Page 24 of Grumpy Spring Sunshine
My heart was pounding but my body was happy.
And the words that I shouldn’t have uttered came rolling out in the middle of the night.
“I love you,” I said, giving into the sleepiness that was already claiming me.
Chapter 13
Keith
Ifroze; there was no other way to say that. She said the words I never thought she’d say. I mean, that was kind of dumb, sure, but it was the truth. I didn’t think that ‘love’ would come from her, and honestly, I couldn’t handle that. Because the truth was, no matter what I was feeling underneath, I wasn’t built for love.
I was a grump.
A douche.
An asshole.
All labels I wore proudly, and that wasn’t going to change. I didn’t want it to change. And her love would change that.
And being frank, I damn sure wasn’t ready for that.
So, now that she was fast asleep, I did the only thing I could think of; leave.
Like I did that first night.
After I promised I wouldn’t do it again. But there was no one to blame me. Who else wouldn’t run scared after the woman hehad in his arms threw out that word? I’d love for someone to tell me they’d stay.
I carefully crawled out of her arms and out of her bed, taking one last look at her form. A smile was on her lips, her hand was curled under her pillow, the sheet only covered her bottom half, so I got to see all the scrapes and bruises I gave her last night.
And while I enjoyed this view, and was locking it away in my memory, this was it. This just had to be it.
This bright, smiley, sunshine type person would drown in my darkness and grave mood, and I couldn’t let her do that.
I had to save her now before it was too late.
I slipped my clothes on quietly, looking for a paper to jot down my thoughts to her.
‘Last night was incredible, you’re incredible. But we can’t keep doing this. I’m going to drown you babygirl, and you don’t want that. I’m not the type to love, I’m the type to forget. Keep that smile in place.
Keith`
Was that the hardest thing I had to write?
You can bet your ass it was!
And I was going to deserve everything she was going to give me. But I still felt like it was the best thing for her. Protecting her, in a way, from who I was. Even if for a little bit, she made me smile more.
I hunched down, giving the dogs love who were nothing but sweet to me the moment I walked through the door.
“You need someone to love on you even more, don’t you?”
I gave them both kisses before silently walking out, making sure the door was locked behind me.
Two days later, I sat at the front desk of the tattoo shop, a figure walking along the pathway to the front door making melook up. My eyes opened wide, and I grabbed Kylie from her computer and pushed her to tend the front desk.
“What the hell, Keith? I was working.”
“I know. I just can’t handle this. Tell her I have a client.”
