Page 77 of The One for Me
“Now, since you’re in a giving mood, let’s talk about the future since you brought it up.” My heart quickens, and I take a step back, but he grips my wrist before I can get too far. “Don’t do that, don’t pull away.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.” He tilts his head to the side and watches me. “I know you, Dev. I get that this is all scary to you and that you’ve stayed in this town for some reason. However, things are changing, and I can’t do what my brothers did and stay. I would if I could.”
“I know that, and I’m not asking you to.”
“Then, what do you want? Do you want us to do this long distance? I will if that’s the only way I can have you, but after knowing what it’s like to wake up next to you . . .” His voice lowers, and he moves an inch closer. “To be able to pull you close and bury my face in your neck at night or to make love to you in the morning isn’t something I want to go without. I want us to have dinner together and to go on dates. I want to be able to come home to you, but I can’t do that if you’re here.”
I want all of those things too, but I also know that when the season is in full swing, he’s never home. Before I tell Sean where my heart is, I need all the information. “What about during the season? What do I do then?”
Sean pulls me to the couch, and we both sit.
“What do you want to do?”
I sigh and entwine our fingers, needing to feel bonded to him. “I need to work.”
“Well, if we’re together, you really don’t.”
“I will never be okay with that,” I say quickly. “I have always supported myself, and I’m not starting our relationship off with me taking anything from you.”
“Devney,” Sean says softly, “it’s not you taking, it’s me giving.”
“And that’s great, but I can’t be your trophy girlfriend. I won’t.”
He smiles. “All right. I’ll do whatever I can to find you a job you want.”
Now for the point I know he’s going to argue. “During the season, I’d like to come up here as much as I can. I want to see my friends and family. I don’t want to be stuck in Florida where I don’t know anyone.”
“Okay . . . I’d like you to come out to some games.” I nod. That isn’t really a concession.
“Done.” This is going to be the part that Sean pushes back on, but I have to do it. “But I don’t want us to tell anyone about this until three weeks before you leave.”
I love him and have every intention of going. We are the real thing. I know, without a doubt, that he’s the one for me. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else. There’s always been a feeling in the back of my mind that said it wasn’t right and that isn’t here with us. Still, I need time. I need to be sure. I don’t want to make a rash decision and thisnewrelationship with him is very young.
“What?” He jerks back. “Are you kidding me?”
“No,” I say as I tighten my grip on our hands. “Listen to me, we’ve been a couple for what? A few weeks? A month?”
“And we’ve been friends for an eternity.”
“Yes, but this is different, and you know it. I want us to date without everyone giving us their unwanted advice. I love you. I want to be with you more than anything, which is why we need this time together without any added pressure from our friends or families.”
Sean is my forever, and I want it to stay that way.
“I don’t need the next three months to know it won’t change.” His voice is sure, and there isn’t any doubt in his eyes.
“I know what I want, Sean, but I don’t think us making such a life-changing decision when we are blissfully happy is a good choice. We’re going to fight because you’re an idiot. You’re going to get mad at me because I can be a slob. Right now, we’re in this perfect oblivion. Telling them is just going to add on more . . . things. I don’t want more things. I just want you and us and what we’re doing now.”
“You want to fight?” Sean asks with a smirk.
He’s such a dumbass. “No, my point is that we will. I know that I want to go with you. I know that this is what you want. But it’s too early to make a choice like me moving to Florida with you. So, let’s just act like we haven’t made that decision, okay?”
He sighs. “So you know this is what you want? I know this is what I want, but we’re just going to keep it quiet.”
“Basically, yes.”
“Sounds dumb.”
