Page 56 of Breakout
He leans down and kisses me quickly as he opens the car door for me.I should push him away, but I lean into the kiss. I’m desperate for it. When did I come to ache for his touch? How did he slip past my defenses so easily?
He pulls away, and I want to chase him. I don’t, though. I slide into the passenger seat and put my seat belt on. He shuts the door and runs around the front of the car. I know I should scold him for kissing me out in the open but don’t. He knows the risk, and so do I, but I didn’t stop him. I wanted it.
“How are you?” he asks when he starts driving.
“Good, you?” I ask out of habit.
“I’d be better if I could see you more.” He shoots me a wink before looking back at the road.
I roll my eyes, but I feel my cheeks heat.
“You see me almost every night. Is this your way of complaining we don’t have enough sex?” I joke.
He shoots me a pointed look before looking back at the road. “As much as I love having you naked, that’s not what I meant, and you know it. Whether you want to admit it or not, our relationship is about more than just the physical shit.”
“Is it, though?” I ask as I begin to fiddle with the hem of my shirt.
This.
This is what I wanted to avoid. I feel like he wants more than I know how to give, and I have no idea what to do about it. If I give in, will I end up with my heart broken?
We both fall silent as he drives. I realize as he parks that he’s brought me to the same diner he proposed in. It seems to have become our place.
My heart is pounding in my chest as I realize this place has come to mean something to me. I feel like I’m planting roots, and it scares the hell out of me. I’ve never done this before. I’ve never wanted to.
Without saying a word, he leads me into the diner. He speaks with the hostess until we are sliding into the same booth we’ve sat in before.
I look at the menu, but I can’t see the words. I want to know what he is thinking. Glancing up, I see him fiddling with a straw that was at the end of the table.
Another minute, and the silence becomes too much. I’m seconds away from sneaking out the back door to escape the anxiety when he reaches over and grabs my hand.
“You’re my wife, Peyton. You can’t blame me for wanting to spend as much time with you as possible,” he says as he slips another paper ring onto my finger.
I look down at the paper ring, my eyes tearing up. It hadn’t even dawned on me what he was doing. He gently runs his finger over the ring as he waits for me to answer him.
“No, I guess I can’t,” I say softly.
This man is stealing little pieces of me without even trying. What am I going to do when he decides he doesn’t want them anymore? There’s no way a man with the future he has waiting for him would settle for the little poor foster girl with nothing going for her.
His hand squeezes mine. “Is there anything you want to know, wife? I’ll tell you anything.”
“Are you ever going to call me by my name again when it’s just the two of us?” It slips out of my lips without even thinking about it.
He chuckles. “Probably not. Have you heard from the lawyer?”
I shake my head. “No, I should probably call and check in, though, huh?”
“Might be smart.”
Silence descends over the table. I have no idea what to say. Part of me wants to ask him questions, but the other part knows that would only dig the hole deeper.
Do I follow my heart or my mind?
Before I have to make a choice, the server comes over to take our orders. Once she leaves, I decide to keep it light.
“What about you? Anything new?”
“Just spending all my time with you or at the rink. You know how it is.”
