushed up on my tiptoes and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Sure.”

“Say hi to your parents from me.”

“I will.”

“Look,” he sighed as he stepped away from me, “next week is going to be pretty busy, but we’ll carve out time for us. How about I’ll take you out one evening, take you on a real date?”

Warmth danced in my tummy. “I’d love that. Plus, I want to hear all about how Freya and Thor are adjusting in your home.”

“Freya and Thor?”

“Yeah, your dogs, baby.”

The confusion cleared from his eyes. “You’ve named them?”

I winked at him and slung my overnight bag over my shoulder. “Sure have. We can’t keep calling them Mutt 1 and Mutt 2, now can we? Besides, they’re good names – strong, traditional.”

He framed my face, pulling me closer for another kiss. His eyes danced with mirth. “A little obsessed with Nordic mythology, are we?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Nope. Freya was the goddess of love, and I have no doubt that sweet girl will give you plenty of that. And Thor?” I grinned cheekily at him. “Every time I see that adorable dog, I’ll automatically think of Chris Hemsworth, and that’s never a bad thing.”

The smile fled his face at once. “Veto on Thor, darlin’.”

I grinned at him. “Too late for that.”

“And why is that?”

“Just a feeling I have, that’s all.”

He shook his head at me. “All right, now I do need to go. We’ll talk later.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I gave him a quick hug before we went our separate ways. I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket and pulled it out. When I saw it was another text from my mom, guilt clawed its way through me and I swiped the screen to read it.

Mama: Your dad and I decided to come visit you and Frederik instead. Where are you, baby girl?

“Damn it,” I muttered.

Me: Just out. I’ll be home soon. xo

No longer in a love daze, I hurried to see them, but as I came closer and closer to the old building, I became increasingly worried that I’d have to lie about Ethan and me, and that was the last thing I wanted. While part of me understood that Ethan wanted to lay low for a while, another part hated that he’d put that on me. It wasn’t what I wanted, and I cursed inwardly at my own fault for agreeing to it. Just as I rounded the street corner and saw the big, old building in front of me, I sent him a text.

Me: I don’t want to lie to my parents, so if they ask me if we’re together, I have to be honest with them. Hope you understand, baby. xo

I didn’t wait for his reply, but I was not about to be reduced to his dirty little secret, so if it ended up being a real problem for Ethan, I’d just have to deal with it then. But if push came to shove, I had to make him understand why it was so important to me to be straight with my mom and dad.