Chapter 42

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Alex

“WELL, LOOK AT YOU, good as new.” I smiled at Rose as she stood in the doorway of my apartment after being knocked on her ass with the flu for almost a week.

“I’m still not feeling one hundred percent—”

I grabbed her face and kissed her before she could even finish. I missed her so much these past few days. Even at work, it seemed so strange to not have her there with her normal bubbly personality that always put a smile on everyone’s face.

“It amazes me that you didn’t catch this.” She looped her arms around my neck and stared up at me when our kiss ended.

“Told ya, I don’t get sick!” I took her hand and we sat down on the couch.

“Thank you for taking such good care of me that night. I’m pretty sure I looked like death because I felt like it for sure.”

“You looked beautiful.”

“Oh, yeah, right! Hanging over the toilet bowl and puking is so glamourous!” She laughed. “So, I was wondering…can I take you out to dinner as a thank you?”

“I would love to go out to dinner with you, but I want to take you out.”

“But—”

I held up my hand to stop her. “Either I take you out or no date.”

“Hmm…fine. But I’m sure I can find some other guy who’ll allow me to treat him to dinner.” She smirked.

“Oh, yeah, and who would that be?” I chuckled.

“Mr. British accent.”

Suddenly, I didn’t find it amusing anymore. I had only met the guy once, but something about him irked me to no end. “Don’t even joke around about him.”

The smile on her face disappeared. “Oh my God, I was just teasing! Besides, I already told him where he stands.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He asked me out for a drink, and—”

“When?” I snapped.

“Geez, Alex, calm down.”

“When, Rose?”

“That same day he and his father were in your uncle’s office. I was coming out of the meeting and he stopped me.” She grabbed the sides of my face and pressed her forehead to mine. “But I told him I didn’t think…” She pulled in her bottom lip and paused for a moment.

“You didn’t think what?”

“I didn’t think my boyfriend would appreciate me going out for drinks with another guy.” She studied my face, no doubt trying to gauge my reaction.

“Who’s your boyfriend?” I couldn’t hold back my laughter any longer over the look on her face. She playfully smacked me on the shoulder, and I pushed her down on the couch, trailing my lips down her neck. “You can tell him if your boyfriend catches him near you again, he’s gonna kick his ass.”

“Oh, wow, are you gonna meet behind the cafeteria after school?” she teased.

She squirmed uncontrollably when my fingers worked into her sides and tickled her. “Hard to believe, but I missed your smart-ass comments these past few days.”

Catching her breath from her laughter, she remarked, “I missed you too, and more than just your smart-ass comments back.”

“Then I think we need to take care of that.”

“Sounds good to me!” She lifted my shirt over my head, and my lips pressed against hers. As her warm, gentle hands moved up my body and her emotion-filled eyes stared up at me with such desire, I realized what we had was really something special. She was able to make me feel a whole gamut of emotions all in a matter of seconds, from happiness, to anger, to laughter, and now pure longing just for her. She undid the button on my jeans, and any thoughts of that arrogant prick completely vanished. The only thing on my mind was the beautiful woman lying underneath me as we prepared to make up for lost time in the best kind of way possible.

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After making up for more than lost time, Rose was too tired to go out to dinner, so instead, we opted to order Chinese food and hang out at my place, watching TV. It was the perfect way to spend Saturday night, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I wanted to be spending it with.

“Oh, let me see?” Rose said after I cracked open my fortune cookie.

She grabbed the slip of paper from my hand and read it aloud, “Big plans lie ahead.” She cast a questioning gaze upon me. “Hmm...wonder what adventure awaits you?”

“I don’t know, maybe the answer is in your cookie.” I smirked.

“Laugh, but I once knew a girl whose fortune cookie told her she’d be meeting the love of her life at any moment. Did you know she met the man she married that same exact day?”

“Oh my God! No way!” I teased.

She stuck out her tongue and cracked open her cookie. “The guy sitting next to you thinks he’s funny, but he’s not.”

“Well, there you go, now you know they’re not accurate.”

“That’s a matter of opinion!” She sneered. “Soon, you will receive the biggest shock of your life.”

“Oh no! Maybe you’re gonna find out one of your expensive purses is really a fake.”

She playfully smacked me on my arm and was unable to hold back her laughter.

“See, you do think I’m funny.”

“Truthfully, I already had the biggest shock of my life.”

“Oh, yeah, and what would that be?” I asked.

“You and me…I mean, who would’ve ever believed we’d…”

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. It was so hard for her to come out and say we were in a relationship. Even though I knew she wanted to, it was as if she was scared to admit it to herself. “That we’d what?”

“Well, you know.”

“No, I don’t.” Her eyes shifted in every direction, except on me. “Why can’t you say it?”

“Say what?” Her defense was up.

“That we’re together in a committed relationship.”

“I can say it…I said you were my boyfriend, didn’t I?”

“I don’t know. Did you mean it or was that just an excuse you used to blow off some asshole?”

“What?” she exclaimed. “How could you even think that?”

I looked away and didn’t respond. I knew I shouldn’t have been pushing her for something she wasn’t ready to say or even feel for that matter, but it had been almost three months since we’d been together, and I felt like it was time we finally acknowledged that.

“Alex? Answer me!”

“Just forget it.”

“No, I won’t! You obviously think that about me or you wouldn’t have said that.” She placed her hand under my chin, lifting my head until our eyes met. “You know me, and you know I value honesty more than anything in this world. I’d never lie about you being my boyfriend to someone if I didn’t feel that way.”

I nodded, wishing I didn’t open up this whole conversation with her.

“Alex, I mean it,” she reiterated.

“Okay.”

“Are we okay? Because it sure doesn’t feel like it. Ever since I mentioned about that guy earlier, you’ve been distant.”

“I have? Because based on the last few hours, I don’t see how much closer I could’ve gotten to you.”

“That’s not what I mean!” Her frustration was evident. “I meant emotionally. It’s like you’re zoned out or something.”

“No, Rose, that would be you.” Damn it. I couldn’t just agree with her and leave well enough alone.

She backed away and narrowed her eyes. “What the hell? How am I being emotionally distant with you?”

She wasn’t gonna let this go, so I had no other choice but to lay it on the line even though I was pretty sure it was going to end up in a fight. “Just with everything. I buy you a birthday present and you act like it’s a bomb. I take care of you when you’re not feeling good, and you feel the need to repay me for it. I do these things because I want to. I don’t expect anything in return because that’s the type of stuff you do for someone you care about. Someone who has you feeling things you never felt before, and someone you’re not afraid to say you’re in a committed relationship with.”

Tears welled in her eyes and quickly became a steady stream down her face. I knew I had said too much, given up way too many of my feelings for her, but I was done with the games we so frequently played in the past of always trying to have the upper hand.

“I-I…” She pulled in her bottom lip and wiped her tear-stained face with her hand. “You know, I feel the same way about you and about us, Alex.”

I knew she wasn’t lying just gauging by her reaction. I just wanted her to know it was okay to say it.

“It’s just…sometimes, I look at us…and I feel like it’s not real. Like it’s some backward fairy tale, where I’ll eventually lose my prince, and it scares me. So sometimes it’s easier for me to put up my guard to try and soften the blow if it does happen.”

I wrapped my arms around her, wishing she could see that breaking her heart was the last thing I ever intended on doing.