The way her green eyes caught the light from the flickering candle made my breath catch.
“I want this to be real. I want it to last. I want you to be able to look at me and know without a doubt that I’m in this for good,” I admitted softly.
“Really?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Really, Evie. I want you. I want this. I want…us.” I thumbed her bottom lip. “If you’re game, then I am.”
“I’m scared. You’ve been so… not yourself. Or at least, not the guy I remembered growing up.”
I nodded once and swallowed over the lump in my throat. “I know, and I’m willing to prove to you that I’m still that guy. Will you let me?”
She studied me for a moment before nodding. “OK.”
“Good,” I murmured, placing a tender kiss on her forehead before pulling away. “Come. Let’s get you fed.”
I led her to the table and pulled out her chair. “I hired someone to make us dinner.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I would have been fine with pizza,” she said.
“I know you would have, but I wanted to do this right. Please, have a seat.”
She smiled but moved over to take her seat. Once she was seated, I helped her move closer to the table.
I went to the kitchen, grabbed our food, and took it to the table. I placed her plate in front of her before I took my seat across from her and poured us both a glass of wine.
I held my glass between us. “To the future us.”
One side of her mouth tipped upward as she picked up her glass, tapping it against mine before taking a sip. “To us and a perfect night.”
“Not yet,” I told her, but thanks to all my planning, I knew that things would end up being perfect by the end of the night because I had it all planned out. Some fancy wine, a delicious dinner, some soft music, and maybe even a little dancing before showing her to the bedroom, where I had candles and rose petals to make things even more romantic.
It all seemed stupid and cheesy to me, but I knew that girls ate that shit up. I didn’t know why, but it felt like I was racing against the clock, like I only had a few minutes to make her fall in love with me.
I didn’t know when the bomb would drop, but I knew it would eventually, and I needed her to pick me when it did.
Every great moment in my life was followed by an absolute nightmare. I was terrified of that happening with Evie. I didn’t want to lose her. In fact, I needed to be honest with her and come clean about everything.
I was coming on too strong, but so far, she didn’t seem to hate it. I was desperate to keep her now that I’d finally reached for her.
Losing her wasn’t an option. Everything had changed. The plan had gone to hell, but fuck the plan.
I wanted this.
EVELYN
“This looks delicious,” I said as I stared down at the plate that had just been placed before me. There was a perfectly grilled chicken breast served with roasted baby potatoes, covered in a seasoned, buttery goodness. There were some steamed vegetables, and a basket full of freshly baked, golden brown dinner rolls.
“Let’s hope it tastes as good as it looks,” Elliot said, cutting into his chicken.
I watched as he took a bite. His eyes fell closed as he began to chew, savoring the chicken slowly.
“Well?” I asked.
He looked over at me and grinned. “This is amazing.”
That was all the permission I needed to dig in myself.
Other than the second day we spent in the Bahamas, it was the first time we’d actually been able to sit and have dinner together like a regular couple. It wasn’t like we could have lunch together in the dining hall, and my evenings had been busy with work or homework since we’d gotten back to campus from our impromptu trip. I knew he wanted to show me what a relationship with him could be like, so I tried to stay focused and treat the night as if it were a first date.
