Page 23 of One Drink
“Stephanie.” Her name left my lips through ragged breaths. I cupped her cheeks between my hands and lifted her face until our eyes met. Her warm chestnut eyes brimmed with tenderness and passion, and it was then that my hope was restored. I hadn’t lost her yet. I brushed my lips across hers before I dropped my forehead and sighed. “I’m scared, too. But mostly I’m scared of losing you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you pain.” She leaned into me and wrapped her arms tight around my waist. Her face rested on my chest, and the warmth of her breath made me smile.
“Just don’t push me away. Please. Don’t toss me into the screw up category without giving me the chance to prove to you that I won’t hurt you. Not like that.”
“Okay.” It was hardly more than a whisper. I arched my back and forced her eyes to meet mine.
“Okay, as in, you’ll give us a chance?” I searched her eyes—her face—for clues that I heard her wrong. When she smiled her eyes lit up, and my heart swelled.
“Yes.” She gently kissed my lips. “I’m sorry I freaked out on you. This all happened so fast. Between waking up in bed with you, then your dad, the charity event, and now dinner with your parents, all in the span of a week. It was all too much, and I freaked out.”
I squeezed her tight and ran my hand around the base of her neck to cradle her head. “We don’t have to have dinner with my parents. I’m sorry Dad cornered you about that. Whatever you’re comfortable with, that’s what we’ll do.”
“He didn’t corner me, and dinner with your parents is fine. I like your parents. Just be patient with me. I didn’t see this between us coming even though it appears everyone else in our lives did.”
I chuckled. I thought I’d hid my feelings well, but apparently our friends saw right through me. Not Stephanie though. She’d been oblivious to my attraction to her. Now that it was in the open, it burned so fierce, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. “We can take things as slow as you need. Just promise me you’ll be honest with me and talk to me about your fears. That’s the only way I can help.”
“I promise.” She hugged me tighter. For the first time in a week, a calmness washed over me, and I breathed easily. This was my chance, and I was going to prove to her that I deserved her—that we deserved each other.