Page 75 of Infatuated as They Come
I pushed my face further into his chest, hating those harsh words. “That’s not true. You know I don’t care about that.”
“Some people do.”
“Is that why you’ve been working nonstop since we got here?” I asked. “I’m sorry she hurt you. You didn’t deserve any of that, but whatever you’re feeling? Whatever fear you’re hanging on to? You don’t need to feel that. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ve barely fucking seen you lately and you’re still here making me feel better. It should be the other way around.” He pulled away from me and we both straightened up, his hands landing on either side of my face. “You’ve been feeling lonely and you deserve better than that. You deserve to feel as good as you make me feel. No, you deserve to feel better than that. I haven’t been doing my job properly. I was supposed to be looking after you, wasn’t I? I miss you and I wanna fix this.”
“Can we go home where it’s just us then?” I asked softly, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but in the restaurant. “I like it better when it’s just us.”
His eyes flickered over to the menu. “You’re not hungry?”
“I’m starving, but I don’t wanna eat here.”
“You got all dressed up.” His eyes moved over my body. “You look beautiful. You always look beautiful.”
“Well, no one said anything about taking the dress off,” I said with a smile. It suddenly didn’t feel so constricting. “Can we do what we used to do back home? Where we just hung out at your place and it was just us?”
“You really don’t wanna stay here?” He gave me a serious look before squeezing my hand. “Is that really what you want?”
I gave him a nod. “Really.”
* * *
What was in front of me was a million times better than some fancy restaurant. Several Chinese takeout containers all over the coffee table, a Pictionary box Brodie gave me for my birthday in the middle of said table, and my boyfriend sitting right next to me on the couch. Perfect.
I had kicked my heels off but kept the dress on, while Sawyer looked far too handsome with his blazer off and the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, black tie all loose and crooked.
The fragrant, delicious scent of the Chinese food hit me as I grabbed one of the boxes, twirling a plastic fork around to gather some noodles. “Wait, how is this a fair game, though?” I asked. “I can’t draw to save my life.”
“It’s either this or Monopoly or Cluedo,” Sawyer said. “And last time we played Monopoly you almost flipped the table when you lost.”
“A slight exaggeration,” I said with a laugh.
“You turn into fuckin’ Godzilla when you lose.”
“Let’s just play the game please.”
“Alright, here are the rules.” He held his hands up, voice all low and serious. “Since there’s only two of us this is gonna get complicated. You can’t draw bad on purpose. You also gotta be honest. No pretending like you don’t know what the other person is drawing.”
“Okay, see, you’re gonna accuse me of drawing bad on purpose because I have zero art skills.”
“I promise I won’t judge your little stick figures.”
“You say that now…” I stretched my legs out, letting them rest on Sawyer’s thighs, and I could feel his fingers tracing the softest of patterns against my skin. I reached a hand out, snatching at one of the notepads. “Alright, who’s starting?”
“Ladies first.”
“Prepare yourself for true artistic talent.” I picked up a card, my eyes widening when I saw the word ‘hot tub’ looking back at me. God, I had sat in one a thousand times, but suddenly it was like my brain couldn’t remember what the thing looked like. “Oh no.”
Sawyer flipped the little sand clock over. “Alright, let’s go.”
“Hey.” I quickly started to scribble on the paper, trying to bring all the lines together. “Don’t cheat.”
He snorted. “The timer is the most important part of the game.”
“Yeah, but I need more time for this. Oh my God, I don’t know what I’m doing. I forgot what shapes look like.”
You didn’t know how short a minute was when you were forced to draw a hot tub. Sixty seconds felt like it flew by as I scribbled against the paper, and then I held the notepad close to my chest.
