Page 119 of Not Dating Material

“Hey.” He manages a tight smile, then grabs a chair from the table beside it and falls into it next to me. He’s in a T-shirt and jeans, hair a mess, shoulders pulled in tight. And even with Seven looking like roadkill next to Damien, my heart almost flutters out of my chest.

But I ignore the needy organ and level Seven with a glare instead. “What are you doing?”

“I got your comic.”

My breath catches. “Okay. Good.”

“I …” He flicks a nervous look toward Damien before focusing on me. “I had to see you.”

“I’m on a date.”

“Which is why I had to see you.”

“Are you okay, Molly?” Damien asks, once again proving the whole gentleman thing.

I quickly nod. “It’s fine. And I’m so sorry.”

Seven glances Damien’s way again. “For what it’s worth, so am I, but I’ve gotta do this.” He shifts his chair closer. “I’m sorry, Tiny.”

The way his voice drops, fills with regret, almost softens me to him. “For?”

“For protecting myself by hurting you instead.”

“Well, you made your choice,” I point out. Because it did hurt. So much more than I’ve ever been hurt before. So much that it proved to me I’d never been in love all those times I’d thought I had, because losing those other men doesn’t compare to how it feels to lose Seven. “I don’t need your apology. I just need you to let me get back to my date.” I hate how pathetic my voice comes out, but I can’t help it. With him here, I can’t fool myself into thinking I don’t care. I care too much. It’s paralyzing.

The softness in Seven’s eyes shutters, and he straightens in his chair. “No.”

“No?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He waves a hand over the plates. “Continue with your date. Keep talking and flirting and batting those pretty eyes at him. I don’t care. I’m not going anywhere because Xander’s right. You don’t want to fall for this guy. You want to fall for me.”

I humph.

“Which is good for me, because I’m so fudging in love with you I almost hate you for it.”

I forget to breathe. “W-what?”

“I love you. And if you walk away, it’d serve me right, but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try. Tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month. I’m here, and I’m going to fight for you. Whether you try to move on with him or some other guy, I’ll be here. You said you can’t wait around forever, but that’s fine because I can. Forever. There’s no one else for me—I don’t want there to be. You deserve to have someone fight for you, Molly, and I’ll spend the rest of my life doing exactly that.”

Oh my god. Tears spill over onto my cheeks because he’s saying everything I’ve ever wanted someone to say to me.

Seven’s hand drops to his chest, right over where his Sevipus tattoo is. “I’ve known you were special for longer than I realized. I’ve spent so long not getting close to people, wanting to keep that distance, but the moment I met you, I knew. I can’t fight this because it’s kismet, baby. And I don’t mean the stupid cat.”

I choke on a laugh and immediately hate myself for it. Seven left it until I was sitting across from another man to tell me all this, and Damien doesn’t deserve it. Doesn’t deserve to be ignored like this. I want Seven. My whole soul is begging for us to be together, and I know exactly what he means about kismet because it’s impossible to fight.

But I need to ignore it for that little while longer. “I think you should go,” I make myself say.

“Gladly.” He casts a nervous glance around the restaurant, which only makes me fall for him even more. The timing was fucking ridiculous, but he came here, unafraid to put himself on the line in public, in one of the places he feels the least comfortable, just because he wanted me to know. Seven stands, but as he does, he leans in, lips close by my ear. “But I won’t be going far.”

I watch him the whole time he walks away before dragging my gaze back to Damien. “I am so sorry.”

He presses his lips together, frowning slightly. “Yeah, I know you are.”

“I had no idea he was going to do that.”

“I figured that out too.” He licks his lips, and I wait because he’s clearly trying to work out what to say. “I have no interest in getting between anything. If you say you want to continue this date, I’ll take you at your word, but …”

“But?”

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