Page 102 of You and Me, For Real
I gesture about the room. “But there’s no music.”
He pulls me closer, takes my hands, and wraps them around his neck. “Oh, you of little imagination. Haven’t you ever heard of the wordpretend?” He winks.
I am putty in his hands.
I’ve been teetering on the edge, but now I’ve dipped into dangerous territory.
Not only am I willingly spending time with someone who is regularly in the spotlight, but—dare I say it—falling in love with him.
He pulls my arms from his neck and spins me outward—albeit slightly disjointedly given my ankle soreness.
I’m slightly dizzy from the twirl, but it’s nothing compared to how I feel being pulled back in, my chest pressed against his. Our breaths match one another’s. My hand vibrates over his pulsating heart. I inhale his delicious cedar scent and meet his eyes—more earnest and hungrier than I’ve ever seen.
He bends low, whispering into my ear, “See? It’s not so bad pretending, is it?”
A chill travels down my spine, and doubt creeps into my gut.Pretending?Is that what we’re doing? After all, he already has one fake relationship. What’s one more? I loosen my arms from his neck and push back a little, creating some space.
His hands tense on my waist. His head dips, his eyes meeting mine. “Hey. Where’d you go? I lost you.”
I shake my head and look away. “It’s nothing.”
He drops his arms and weaves his fingers through mine over his chest. “It doesn’t seem like nothing. Was it something I said? Am I moving too fast? Coming on too strong?”
I’m not sure how to respond. I can’t think straight when he holds me. I step out of his grasp.
“Nothing. I’m just thinking of all I’d have to do to put an event together.” I walk toward the expansive windows and peer at the gardens below.
His soft footsteps follow behind me. “Hey, you have me, don’t you?”
If he only knew how those words sound and the doubts they spiral within me.
“We’re a team. We can totally do this. Luke said he’ll help; I’m sure Wren will, too.”
I bite my lip. “You told Jorge by the end of the month. That’s in three weeks. Isn’t that a little too fast?”
Though I’m referring to the gala, my mind is contemplating how quickly I’ve developed such strong feelings for Griffin. We met just over two weeks ago. How have I let myself start to believe in love again so quickly after just meeting someone?
He stands next to me, his shoulder brushing mine as he gazes out the window too. “Three weeks isn’t impossible. I’ve heard of crazier things.” His hand, hanging at his side, reaches for mine.
Despite all the doubts swirling inside, my body naturally is drawn to him, and I can’t help but hold his hand.
His phone chimes, but instead of retrieving it from his back pocket, he faces me. I feel the pressure of his gaze in my peripheral, willing me to look at him, to open up, to…I don’t know.
His phone chimes again and again in succession.
“You should probably check that.”
He groans, pulls it from his back pocket, and swipes at the screen. He makes a noise at the back of his throat. I can’t decipher its meaning.
“What is it?”
“I have some unfortunate news.”
“What?” I pull the phone from his grasp and quickly read through the messages. They’re all from Luke.
Luke
You might want to do a quick Google search on your name. And Ashton’s.
