Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
“You ready to go out with me now?”
“Yes, absolutely. What are we waiting for?” I was feeling more comfortable around him now, more willing to let loose and be myself.
“I was wondering the same thing.”
I grabbed my keys and phone, slipped out the door, and locked it.
“I figured we could eat in the Flats,” Ronan said. “It’s close enough that we won’t have to drive, and then if you want, we can walk by the river. Is that boring? I’m sure you’ve done it a million times.”
“Do I detect a hint of insecurity?” I teased.
“Promise you won’t tell?” Ronan replied, and then, “Just because I’m confident and try hard not to let anything hold me back, that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own insecurities, Mickey. Especially when it comes to things that matter.”
I stopped walking, reached over, and grabbed his hand, wanting to support him—to make him feel better. “I didn’t mean to insinuate you didn’t.” He was saying I mattered, that this was important to him, and holy hell, how was this happening to me? “And it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve done it, I’m never bored with you.”
“Check you out. You said all that without blushing.” Which promptly caused my face to heat and Ronan to laugh. “Let’s go.” He tugged me gently.
We walked to the Flats, a popular area on the Cuyahoga River, and chose a steakhouse with outdoor seating decorated with fairy lights.
“I love it here,” Ronan said after the waiter brought us the beers we’d ordered.
“The restaurant?”
“The city and surrounding areas. It was a hard decision to come back after college. Part of me wanted to stay away. Why would I want to be where my family was? But I love it too much, and I wasn’t going to let their bigotry dictate where I lived. Cleveland is home.”
Jesus, he was such a good man. I couldn’t imagine anyone walking away from Ronan. “You deserve better than them. I’ll share my family with you. They went from not supporting my sexuality to asking me when I’m going to bring a boyfriend home—not that you’re my boyfriend. I wasn’t saying that or that you’d be ready to meet my family, but—”
“I’m not your boyfriend? You’re breaking my heart, Freckles.”
“You’d want that?”
“We really need to work on your confidence and observation skills. If you haven’t noticed, I’m crazy about you.”
I grinned—no, that wasn’t a strong enough word. I smiled ear to ear, a big, goofy, happy smile. This…couldn’t be real, could it? What in the world was happening here? Whatever it was, I wanted to grab ahold with two hands and never let go. “I’m crazy about you too.”
“Good. Now what do you want to eat?”
We each got a steak, baked potato, and green beans. Like always when Ronan and I were together, we didn’t run out of things to talk about. It never failed to amaze me that despite how different we were, we had so much in common.
He insisted on paying for dinner, but I only let him when he promised that I could next time. And then we held hands while we walked along the riverwalk. I’d never had this before, never had a relationship or a boyfriend. I was usually so much more comfortable living in the stories I wrote.
“Wha’cha thinking about?” he asked as we wandered around.
“This. You. How different this is for me. I’ve never had a boyfriend. I know you’ve dated a lot, but have you had many relationships?”
He nodded, and part of me immediately deflated. “I’ve had casual boyfriends before, yeah. I’m not trying to scare you away or anything, but it feels different with you. It feels like I’ve known you longer than I have.”
Part of me wanted to be like, excuse me what? About fifty times so he had to keep saying it but I forced myself not to. “It feels like that for me too,” I admitted instead.
We found a bench and sat down where we could look out at the boats along the river.
I couldn’t stop wondering why we hadn’t done more than the quick kiss he’d pressed to my lips earlier. Could it be that he liked me but wasn’t sexually attracted to me? He could want to be my boyfriend but not desire me that way. There were so many different ways to love. Oh God, and now I was thinking the L word.
“What’s on your mind?”
I tried to force the words past my lips, to find a way to say all the things I needed to say—that I wanted him, that I wanted him to fulfill some crazy teenage fantasy with me. That I could see myself falling in love with him.
I couldn’t get any of that out, though, so instead I leaned forward, took his mouth with mine, and swiped at the seam of his lips. Ronan opened for me, so I slipped my tongue inside. The taste of him, the feel of him, went straight to my head.