Page 107 of Timelessly Ours
He clears his throat and swallows. “There’s something else. I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything.” The minute I say it, I feel like I’m going to regret it.
“Promise me you’ll never go back to Sylvie’s again. Or any of those places downtown.”
Confusion touches my brows. “I wasn’t planning on it…”
“I know. It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s that…I don’t want you…unprotected.”
That’s not the word he wanted to use. He’s filtering. There’s something else he’s afraid of. But I don’t push. I get that he just wants me safe. And I’m alright with this promise. I smile and nod. “I promise.”
He pushes my hair behind my ear and kisses me gently. “So…have I earned that yes?”
“The gala?” I shake my head regretfully. “Royce, I’d rather not. People will know me—”
“You can’t hide forever.”
“Can too. Been doing it half my life.”
“You’re part of mine now. And I want you out in the open.”
28
I could watch her sleep every day for the rest of my life. I stroke Nicole’s dark silky hair across the pillow. It’s barely dawn but I’ve been up for hours. It was a mistake—telling her about Claire.
But how could I not? It’s not fair to demand honesty if I’m not completely upfront with her.
Finding out about Claire’s affair was an eye-opening kind of pain. Not because of how much I loved her. Our love was fading. But because I had tunnel vision. All I saw was fixing something that was once my everything. I didn’t see the signs. The red flags.
I’ll never be that blind again.
I’m in my office on Tuesday night after practice. I’m no closer to finding out what’s going on during our games than I was last week.
There’s a knock on my door just as I’m putting on my jacket.
Angel pokes her head in. “Hey, Dad, you in a good mood?”
“Probably not. What do you want?”
She steps in and closes the door. “I was thinking about Thanksgiving. I want to cook.”
I raise a brow.
“Okay, so maybe it’s Jace doing most of the cooking, but it’s our first Thanksgiving and I want it to be special with a full house.”
“Sounds good. We’ll bring desert.”
“Awesome. Oh and…I mentioned it to mom, and she invited herself. Is that okay?”
I stare up at her from across the room. “She invited herself?”
She sighs. “Okay, I invited her. Jesus, how do you do that?”
“It’s a gift," I mutter, flipping through papers on my desk.
“Does it work on Nicole?”
I look up, setting my glasses down. “What do you mean?”