Page 105 of Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions

“Yes.” George nodded, a short, jerky thing.

So fucking cute.

“Mission: Find The Adults, commence!” I teased, moving toward him slowly so as not to startle him. This…was a vulnerable thing he’d just done. I knew that. He’d gone out of his way to spend more time with me. Again. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d promised to protect him from the snakes, or if it was because he simply liked my presence. Either way, I was happy.

“Idiot,” George’s lips tugged into a smile—which was exactly the reaction I’d been hoping for. I was only a foot away now, and I marveled at the difference in our sizes. Standing, I was the perfect height to admire the pale curl of his lashes. Tipping his chin up, George’s eyes finally,blissfullymet mine.

I’d related them to poetry once.

That complicated, fathomless blue.

Years of chaos, of hurt, of love tangled inside their depths. Georgie came across as the kind of man who took what he wanted, when he wanted it. The kind of man who had the confidence to succeed. He knew exactly who he was.

At least…that’s what I’d thought when I’d first met him.

This man before me was someone else entirely. Not the suit-wearing, pen-wielding, dildo-carrying maniac from the line at security, but a person who had been beaten badly—so badly that when he’d finally gotten back up again, his feet didn’t understand whether or not they were on solid ground.

How could one stand steady after their face had been shoved in the dirt? When up wasn’t up anymore. When bruises on the ego, on the skin, on the heart were more familiar than affection.

George’s eyes were honest now in a way they’d never been before.

He was vulnerable.

And I knew, had I been a worse man, I could’ve taken advantage. I could’ve seen his affection for what it was—his olive branches, his tremulous smiles—and I could’ve wrapped him around my finger, wound so tightly he never even realized he was being strangled.

Had that been what Brendon had done?

Is that why he’d said he’d sworn off men? Because deep down, he couldn’t help but worry that all men were vipers. That they would bite and strangle and hurt the second they were given an opportunity.

I didn’t want to be another person that hurt George-Arthur Milton.

And as I fell inside his eyes, aching to reach out, to close the distance between us and feel the puff of his breath, the warmth of his skin, the thrum of his heart, I saw the secret messages he often hid climb through the darkness to the surface.

George’s need to be loved was obvious.

His eyes said,I’m scared to let my guard down.

They said,I want so badly to trust you.

They pleaded,don’t hurt me.

I hoped the answer in my own gaze settled him.

I hoped he understood it, because I certainly didn’t.

This unfamiliar surge of protective energy was unreal. Foreign in a way. But…it wasn’tbad. Only new. I was learning to skate for the first time, my feet skidding on ice. It was hard to find my balance.

“Alex?” George’s voice was hushed as we made our way to the cabins where Lacey was waiting. I hummed noncommittally, still lost in my thoughts.

His eyes, dark as the sky above, sucked me inside their orbit.

“Yeah?” My heart skipped a beat.

“Is the…offer of being your…um…practice boyfriend—” George stumbled over the words, rushed and bashful. “Still on the…table?”

It seemed George had another surprise up his sleeve, after all.

The stars danced, pinpricks of light that peeped through the branches above as Alex and I returned to the bonfire. After helping the kiddos find their parents in the cabins, I certainly had not expected this. What had previously been a family-friendly gathering had evolved into chaos.

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