Page 64 of For Your Heart
“Just be you, Sage. I like you the way you are. I love when you get nervous and ramble. When your cheeks turn pink after you’ve said something you didn’t mean to. You’re adorable. Perfect.”
Tears sting my eyes. No one has ever told me that. No one. “Are you trying to get in my pants?” I blurt. “Because you don’t have to say nice things to me to get that.”
Damon is quiet for a minute and my mind is racing as I try to find something to fix what I just said.
“You don’t take compliments well,” he says after a minute in which I almost give myself a coronary trying to remember how to breathe. “Listen to me. You’re amazing. Don’t you dare change. Say whatever is on your mind. Keep blushing for me. Keep rambling. I love it.”
I blink several times as my heart tries to break out of my chest. “I—Okay.” I sniff and then wince. No one wants to hear someone sniffling in their ear. “But did you call for something? Did you need something?”
“No. I really just called because…” he pauses and I hear a quiet sigh. “I wanted to hear your voice, Sage. I, uhm. I miss you, I think.”
My heart races, and I grin like a lunatic. “I miss you too,” I say quickly then bite my lip. “We’re probably not going to stay much longer if—”
“Don’t you dare rush through time with your friends. But yeah, let me know when you’re headed home. I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay,” I say.
“I mean it, though. Don’t rush.”
“I won’t. But I did say they have a newborn, right? It’s their first baby. They’re stupidly calm when I’d be freaking out over every single thing at all minutes of the day and night. But I don’t think they want to keep Sparrow out too long with all the strangers and stuff.”
“That’s a cute name,” he says.
“Yeah. His real name is River, like one of his parents, but to avoid confusion, they call him Sparrow. I love it.”
“I can imagine you holding a tiny baby. My big man with huge muscles and a tiny little human.” He hums. “It’s such a cute image.”
“I have a picture,” I say. “Of me and Sparrow. If you want to see. You don’t have to. But if you want to, then I—”
“Yes, Najee. I’d love to see it. You can show me anything. I want to see it all.”
My heart leaps. My chest tightens. He called me his.
Don’t read into it! Don’t read into it. Don’t. Read. Into. It.
“I really like you,” I blurt. “A lot.”
Oh fuck. Fear overtakes me, and I sink to the bench. My vision darkens as I try to catch my breath.
“I like you too,” he says softly. “More than I think I should.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because my life is complicated, and I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t think I can promise you what you want, Sage.”
“It’s not complicated. You already told me—”
“Sage,” he says quietly. Sadly? “You knowing and you seeing and accepting it are two different things. You understand that, right?”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“You think, based on the little bit I’ve told you about my relationship with Declan and Simon, that you’d be okay with that? I can tell you, not many people are; the vast majority of people who have an issue with what they see, not only don’t see us behind closed doors, but our lives also have no bearing on them. It would be very different for you. Everything I do will affect you, and I don’t want you to hurt because of me.”
“Does that mean—?”
“Let’s not talk about this over the phone,” he says and my heart sinks. “Don’t think that means I don’t want to talk about it, but I think this conversation deserves more than a phone call.”
“Okay,” I say. For some reason, I want to sob.
