Page 96 of Anything for You


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“Go relax,” he says against my skin. “Take a few quiet minutes. I’ll finish up here and make drinks.”

I turn in his arms, looking up at him, appreciative, as always, of the way he understands my need for quiet time at the end of the day.

“You going to bartend for me?”

“You know it, Ems. I know how you like your drinks.”

“You’re literally a bartender. You know how everyone likes their drinks.”

He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners in the way I love. “Yeah, but yours especially. Who do you think reminded Ben you like sugar on your margarita rims for all those years? I’ve always known you, Ems.”

Emotion clouds my vision. I feel the words in the deepest parts of me.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

I shove them down for now. I want to give the words to him, but I think he has to be the one to say them first.

Instead, I lean forward, resting my forehead on Jeremy’s chest, trying to pull myself together. He seems to understand, wrapping his arms around me and resting his cheek on top of my head. When we break apart, his smile is soft and sweet.

“Go lay down. Let me take care of you.”

Twenty minutes later, Jeremy comes back into the living room carrying two margarita glasses, his brow furrowed, eyes unfocused.

“What’s wrong?”

He sets the glasses on the coffee table and sits down next to me on the pile of blankets and pillows. He doesn’t speak, just hands me his phone.

From:[email protected]

To:[email protected]

Subject:Can we meet?

Dear Jeremy,

Thank you so much for getting back to me and for agreeing to meet. I know this must be super weird for you. It’s weird for me too, so I guess we can feel weird and awkward together.

I know this is kind of short notice, but any chance you want to meet this weekend? Maybe Sunday? I’ll be traveling a lot for work over the next month or so, so this is my last free weekend for a bit. Maybe you can drive down to Bethesda?

Looking forward to meeting you.

Brian

“I just emailed him back this morning and told him I thought we should meet,” Jeremy says, voice a little shaky. “I guess I didn’t expect him to respond so quickly.”

I study him, considering my response. I’m happy to see he’s not anxious. He’s definitely nervous, but behind the nerves I see hope so acute it makes my chest ache.

Taking his hands in mine, I wait until he’s looking at me to ask my question.

“What do you want to do?”

He doesn’t even breathe before he answers. “I want to meet him. Maybe it’s stupid, but I want to go.”

I squeeze his hands. “It’s not stupid. I think you should do it. Do you want me to come with you?”

He shakes his head. “I always want you with me, but Sunday is Halloween, and I know how much Maddy has been lookingforward to it. Hopefully I’ll be back in time, but if I’m not, you should be here with her. I’ll be okay.”

I nod, knowing he’s right but hating that he’ll be there alone.