Page 158 of Come Back to Me

“I’m thinking of wearing a dress, but I’m not sure which one I want to wear yet.”

“I don’t care about the style of it, but I’mbeggingyou to wear a pink dress.”

“Why do you love pink on me so much?”

“It’s the color you feel the most like yourself in, and it’s not just because it’s your favorite color either. If I had to describe you as a color, it would be pink. You radiate compassion, femininity, warmth, sweetness, and tranquility.”

“Noted. I’ll wear a pink dress.” She kisses the tip of my nose. “Thank you for saying those things about me.”

“Anytime.”

“What are you going to wear?”

“Possibly a nice button-up T-shirt and pants. If you wear pink, I could wear gray or black to compliment you.”

“Oh, I’d love that.”

“Not to switch subjects or anything, but there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Hit me,” she says.

“I don’t know if I want to tell everybody we’re back together yet. I know this is a lot to ask of you, but do you think we could wait to tell them on Thanksgiving day?”

“So, you want us to sneak around again? You know how well that worked out for us last time.”

“I guess it could be considered as sneaking around, but that’s not how I see it. I see this as an opportunity for two people to spend time together without hearing opinions we didn’t ask for from our friends and family. If for some reason we can’t make it until then, we’ll tell everybody at our earliest convenience together.”

“I’m going to regret this, but okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t need to hear what everybody thinks about our relationship right now. It was easier when nobody knew about us, but I know this is going to be temporary.”

“I love you so much, Vi.”

“I love you more, Gray.”

now

VIOLET

THANKSGIVING DAY

We’ve made it to Thanksgiving day, and I’m more amazed that I’ve been able to keep my relationship with Grayson a secret for this long. I know he told me if either of us felt the need to spill the beans earlier, it would’ve been fine. I’m ready for everybody to know about us today because I can’t keep this to myself any longer.

“Hey, are you ready to go?” I ask Grayson.

We’re supposed to be at the Kaplans’ house before 4 p.m., so we got to get a move on.

He’s standing in front of his truck in a gray button-up shirt, dark gray pants, and black dress shoes with his dark brunette hair all gelled up.

I opted for my halter baby pink flowy above-the-knee dress that has a floral pattern on it with a pair of my white, strappy high heels. I chose to wear my hair half-up and half-down with a natural makeup look.

I swear his eyes pop out of their sockets like a cartoon character. His gaze starts at my feet and works its way up to my face. “You look absolutely beautiful.”

“And you look very handsome.”

“Why thank you, ma’am.” He grabs my hand, guiding me into the truck.