Page 143 of What We Break
"More like the Blake you talk about. Caring, patient, understanding." Her finger stops tracing patterns on my chest. "Sometimes at the house, he seems so..."
"So what?"
"Distant, I guess. Like he's tolerating me being there but doesn't really want me around."
I tighten my arms around her. "Laine, that's not—Blake doesn't dislike you."
"Are you sure about that?"
Am I? He's been working longer hours, spending more time in his workshop, and yeah, he gets quiet sometimes when Laine's around.I've been chalking it up to focus. Work. Maybe feeling like a third wheel.
But I don't want to go there right now. Don't want to pull at that thread, whatever's been going on with Blake lately. Not when Laine's warm against my side and everything feels so fucking good.
"He's been stressed lately," I say. "Work's been kicking his ass. He's got like three clients lined up. When Blake gets overwhelmed, he turtles. Goes into his workshop and doesn't come out for days."
"So it's not about me?"
"No." I shift, turning to face her fully, and tip her chin up so she's looking at me. "It's not about you. Blake's protective of me, okay? Has been since we were kids. He's probably just adjusting to me being in a serious relationship."
"Serious relationship?" Laine raises an eyebrow, but she's smiling.
Shit. Did I just say serious relationship? Out loud? Like, with my actual mouth?
"I mean..." I start, then stop. Because yes, that's exactly what I meant. "Yeah. Serious relationship."
"How serious are we talking?"
How serious? I'm thinking about her safety like it ranks above mine on the priority list. I'm rearranging my weekends like a puzzle, fitting the pieces around when I get to see her. I'm lying in my bed on the nights she's not there, staring at the ceiling, imagining what it'd be like if she were always on the other side of the mattress instead of just sometimes.
So yeah.
Pretty fucking serious.
"Serious enough that I want to talk about what comes next," I say. Out loud. Before my brain has a chance to grab the words by the ankles and drag them back.
Cool. Cool cool cool. We're doing this.
She tugs back a bit until she can look at me. "What comes next?"
My knee's bouncing. I press my palm flat against it. Stop that.
"Moving in together, maybe. Or at least spending more nights together." My pulse is hammering up near my ears, but it's the good kind — the roller-coaster-cresting-the-first-hill kind, not the oh-god-I'm-dying kind. "I know it's fast, but tonight made me realize something."
"What?"
I look right at her.
"I don't want to be apart from you any more than I have to be."
The words just sit there between us, taking up all the air. Laine's watching me with this expression — soft, open.
"I've been thinking the same thing," she says quietly. "About spending more time together."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I like having you here. I like waking up next to you." She pauses, biting her lip. "But moving in together... that's a big step."
"It is. But I'm ready for big steps with you." I set down my tea and take her hands.Don't propose Reid. Keep your fucking cool."Baby, what happened tonight made me realize—I'm in this. All the way in. And I know I've said I love you before, but tonight it's bigger somehow. Scarier. Like I didn't know how much until I thought something might happen to you."
