Page 467 of One More Kiss

Blinking, I finally lifted my head and saw he was holding a large vase of red roses.

“Yes?”

“Floral delivery, miss. Here you go.” He handed them to me with a smile.

“Oh, um, thank you.”

“My pleasure, miss. Have a great day.”

After closing the door with my foot, I walked the vase of flowers to my kitchen and set them down. Searching for a card, I found one after my vision cleared.

Dear Vada,

I miss you more than I can express, but I’m willing to give you space if that’s what you need to think everything through. I’ll wait for you until you’re ready.

You know where to find me when you are.

-Ethan

P.S. Don’t think I won’t stop reminding you how much I care and miss you though.

P.S.S. Hope you’re feeling okay this morning. Take an Ibuprofen and drink lots of water. Hangovers are the worst.

“What?” I gasped aloud. I racked my brain, saw the empty wine bottles on my living room floor, and reached for my phone. I checked my calls, and that’s when realization hit.

I called him nine times last night. Left him voicemail after voicemail, worst—drunk voicemails.

“Oh my God,” I murmured. “Fuck.”

Why in the world would he even want to talk or see me again after that? I probably mentioned his cock and how I wished I could fuck his brains out just to use him the way I felt used. Oh my God. This was fucking awful.

After telling Nora the story, she laughed her ass off. Completely at my expense, of course. She even said she heard me rambling through the walls, and when I cursed her out for not trying to stop me, she said it was for my own good.

One thing I know for sure is that I told him I needed space, which was true. It was why I didn’t respond to his messages because I knew the minute I did, I’d throw everything out the door. I needed to stay focused, work on my novel, and not let a man chase away my dreams.

Space was good. He knew writing was important to me and respecting that made me fall for him even harder.

After that night, I stayed on track and kept writing. His calls and text messages stopped, but the flower deliveries didn’t.

Every week like clockwork, a new bouquet showed up at my door. Every week, a new note.

I miss you, Vada.

You’re beautiful. Just thought I’d remind you.

I’ll wait for you. No matter what.

I was tempted to call him several times, but I didn’t want to lead him on. Truthfully, I didn’t know what I wanted. I hated to cause him more pain, not knowing if I’d ever be able to be who or what he needed. Space and time couldn’t heal everything, and there was no guarantee when that would even be.

“You’ll always have a deadline, Vada. Go to him,” Nora insisted.

If I was being a hundred percent honest with myself, it was fear keeping me from making that step.

Fear of putting my heart back on the line.

Fear of losing my creativeness.

Fear of giving it all up for him.

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