Page 44 of Wrapped Up In You
“Hay, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I know you like a clean space. It’s not a big deal.”
“Well, yes, I do, but I don’t want you to do things like that because you’re worried I’m mad at you. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like I did. I was angry that I’d failed to set an alarm and was going to be late, and I took it out on you. It really wasn’t about the messy room, and I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
“It’s okay. My roomwasa mess. And I knew you weren’t really upset withme, but it felt good to do something about it anyway.”
“I just…” I leaned forward, pulling my hand from his so I could cup his face instead, “I don’t want you to be afraid of disappointing me. Not like I was with my father. There will likely be things we’ll have to adjust to between the two of us, but I don’t ever want you to think you’re a disappointment.”
“You’re projecting, Luce. It’s really not a big deal.” He turned his face, pressing his lips to the center of my palm. “And speaking of your father, what are we going to tell them when we go over for dinner?”
I wasn’t convinced he was being entirely truthful about his feelings on the matter or his motivations for cleaning his room, but I let it drop and vowed to do better in the future. I never wanted him to doubt that he was lo—cared for.
There was that damn L-word again.
I took his hand in mine once again. “What would you like to tell them?”
“I’m kind of all over the place on it. I want the whole world to know you’re mine, but I also kind of want to keep us in a bubble for a little while longer. It’s all so new, and we’re still figuring things out, and I don’t want anyone else’s judgment to cast a shadow over this. You know?”
I did know. I’d had similar thoughts on my way over here. And yet, I didn’t like hearing him voice those thoughts aloud. It made me wonder if he had doubts about us. About me.
“So you don’t want to tell them?”
“I mean, kind of?” He said it like a question, like he wasn’t sure what my reaction would be. Something churned in my gut. It didn’t feel right. But I also wanted to respect his wishes. Especially after I’d been such a dick to him this morning.
“We can wait if you want to. Or at least we can try. It’ll be hard to keep my hands off you.”
“Ooh! Maybe we should meet up and fuck before we go over there. Get it out of our system.”
“Jesus, Hay.” I shook my head, exasperated at his antics but also pleased to see the return of his sense of humor. I never wanted to diminish his light.
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “You want to meet at my place or yours?”
I couldn’t do anything but grin at him. Damn, if he wasn’t good for my soul. “How about we start with you coming over to my house after work tonight.” I reached across and pulled him toward me. “I’ll show you how sorry I am for the way I behaved this morning,” I said against his lips.
“In that case, I take it back. I’m very angry at you. You’ll have to spend hours making it up to me.”
I chuckled as I took his lips with mine, teasing his tongue for just a moment before pulling back. “You should probably get going if you don’t want to be late.”
He looked at his phone, then shot out of his chair, hastily pulling on his coat. I walked him out to his car but stopped him before he got in. “I really am sorry about this morning. Please don’t accept that behavior from me. You deserve better.”
“It’s alright. I—” He let out a burst of air. “You know what? You’re right. I do.” He pressed a sweet kiss to my lips. “Thank you.”
24
HAYDEN
December 30
“You gonna ring the doorbell?”
“Are you?” Jonathan raised his eyebrows in challenge.
“I mean, what if we just skip this whole thing? You could just do dinner without me, right? I like that plan. Thanks for taking one for the team.” I bro-slapped him on the shoulder and made like I was going to head down the steps.
“I don’t think so, you little shit.” Jonathan grabbed my arm and pulled me back until we were standing chest to chest, one of my legs between his, with his arms wrapped around me. “We agreed we weren’t going to tell them about us. Why are you so nervous?”
“I don’t know. Do you really think we can hide this? I feel like I have hearts in my eyes, and it’s going to be really obvious.” Since Lucy’d apologized for the way he’d snapped at me, we’d had a really good couple of days. I’d stayed at his house the last two nights, and we’d even had a lunch date today. I’d surprised him when I’d stopped by his office to take him out for sushi. The office had been quiet, but some guy named Louis had appeared out of nowhere while we waited for the elevator. Jonathan had practically shoved me into the elevator before I could introduce myself.
