Page 82 of Small Town Swoo
As if I’d ever turn him down. As if I were even capable of it.
“Yes,” I said, even though I understood the danger posed by spending night after night in his arms. “I want you to stay.”
“I have a surprise for you,” he said as we quickly cleaned up the kitchen.
“You do?” I snapped the lid on a container of leftovers and stuck it in the fridge. “What is it?”
“I’m taking you to dinner at Etoile next week.”
I gasped. “Really?”
“Yes. Our reservation is at six-thirty on Wednesday. But it’s a bit of a drive, and there’s something we have to do before dinner, so we have to leave around four.” He closed the dishwasher and faced me. “Is that okay?”
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s the something we have to do?”
“I’m not telling.”
“I have a funny feeling it involves a food truck.”
His muscular shoulders twitched. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Dash.” I pummeled his chest gently with two fists. “I haven’t had a chance to think about it yet. Or talk to my parents. And I’m certainly in no position to commit to buying.”
“You don’t have to commit to anything. I just want you to meet Gianni and see the truck. And then we’ll enjoy dinner at his restaurant. I’m sure it will be good, and you’ve earned a night off from cooking.”
“I’ve been dying to go there,” I confessed. “I’ve heard nothing but great things.”
“See?” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “We’ll have a good time.”
I grinned, already thinking about what I’d wear on this dream date with Dashiel Buckley at a romantic French restaurant.
“I love putting that smile on your face,” he said, running his thumb over my lips. “It makesme feel so good.”
In my bedroom, we undressed and got into bed on opposite sides but immediately met in the middle, my head on his chest, his arms around me.
“I keep thinking about what you said,” I whispered.
“About what?”
“Burying your feelings. It makes me sad.”
He brushed his fingers up and down my back. “I just don’t like inviting people in that way.”
“But why? What do you think would happen?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just don’t think it’s anyone’s business what I feel.”
“Even if it would help your acting to be a little more vulnerable?”
His hand kept moving on my back. Up and down. Up and down. “I sometimes worry that I won’t be able to turn it off. Like, if I feel anything too deeply, I’ll feel everything too deeply. And I have memories that hurt.”
I pressed my lips to his chest. “I know. But you also have a gift. You can make peoplefeelthings just by speaking words on a page.”
“Maybe.”
“You can, Dash. Everyone knows what it’s like to fall apart. That’s why it’s so moving when we see it happening to a character we care about. Don’t hold yourself back.”
“You sound like Delphine.”
