Page 28 of Only Yours
He grins. “He’s not my boyfriend…yet. But I think he likes me. His name is Henry and he’s in chemistry with me. He’s my lab partner.” He bites his lower lip. “I mean, I could be misinterpreting the signs, but there’s been a good amount of flirting between us. At least I think so.”
I sigh. “Now, look who’s doubting their judgment. I’m sure he’s into you, Amit. How could he not be? Besides, I’ll come to Emory and interrogate him soon. Then we’ll know for sure.”
He sends me a panicked look. “No, just no, Reina.”
I giggle at the look on his face. “You look so concerned. I have to scope him out at some point though.” I lower my voice to a whisper. “Just be careful, Amit. Please be careful.”
He reaches for my hand again and squeezes it. “I will be.”
“Now, what’s the plan for going after your hottie?” he asks in a singsong voice. “Because you should, you definitely should. You don’t see muscles like those every day.”
I grin. “I know, right? They’re pretty fabulous.” My grin fades. “I don’t know if I should do anything. My mother made him feel like shit. He probably doesn’t want to see me right now.”
“From the way he was looking at you, he wants to see you again, Reina. You’ve got to go to him and tell him how you feel. And we both have to make it clear to our parents that,” he gestures back and forth between us, “this is never going to happen. Amit and Reina are not going to ride off into the sunset together because Amit is very, very gay and we have the same taste in men,” he scoffs. “We’ve let them hold onto the hope of us for way too long.”
I peek over at him. “But I kind of liked that they thought there could be an us. Kept my mom off my case. She always assumed one day I would just look up and realize you were the love of my life.”
He brings my hand to his lips. “I am the love of your life, Reina. Just in a very different way.”
Chapter 27
Deep breaths. In, out, in, out. Shit, I’m just going after my guy, not going into labor. Calm down. -Reina
Reina
I don’t feel at the top of my game in Amit’s huge Atlanta Falcons t-shirt and the sweatpants I’ve folded five times at the top so that I can keep them up as I approach Brian’s hotel room door.
I had put on my big girl panties about an hour ago and called Sophie to tell her what happened. She was a wreck when I reached her.
“What’s going on, Reina? Brian sounds more upset than I’ve ever heard him, and he’s wanting me to come up to Atlanta tonight to get him. I told him to stay his ass where is and settle things with you first. He won’t tell me what happened.” I could tell by the tone in her voice she was trying very hard not to jump to conclusions, but she was having trouble not feeling protective over her brother.
“I just need to explain some things to him. My mom wasn’t the nicest to him, and I should apologize.” That may be the understatement of the year. But she gave me the name of his hotel and his room number and wished me luck.
My phone vibrates and I pull it from my pocket. It’s my mom again. I can’t. I can’t deal with her at all until I’ve done this. I’m still so damn angry with her.
I knock on the door. Nerves jiggle in my stomach and I take a big gulp of air.
Brian answers the door, looking tired and rumpled. My heart goes out to him when he sends me a confused and exasperated look. He’s probably tired as hell, and here I am running after him.
“We need to talk,” I say in a voice that doesn’t leave room for argument. “Please,” I add softly.
“Okay, but I’m tired. I’m not sure how long I’ll make it,” he says and opens the door wide.
I glance around and take note of the wrinkled bed sheets and his wet clothes scattered about. I look over at him. He’s wearing gray sweatpants now, and they look a hell of a lot better on him than mine do on me. They frame his dick in a way that…
“Reina, up here, where my eyes are,” he says in an amused voice.
“Um, well,” I start, then stop. “Can I sit down?”
He crosses his arms and nods towards the bed. “Knock yourself out.”
I sit down on the bed and run my fingers over the soft sheets, seeking comfort. How do I start this? I guess at the beginning.
I tell him about Kyle and what he did to Amit. I tell him about how I’ve tried to guard against falling for anyone because of it.
“I guess the worse thing is that Amit and I let our families continue to believe something could happen between us, especially my mother. She’s always so disappointed in me. I wanted her to think maybe I would finally be able to do something she wanted me to do. I should have made it clear that her dreams of a happily blended family with Amit’s weren’tgoing to happen. And when she said that stuff to you, I should have walked out with you. I should have taken a stand.”
I sigh and chew on my bottom lip. “There’s more. After the stuff with Kyle, I acted out. I slept with people I shouldn’t have. I snuck out and became wild and reckless.” I shrug. “For a while, I didn’t care what happened to me. Amit pulled me out of that way of thinking. I owe him everything.”
