Page 18 of The Truth About Love

“Are you aiming for a sexual harassment lawsuit?” Summer-Raine asks, sitting straight in her chair as she stares Elijah down.

“W-what?”

“In less than a minute, you’ve made a lewd joke and referenced your genitalia twice.”

Elijah swings panicked eyes over to me. But if he thinks I’m going to help him out here then he will be bitterly disappointed. Even if I didn’t agree with everything she was saying, I’d stand by Summer-Raine with a battle axe ready to take on the world beside her.

“She’s got a point, man.” I shrug.

Elijah pales. “I’m sorry. Jesus, that line usually works on girls.”

“Wanna just take our order, dude, and get out of here?” I prompt.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. What can I get y’all?”

“You cool if I order for you?” I ask Summer-Raine, and when she nods with a surprised but grateful expression, I order us both Philly cheese steak sandwiches, a pitcher of fresh lemonade and a portion of tropical coconut shrimp to share.

Elijah scurries off immediately, tail tucked between his legs, and I breathe a sigh of relief that he’s finally left us alone.

“I’m sorry about him. He’s actually a pretty decent guy, but sometimes he doesn’t know when to stop, y’know?”

“Oh, he’s nothing.” She waves me off. “But it was fun to deflate his ego and beat his arrogance around a bit. He can’t be serious about that pickup line working though, right?”

I grimace. “Um, yeah. I’ve actually seen it happen a few times.”

Her jaw drops. “Jesus.”

“Yeah.”

Her gaze flicks over the room, breathing in the faded whitewood panelling, low hanging lights and nautical décor. She lingers for a second on a couple sitting adjacent to us, their hands held together on the table in front of them, faces aglow with the magic of being in love.

“This is my second lesson in the existence of love and beautiful things, right?” she says quietly, dragging her eyes back to me.

“It is.”

“So, what was Elijah? An example of the type of man to avoid on my quest for love?”

I chuckle quietly, but the smile I force falls flat. Doesn’t she realise that the only man she should be looking for is me?

It’s the first time I’ve considered that maybe she doesn’t feel the same way about me that I do for her. That maybe she doesn’t experience the same crackle of electricity in the air whenever we’re close, or realise that our souls are connected in a way that some people spend their entire lives longing for.

I can’t be the only one of us to feel that.

I’d just assumed she was on the same wavelength as me since it’s so goddamn obvious. That pull between us. That thread binding us together.

And now I have to know if it’s all in my head or if she can feel this too.

“Happy coincidence.” I shrug. “But I was kinda hoping that you wouldn’t have to look further than me to find out that love exists.”

Surprise flashes across her face, stretching her eyes to saucers.

“I don’t mean already,” I say hurriedly. “But one day if you were to find what you were looking for with someone… then maybe that someone could be me?”

The words are barely out my mouth before I realise in blinding horror that I may have just royally fucked up by laying my cards on the table so openly.

She actively rejects personal connection and human relationships. Hell, she doesn’t have any friends apart from Marlowe Eriksen and even then, I don’t really see them talking to each other.

And I’ve just gone and stuck my big foot in my mouth by telling her after only two weeks of knowing her that I hope she falls in love with me someday.

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