Jessica
I spend far too long trying to decide what to wear to work the next day.
What kind of outfit is right for both work and an after work ‘talk’ that might be a date with the ex you’re kind-of-seeing again?
None, that’s what. Absolutely nothing I own works for all that. I’m not sure there’s anything in the world that would.
In the end, I settle for my first choice of a cute baby pink blouse and my typical black pencil skirt. Not the extra short one that I bought on a whim at the weekend. The perfectly respectable, no-ulterior-motives one I bought before I even started this job.
I feel too nervous to want to risk things getting…out of hand…at work today.
Like they have every other day this week.
I know I should have more reasons than just this talk to impose a little control on myself at work - but damn it, after so long spent lusting after him and fantasizing about things I shouldn’t…then that explosive night together, can you blame me?
When Kenneth is right there in front of me. Being his impossibly hot self. Smiling at me, saying things, that heat in his gaze suggesting…
It makes me groan just thinking about it.
That’s the only possible reason I can give for how wildly irresponsible I’ve been this week - hell, both of us have been this week.
Catching up on the last ten years.
After the mind-blowing sex we had at his house on Friday night, I couldn’t have resisted all those little touches, the kisses we’ve been sneaking in his office and the dirty things he’s suggested, even if I’d wanted to. And I didn’t. Not at all.
Not until today, anyway.
Today, I’m far too on edge to want to be around him for more than a minute at a time. I leave documents in his office when he leaves for meetings, I barely look at him as he walks past my desk and the summaries I give him are so hurried I doubt he hears a word I say.
I can feel him watching me the whole time, obviously aware that I’m being really fucking weird, but he doesn’t say anything about it.
I guess he’s leaving all that until tonight.
Tonight.
Damn. Tonight.
When we…talk.
It’s crazy how much more terrifying the thought of that is than all the kissing and fucking we’ve been doing secretly in his office, sneaking away on lunch breaks or scheduling ‘important meeting’s in his calendar.
I’ve never been this hormone-and-lust driven in my life. Even when I visit Gramps every evening, it’s a struggle to pay attention sometimes, my mind wandering to what I was doing with Kenneth only hours before, or what he might be doing right then, or what we could be doing together. I’d feel bad, except that Gramps is still making progress, and if anything his eyes seem to sparkle even more when he notices my mind drifting. He hasn’t asked anything, thank god, but I have an uneasy feeling it’s only a matter of time.
It doesn’t even compare to when we were sixteen and sneaking away for much the same thing back then, full of teenage excitement and anticipation. I mean, sure, it might be the same activity - but we’re adults now. We have responsibilities - things that are a little more important than turning up for Ms. White’s math test.
We’re breaking all the rules and we really shouldn’t be.
We should care more. We should stop.
We haven’t.
It’s like something else has taken over my body and I’ve forgotten every sensible thing I’ve ever known, all because of him. I tell him over and over again we shouldn’t be doing this, and it’s like agreeing that between ourselves is enough - like that’s all we need to do to feel comfortable enough…to continue.
We’re going to get caught. I know we are. There’s no way we can keep this up and not get caught - but it’s not enough to stop us.
All the reasons aren’t enough to stop us.
But tonight? Well, maybe that will do it.
I’ve refused to let myself think about the past - or the future, or anything at all really. I’ve been running on pure lust and this crazy intense need for him, surrendering to everything my body is craving and telling myself it’s just a physical thing.
The kind of chemistry you only ever read about, that’s all. A simple fling that we’ll burn ourselves out of.
Nothing more.
It can’t be - not with our past. Not with everything that happened between us.
How could I ever trust him enough again for it to be more than that?
I know better than that, surely. This is lust. Just lust.
Then why the hell are you so scared?
The day moves unbearably slowly and also breathtakingly fast - and the closer we get to the evening, the harder it is to silence the voice in the back of my mind that keeps telling me that somehow, I’ve fallen head-over-heels all over again.
For Kenneth. The boy that left me.
I don’t know how whether I can deal with that again. I don’t know…if I can do it.
I’m not sure whether I’m more scared of finding out that I can’t - or that I can - and the only thing I can think about all day is what we’re going to talk about this evening. My mind races with a dozen things I want to say to him, things I’ve kept bottled up for so long that I’m not sure whether when I try to speak them, anything at all will come out. I keep trying to work out what I want from him - what he could possibly say to fix or change the past, to let me believe again in something that crushed me once before - but I don’t know. I just don’t know.
By the time Kenneth approaches at the end of the day and stops beside my desk long after everyone else has left, my nerves are almost out of control.
I know he’s right - I know we need to talk about all this - but I also…can’t work out how to feel.
I don’t want this to go wrong. I don’t want to lose whatever crazy thing we’re doing right now. But I don’t know whether I can deal with everything that happened - or if this can possibly end up okay.
“Are you ready?” He asks, his deep voice almost gentle as he smiles at me. There’s a knowing look in his eyes that makes me wonder how much of what I’m feeling he can sense.
No.
I think it - I’m not sure I’m ever going to be ready to talk about all that or dredge it all up again - but I don’t say it. Instead, I take a deep breath and try to remind myself of what he said yesterday.
That we’ll talk until it’s all behind us. Whatever it takes.
I want so badly to believe him that I make myself push aside my doubts, at least for the moment. I can give him that, at least.
“Yeah.” I finally say, pushing back my chair to stand up and glancing around. “Yeah. I think so.”
He smiles at me and grabs my coat before I can reach for it, holding it out for me to step into. My heart stutters a little as I take the offer, something flip-flopping inside me.
Okay, maybe it is more ‘date’ than ‘talk’…
He takes my arm in his and I get another set of flutters in my stomach.
He never used to do that when—when we were sixteen? Yeah. It fits better on the man he’s become.
“Are you sure…” I glance around, a little nervous. We don’t know that everyone has left the building, do we?
“Yes.” He says, his voice firm and unyielding. “I’m sure.”
I don’t try to argue as we make our way down to the parking lot, instead taking the opportunity to walk close to him and enjoy the warmth of his body next to me. It already feels like my skin is aching for his touch, after all my avoidance today, and this is a nice, non-threatening way to get a sense of that. Not too much - not kissing or—
That thought dies the moment we get into the elevator and he turns toward me, pulling me in to take my mouth in his.
Oh god. Oh fuck.
“I’ve missed you, Jessie.” He growls against my lips and my heart speeds up again, my body melting into his and my libido ramping up within moments.
“I was there…all day.”
He pulls back to give me a deliberate look. “You know what I mean.”
My pulse thumps in my throat and I swallow. “I…just…”
“You needed space.” He kisses me again, just a brush of lips over mine as the elevator ‘pings’ and the doors start to open. “I get that - and you can have whatever you need. I just wanted you to know I missed you.”
His hand strokes my cheek lightly, his eyes lingering on mine for a moment before he steps forward and I match his pace almost blindly, my mind too stuck on his words - and that touch.
Damn. Everything about him is just a total sensory overload.
I barely register anything else as he walks me over to his car and holds the door for me - he really is going overboard with this whole gentleman thing, huh - and it’s a few minutes into the drive before I glance around and dimly realize it’s a really nice car. Plush leather seats, wooden dashboard and all sorts of fancy buttons I can only guess at.
“Where are we going?” I ask, after a few moments.
He gives me a small smile. “One of my favorite bars - quiet and intimate.”
The way his voice lingers on intimate has me thinking about other things all over again.
“We’ll get a couple of drinks together, catch up for a little while.”
He reaches over to take my hand, squeezing it, and I try not to worry too much about what we’re going to talk about. The way he says it, it sounds nice.
“Okay.” I say after a moment, squeezing his hand back.
He keeps it there, though, his thumb stroking over my skin for the rest of the short journey. It feels nice, and something about that scares me a little.
This isn’t sex or hot lust or passion. It’s…something else.
He pulls into a hotel parking lot and as we get out and he reclaims my arm, startling me slightly.
“Shouldn’t we be a bit more…you know.” I ask quietly, looking at all the people walking down the street around us.
When there was no one around in the office, okay, but with so many people around…shouldn’t we be a little less…together?
He raises an eyebrow at me, obviously following my thoughts.
“At the office where we both work, sure. But in the middle of town? Where everyone is just going about their business and lost in their own lives? Here, we can do what we want.”
As if to prove his point, he pulls me in and kisses me again. Shivers go down my spine and I can’t deny I love the way he keeps doing that, the intimacy he has no problem showing all the time - but as we break apart, I look around at the upscale area of town and can’t help feeling slightly uneasy.
Is my instinctive discretion really just because of workplace sensitivity? Because I’m seeing the boss and we’re…doing this?
I don’t get a chance to think about it, or voice anything else, before he’s guiding me into the large building, nodding to the doormen as we pass them. If he hadn’t very specifically said bar I’d wonder at walking into a hotel together and just what he was intending - but we head up the wide flight of stairs and into a separate area without ever nearing reception.
Instead, he pushes open a set of double doors and we step into a small bar area, full of tasteful leather-and-wood decor and low-key lighting from above. There’s a bar to the side that we order drinks at, and as we wait I notice several adjoining rooms branching off from this space, providing different kinds of atmosphere. In one, I can hear a group of guys talking and laughing - but the rest of the area is as quiet as Kenneth said. Apart from another couple sat further down at the bar from us, I’m not sure there’s anyone else here.
“Is this okay for you?” Kenneth asks quietly, and I look back to see him watching my expression.
I can feel his quiet concern, and
“Yes.” I nod, meaning it. “It looks like a lovely place.”
Our drinks come before he can say anything else and he leads me through to one of the smaller rooms off to the side. We take the couple of armchairs seated next to each other toward the end of the room, beside a small fire. I shrug my coat off with a small sigh of relief and Kenneth looks over at me, smiling.
“Still cold all the time?” He asks, a knowing fondness in his gaze.
I get a sudden flashback to when we were younger and I used to practically jump on him whenever we met up, nestling into the warmth of his body and insisting on walking around like that whenever it was cold outside.
He’s still that warm. Or maybe warmer, since he got bigger and filled out.
“Yeah…sometimes.” I say, my earlier uncertainty coming back again, the past feeling heavy in my mind.
I look up at him and pause, the reality of being here with him - of being there to talk about all of that - hitting me hard. Now that we’re here, I suddenly have no idea what to say.
“I…”
“No, let me.” He takes over before I can even admit it, shifting forward to clasp my hand and looking at me with eyes so earnest I can’t help seeing the boy he used to be - some of the harder, more resolute man I’ve come to know softening.
“I’m sorry about all those years ago, Jessica - about what happened between us. I’ve wanted to say that since the moment you walked into my office, but it didn’t seem quite right to dredge all that up again. I said I was sorry back then, but I didn’t mean it the way I should have. I felt bad about leaving, but I was too focused on myself and the life in front of me to care too much. Not how you deserved.”
“Kenneth…” I interrupt, hesitant. I’m suddenly not sure hearing all this is a good idea. Thinking about it all over again. “It was a long time ago—”
“But it’s why you’re not sure, isn’t it?” He asks, showing the kind of perception I wish he didn’t have. “It’s why you’re holding back—”
“I’m not holding back.” I say, feeling a little stung. I shift back in my seat slightly, shaking my head. “There’s just…a lot to think about. Our jobs, and Abbie, and—”
“Tell me that’s all that’s bothering you. Really.” He squeezes my hand, drawing my eyes reluctantly back to him. “If those are your only concerns, then there’s nothing stopping us.”
I open my mouth to say it, to end this conversation before it stirs up things that are better left buried…but I can’t. Not looking at him like that. My eyes slip away from his gaze and I shift uneasily.
“It doesn’t matter how long ago it was if it’s still on your mind when you think about us, Jessie.” He says softly. “And I understand. I was stupid and careless - and I hurt you. I didn’t even apologize properly. I understand why you haven’t forgiven it.”
I look up sharply, my gaze jumping back to his.
“What? I forgave you years ago, Kenneth.” I say immediately, shaking my head. “I’m over what happened. That’s not what this is about—”
“Then what?” He frowns, obviously confused and for a moment I just stare at him.
How can he not get it?
I take a deep breath, my hand slipping out of his and my eyes drifting over toward the fire instead, trying to work out what to say.
“I don’t…I don’t blame you for what happened, Kenneth. We were just kids, and you had your whole life ahead of you. If I’d been in a better place, I probably wouldn’t have even expected—what I did.” I shake my head, my breath coming shakily as I draw it in. His hand settles on my thigh and I finally look back at him.
“I was a mess back then, Kenneth. You know that - I mean, you saw some of it. I was already angry about the way my Mom had abandoned me - that she’d never come back for me the way she’d said all my life that she would. When we started dating…you were everything to me. It felt like you were all I had. You promised you’d be there for me, Kenneth…and then you left. Just like—just like my Mom.” I blink, my eyes stinging, and I have to reach for my drink to distract myself from the emotion that wants to well up inside me. I don’t even taste it as I take a few sips.
“Jessica…”
I don’t want to hear that tone in his voice. The pain there. I can’t think about him right now, or I’ll never be able to say this - and somewhere deep inside, I know I need to say it.
“No. Don’t. Let me…” I swallow, but look back at him, determined. Needing him to understand.
He stops, but I can see the effort it costs him as he looks at me, his own eyes shining.
“That broke something inside me, okay? It felt like everyone would leave me. That no one wanted me. It—it wasn’t a good time for me. I did some pretty stupid shit. I was a awful to Gramps and Grandma - to the only people that were there for me. It doesn’t—I guess it doesn’t matter now, but I still live with some of that guilt. It was like I knew it was just a matter of time before they left, too, and I didn’t want to wait around for it so I was going to make them leave.” I take another shaky breath, then somehow manage a small smile, shrugging. “They didn’t, though. They stuck by me, even when I was probably the worst kid you could have asked for. Eventually…well, eventually, that worked. I got my act together, because of them.”
He reaches to squeeze my hand again and this time I let him - too much of my mind threatening to think about Gramps, about what’s happened to him and how hard it is to deal with that.
I look back at him, meeting his gaze again. “It’s not that I don’t forgive you, Kenneth. It’s not even really about you. I just…I don’t know whether I can put myself in that position again. It hurt me for a long time, after you left. It took years before I trusted anyone again and even then…I never put everything into a relationship like that again. I never let anyone else in that deep. I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to like someone enough that I might actually care if they left me.”
I let out a long breath as I come to a stop, something inside me loosening a little. I’ve never actually admitted that out loud, but I think I’ve always known it.
I never wanted to trust anyone as much as I trusted Kenneth.
I didn’t let myself, even though I knew none of my attempts at relationships could last long when I refused to let anyone in. And every failed relationship was just proof that I was right - that eventually, everyone would leave.
“I’m sorry, Jessica.” He says, his voice rough with emotion. “God, I’m a fucking idiot. I’m so sorry—”
“Don’t be.” I shake my head again. “That’s not—you don’t need to be. I don’t—I don’t blame you, Kenneth. You were just a kid, same as me, and what I was putting onto you was too much for anyone to carry anyway—”
He shakes his head and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him look quite so serious.
“Not that much of a kid. I was eighteen when I left and I’d been through all those moments with you, with your Mom…I should have known. I should have known - and I should have taken you with me. Not just because of what it did to you - because letting you go was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. I didn’t see it then—but it’s so obvious now. God, it’s painful to think how different it would have been if I hadn’t been such a selfish prick. So determined I needed to be single and free.”
I shake my head. “Don’t think like that. There’s no point. Besides, things didn’t end up so badly—you’ve got a roaring successful business and an adorable little girl. You can’t regret all that.”
He takes a deep breath, sighing and rubbing his hand over his face.
“No. No, I can’t regret anything that brought Abbie into this world. But even so…” He trails off, then shakes his head and glances back at me. “No, you’re right. There’s no point wondering about ‘what if’. All that matters now is the future.”
The intent way he’s looking at me as he says that makes my stomach flutter with sudden nerves.
He reaches forward, taking the drink I’m sipping anxiously from my hands and placing it firmly on the table in front of us, twisting around in his seat to face me directly and taking both my hands in his.
“Jessica, I loved you all those years ago and I still do, more than ever. I don’t think I ever really stopped, though it wasn’t until you walked into my office that day that I realized it. I’m sorry about everything that happened back then, more sorry than I can ever really say, and I’ve been kicking myself for the last few months for ever letting you go. But what we’ve started now…what this could be…what it was always meant to be. It’s what I want, more than anything.” He takes a deep breath and I know I’m still frozen to the spot, scared and longing all at the same time. “I love you, Jessica. And I’ll never leave you again. I’ll fight for you with every breath I have, I promise you. I want to be the one that’s there for you, the way I was all those years ago. I want you there for me.”
He reaches up, and it’s not until his thumb wipes away a tear on my cheek that I even know I’m crying.
“I understand if you don’t believe that - if you can’t trust me yet—
I shake my head before I think better of it and he pauses, his gaze intent on mine.
“That’s just it…” I whisper, not even sure he can hear me. “I’m not scared that I won’t be able to trust you again, Kenneth…what scares me is that I think I already do. Even after everything.”
He reaches forward and before I work out what’s going on, he’s pulling me out of my chair and onto his lap, so that I’m sitting against him with my legs dangling from his. I want to glance around instinctively, some part of me acutely aware of the public intimacy, but I can’t with the way he’s looking at me right now - the way he’s touching me. His gaze warming something scared and lonely that I’ve buried so far inside me it’s hard to even believe it exists.
“I want to. I want everything you’ve said.” I whisper, unable to deny the simple truth of that. “But I’m scared.”
“I know.” He murmurs gently. “I want to show you that you don’t need to be. I want to prove it to you, over and over, again and again, until there’s nothing left of that fear. If you let me, I’ll do whatever it takes - whatever you need - to make you feel as safe and secure as you always should have been, Jessica. I promise.”
My heart catches on those words, on the sincerity that resonates all the way through him - from the warmth in his gaze through to the gentle way he’s touching me, his fingers stroking the back of my neck.
I want it more than I can believe. To open myself up to him and have him do exactly that. I’m scared, but I want to give into everything he’s offering. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.
“Will you let me, Jessica?” He asks again, softly. “Will you give this a chance? Not just what we’ve been doing the last few days - but all of it. I love you. I want all of you, with me where you were always meant to be.”
I swallow hard and this time, I do feel the tears. They don’t stop me from nodding, though, the lump in my throat almost too much to overcome.
“I love you too, Kenneth. I’m not sure I ever stopped, either, even when I thought I hated you.” I lean forward, my arms going around his neck as he holds me tight, and I finally whisper in his ear. “Okay. Yes. Okay, we’ll do this.”
His arms tighten around me and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so secure and scared at the same time - but it’s almost starting to feel like a good kind of scared. Like anticipation and potential, as well as everything else.
“I love you.” I say again, because I don’t feel like I’ve said it enough times. Not to him, or to myself. I’ve spent so long denying it… “I love you, Kenneth. I really do.”
He chuckles, leaning back to kiss me. A long, lingering embrace that is full of the need and desire of the last few days - but something else too. It’s softer and warmer. Less frantic, now that it feels like we might have all the time in the world, after all.
A promise.
I hold that promise to me even as our lips part, wrapping it up inside my heart as securely as he’s holding me.
“But…” I start, then bite my lip, hesitating. I don’t want to break the moment, but I can’t help saying it. “There’s everything else, too. Our jobs, Abbie…”
He shakes his head, one hand stroking down my back easily.
“If we can get past this, we can deal with everything else. Anything and everything, so long as I’ve got you by my side again.” He smiles at me, giving me another quick kiss, slightly more playful this time and when he leans back again, I’m smiling too. “And besides, I think you’re probably the best thing to come into Abbie’s life for a while. I don’t think we’re going to have any problems there - in fact, I’m already looking forward to you spending more time…with the both of us.”
“Kenneth…I don’t know…I want that to go well and—”
“I know, I know. I’m not going to rush anything - but I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.” He squeezes my arm gently. “We’ll go at her pace, I promise.”
“Okay.” I nod, some of the pressure inside me starting to ease.
Somehow, everything that seemed impossible only a few hours earlier has started sounding like a plan.
I like the thought of that. A plan for the future. Something I haven’t had since…well…since Kenneth and I were last dating, I guess. I don’t know what that says about me, or what I’ve been doing with my life since, but for a long time I’ve felt like I was just drifting.
“Shall we get another drink before dinner?” He asks, his voice dropping to a murmur. “I still want to catch up on everything about your life over the last ten years.”
“Dinner?”
“You didn’t think I wasn’t going to do this properly, did you?” He raises an eyebrow at me and I smile.
No, Kenneth has never been one not to do things properly. I should have guessed there would be dinner.
“I guess not.” I admit, then glance over at our drinks. “We haven’t finished these, though.”
Mine is only half-empty and Kenneth’s doesn’t look touched.
His lip curls slightly. “All the ice has melted. They won’t be as nice.”
“So in the last ten years, you’ve become a snob.” I say, laughing, but I oblige and stand, letting him up.
He grins at me, taking my arm and walking back toward the bar. “Well there’s no point in all this money if you can’t have a few of the nicer things.”
“That’s going to take some getting used to.” I shake my head.
“What?”
“You having money now.”
His brow wrinkles in puzzlement. “You’ve known about that for the last few months.”
“Yeah, as your secretary. The last time we were dating, though, you were a broke kid, same as me.”
My words finally seem to register and his gaze clears with another grin.
“I’ll get to treat you to all the things I wanted to - all the things I talked about - back then.”
His excitement makes me laugh and I shake my head again, leaning into him. “That’s what I meant - I’m not quite sure what I think yet. You know I don’t need all that.”
“I know, but I want to give it to you anyway.” He takes one look at my dubious expression and nudges me. “C’mon. We have enough actual problems that you might as well just accept it and not start looking for more.”
I laugh and I’m surprised how light and free it sounds - and how much better I feel now that we’ve talked.
He’s right. We needed to do this.
And he’s right about catching up, too, as the night continues and we go out to dinner together.
Hearing all about his time studying and experimenting with business ideas, right up until the launch and success of ExVenture, is fascinating. He tells me other things too, little things that no one else would know - like how tough he finds the success sometimes, especially when it feels like that’s all people can see. His family has always been supportive, but I don’t think he’s had the easiest time with them either.
I tell him about me, too. At first I don’t think I’ve really got anything to say that can possibly compare or be the slightest bit interesting - but as I start talking and he asks specific, observant questions, more and more starts coming out. I realize, with some surprise, that I really am proud of what I’ve done and where I’ve come to - of my job managing events in Springfield, of the way I’ve created a life for myself and found things that I’m genuinely good at.
Seeing the warmth and enthusiasm in Kenneth’s gaze as I talk about it makes a difference, too. I’d forgotten what it’s like to talk to someone about everything - to have someone to share things with - and before I can think about it, the other thing on my mind comes out too.
“My Mom contacted me a few weeks ago, actually.” I say it almost casually, and I’m surprised that it even feels quite casual. I guess I’ve been sitting on it long enough that I’ve started to get used to the idea.
Kenneth’s head comes up at that, a very mixed look in his expression.
“She…did?”
I nod. “Sent me a letter about wanting to get back in touch - wanting to try and build some kind of relationship. I haven’t heard from her in seven years.”
He sucks in a deep breath at that, his hand reaching out to squeeze mine automatically, but I don’t even feel that bad. Just…slightly detached.
“Have you done anything?” He asks, his deep voice obviously concerned.
I shake my head. “No, I haven’t had the time—well, no. I haven’t had the energy to deal with it all.”
He nods and he’s silent for a moment, just looking at me and holding my hand. It feels strange, having him here for me like that again. An echo of the past. It’s reassuring, comforting…but even as I relax into that feeling, I realize I don’t need it quite as much as I did in the past. It’s just…nice.
“Do you think you’re going to respond?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I say slowly. I still haven’t quite worked that out for myself. “It’s strange. It’s not like it used to be. I don’t know exactly what I feel about it all - if I even feel anything at all. I think…I think I want to. Just to see. I’m not sure it would even affect me if we arranged to meet and…she disappeared again. But…I don’t know that for sure, you know? So I’m…I’m still working it out.”
He nods again and I can see the conflicted expression on his face as his lips twist together.
“I want to say that she’s not good enough for you, Jessica, that she doesn’t deserve it.” He says, his voice a deep rumble. “I saw what she put you through for all those years and it was painful enough to watch, let alone how much it hurt you. Hearing she’s back makes me want to pick you up and take you home, to keep you somewhere you can be safe from anything that might ever hurt you again…but after everything we just talked about…after what I just asked for…”
His mouth twists into a rueful smile and he gives a small shrug. “It seems a little hypocritical, huh?”
I smile back at him, just a little, shrugging myself. “I can appreciate the urge anyway.”
“Just know that I’ll be here for you if you need me, whatever you decide. I’ll come with you, if you like. Or tear up the letter with you. Or wait at home and pace until I know you’re okay. Whatever you need, I’ll be there.”
My smile widens and I’m surprised by the wave of warmth and relief that rushes through me. I reach out to squeeze his hand, something deep within me relaxing even further. It’s like things are slowly starting to feel right again - in life, and with Kenneth, and…just everything.
“I know. I know you will be.”