Page 89 of Chasing You

I drag the sleeve of my shirt across the apple of my cheek, trying to wipe away the dampness. “I don’t know how to let you back in.”

He just shakes his head, resting it on his palm. “I’m sorry I did this to us, princess.”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “Me too.”

chapter thirty-seven

MILES

PRESENT

“You knowthat I've never liked blindfolds.”

I smile as I walk Marina out the back of the Lost and Found, my hands covering her eyes. “Only a few more steps,” I say.

Nerves tumble in my stomach, and I don't know why. I just hope she likes it, and I hope she stays.

Marina and I haven't spent that much time together in the last week. I think she’s still processing everything that I've said the last few times we’ve been together.

In all honesty, I'm still processing everything too. All of my emotions and feelings that I've been avoiding for so long.

Speaking them out loud made them feel real, far more real than they ever felt stuck up in my head, but I still don’t know quite what to do with them.

“I can hear people,” she says. “Why can I hear people?”

I chuckle into her hair. “Since when are you so bad with surprises?”

“Since always. Remember when I was surprised to see you last year? No, of course you don’t because I ran away from it.”

I just shake my head before I pull her to a stop, and as I lookover everything in front of me, a swell of pride rises in my chest. I can’t believe we managed to pull this off.

“Well, I hope you don’t run away from this one,” I say, lifting my hands away.

Marina just stares at what’s in front of her, her eyes taking everything in before she finally turns to me, those eyes wide. “What is this?”

“What does it look like, princess?” I take her hand in mine and pull her forward—into the field where blankets are scattered across the ground, groups of people hanging around with baskets of food, or takeaway pizzas as they look up at the big projector screen hanging from in between the trees at the edge of the forest. “Have you ever heard of al fresco movies?”

“Of course I have,” she mutters as she stumbles along behind me. “But how did I not know about this?”

“Because I asked everyone to keep it a secret,” I say, weaving us through the groups of people waiting for the movie to start.

“This town can’t keep a secret,” she mutters before we reach the picnic mat where her parents are sitting.

“We can if it’s for something good,bambina,” Vanessa says, standing up to give me a kiss on the cheek. “And this man is very convincing.”

I went down to the Sugared Plum last week and told Vanessa what I was planning. I hadn’t spoken to her since the day that she found out about Marina and me, but when I told her about the surprise I was planning for her daughter, she didn’t hesitate to help me, and rope in everyone else she could think of.

Honestly, I was surprised that word didn’t get out myself. But knowing Vanessa, she would have put the hard word out, not wanting to ruin the surprise for Marina. And I know that if it were me that Vanessa was instructing with keeping a secret, my lips would be zipped.

“He even convinced me to come down here and help with the setup,” Luca says from his spot on the mat. “And you know how much I hate physical work at this age.”

Luca was a massive help today, and it was nice to finally meet the man I've heard so much about.

We spoke about puzzles and his love for football—it didn’t feel like an appropriate time to mention just how much I dislike it.

We spoke about Marina too, he told me about what she was like growing up and what it was like watching her build her own business. He spoke with years' worth of pride, and I was hungry for every story he told, relishing in finding out things I didn't know about the girl I love. We didn’t talk about me and her. I don’t know how much her family knows about our relationship. But he warmed to me immediately, and I to him.

Marina crouches down with a smile on her face, planting a kiss on her pa’s head. “Naw, it's hard getting old, isn't it?”

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