Page 75 of Tangled Up In You
“For the trip. I made those rules. No bowing, no talking, no eating, no singing. All your life you’ve been living under Steve and Gloria’s rules. Then you were sent to college with more rules. And then you leave with me and—again, rules.” He closed his eyes, wincing. “I’m such a dick.”
“It’s okay,” she said immediately, instinctively.
“It isn’t.” He opened his eyes, met her gaze. “It’s shitty. I’m so sorry.”
Ren looked at him, really seemed to be trying to see him. “You do a lot of things to keep people out. The rules were about your boundaries, not about me. I got that.”
Edward stared at her, reeling.
“I would only be mad about them if you were still speaking to me in riddles,” she continued, smiling. “But you’re telling me about yourself. I know how hard that is.”
He let out a soundless laugh of disbelief. “I am so crazy for you.” Edward ran his hand down her arm, feeling the goose bumps there. “Cold?” he asked, reaching for the sweatshirt and draping it over her.
“Cold,” she said, and grinned in the darkness. “And crazy for you, too.”
“Are you nervous?” he asked. “About tomorrow?”
Ren laughed tightly. “Nervous doesn’t even cover it. It’s like I start to imagine it, and then my brain powers down and everything just turns to fog, and I can’t breathe.”
The words rolled out of him, finally. “Can I come with you?”
She went quiet, eyes wide, watching him. “To Atlanta?”
“Yeah.”
“What about your interview?”
“It’s only a four-hour drive. I’d just need to drive back up here Wednesday night.”
“You’d do that for me?”
He laughed because the surprise in her voice was so genuine. “I got naked in a freezing lake for you. You think I won’t drive a few hours to make sure you get to Atlanta sa—”
His words were cut off when she pushed forward, pressing her mouth to his and rolling him to his back so she hovered over him. Her hair had come loose and formed a soft curtain around them as they lay, alone on the hill, kissing and kissing and kissing.
It occurred to him later, when they were in the hotel brushing teeth side by side, that he’d been lucky three times in his life: The day he met Mary. The day he met Judge Iman. And the day he met Ren. Being there with her, he didn’t know how to go back to being Just Fitz. He hadn’t thought about his five-year plan in days. He’d had a whole spiel memorized for his interview on Thursday, but now he didn’t even know what he’d say. All he wanted was to run away with her.
So, in a way, they did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
REN
“Wonder if Max’ll start this morning.”
Ren looked up at the sound of Edward’s voice, finding his eyes already searching her face with concern. Only now did she realize how tense she’d been, how she’d barely spoken or looked up all morning. Her voice came out scratchy: “He’s the best boy and will start right up.”
And, oh. Now that she was looking, she noticed how good Edward looked. She’d been so in her head she hadn’t realized he was wearing a hunter-green T-shirt that made his brown eyes seem hazel, that he’d combed his hair off his forehead and looked so polished and grown-up. She hadn’t taken a moment today to relish the thought that this man was her boyfriend. Her anxiety had become a physical brick in her stomach, not leaving room for anything else.
“How’re we doing?” he asked, bending to meet her eyes. She wondered if anyone else at Corona knew how gentle he could be.
“I’m okay.”
He seemed understandably skeptical. “You sure? You’re a little pale. Want something to eat before we hit the road?”
The thought of food made her stomach lurch. “I think I just want to get there.”
He smoothed her hair back, tucking a strand behind her ear. “Okay, you’re the boss today.”