Page 119 of Morning Glory Girl
The thin line of his lips turned up in the corner and light entered his eyes. He was standing on the other side of the kitchen island from me.Too far away.
“Good.”
That’s it?
I glanced over my shoulder at Luna on the couch.
“Can we—” I started.
“Yeah. Luna, we’re going out back for a minute.”
“Okay,” she said, unbothered. “Can I change the channel?”
“Sure.”
He closed the slider, creating a sound barrier between us and Luna. We moved to the far side of the deck, out of view from thewindows. Luke wrapped his strong arms around me, and I finally felt like I could breathe.
When he pulled back and looked at my face, his was knotted with concern.
I smiled at him. “I’m happy. I didn’t really want to do it; I just thought I should. I let worrying about what other people think get the better of me. You were right, Luke. I’m happy here.”
My fingers played with the ends of his hair, arms still wrapped around his neck. His hands flexed on my hips, compelling me to bring my lips to his. His kissed me back sweetly, tongue teasing but not delving. He was holding back. I felt it in my bones. Was it because Luna could walk outside at any moment?
I looked up at him. “Can we tell Luna now? It would be nice to be able to kiss and hold hands a little more, start having sleepovers again?” I raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips flirtatiously.
His gaze hardened. “Val,” he said, dissent in his tone.
My stomach dropped like a brick through water. Something was wrong. My heart rate climbed, fast. Too fast. The tingling started.
Fuck.I need to sit down.
His eyes searched mine. He opened his mouth and closed it again. He took a step back from me, breaking my hold on his neck, and ran a hand down his face.
The cloudiness moved in at the base of my skull. Before it got any worse, I sat down on the wooden boards of the deck, bent my knees, and wrapped my arms around them. I sucked in a deep breath, not able to look at him for a second.
A moment later, he was kneeling in front of me, hands covering mine on my knees.
“I’m sor—” I started to say.
“What’s happen?—”
“I’m fine, I promise.” My heaving chest proved I was lying. But I would be fine in a minute or two. The stoniness on his face moments ago was replaced entirely with concern.
I haven’t felt a disconnect like this with him…ever. Somethingwas off and my chest ached with worry. Did he change his mind? He texted me earlier that he wants us to be together either way.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forming an O with my lips as I released it.You’re okay, I told myself.This panic doesn’t control you. If Luke ends things right now, would you change any decision you’ve made?
No.
My heart would shatter, but I’d survive. I knew myself better now.
The clouds in the back of my head retreated and my breathing leveled out. My internal pep talk made me brave enough to say, “Something’s wrong. Can you please just tell me what it is?”
“Hey.” He pushed my hair behind my ears. “Nothing is wrong. I am so happy for you, Val. You know I didn’t want you to take that job, that I thought you’d be happier if you stayed here and kept doing what you were doing. But I didn’t want to pressure you either way, that’s why I texted you today.”
“That meant a lot to me.” I chewed my lip and studied him. His deep brown eyes were back to their normal, soft demeanor.
His mouth quirked up. “I’m glad.”
