If We Ever Meet Again - Ana Huang Page 0,68

He tangled his hands in Farrah’s hair and deepened the embrace, letting himself get lost in the taste and touch of her. It was only the two of them—no worries, no guilt, no decisions to make about the future.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Farrah’s lips brushed against his as she spoke.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Blake rubbed his thumb over the smoothness of her cheek. “I hope you’re enjoying it.”

“This is the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had. Granted, it’s the only Valentine’s Day I’ve celebrated as part of a couple, but still. It’s amazing.” Farrah’s eyes twinkled. “You did good, Blake Ryan.”

“I aim to please.” Blake smiled, but an all-too-familiar guilt wormed its way into his stomach at the love in her eyes. With help from Sammy—who got his intel from Olivia—he’d crafted the perfect Valentine’s Day celebration. By pure luck, the holiday landed on a Friday this year, so they didn’t have to worry about classes tomorrow.

Their date started with a couples’ massage after their Friday test to help them unwind from the week, followed by a chocolate-tasting and truffle-making class, a leisurely stroll in the surrounding neighborhood, and a sunset dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Bund. Now, they were at their final stop of the night: the ice-skating rink. Farrah mentioned wanting to learn how to skate every time they watched an ice-skating scene in a rom-com—turns out, there are a lot of those types of scenes—so it seemed like a fitting end to the night.

Yes, it was over-the-top (and Blake didn’t even want to check his bank account), but this could be the last Valentine’s Day they spend together in person for a while. He wanted to make it count.

If he was honest, he was also trying to make up for what happened on New Year’s with Cleo—not that he’d told Farrah yet.

The guilt expanded into a lead balloon. He should tell her. The secret was killing him inside, and she deserved to know.

It was a stupid, one-time mistake—one he didn’t even remember. Maybe she’d understand. Valentine’s Day wasn’t the best time to bring it up, though. He’d wait a week, give it enough time between today and her birthday so—

“It’s the perfect day. I’m glad things are back to normal, at least with us.”

Blake frowned. “I didn’t realize they were not normal.”

“Well.” Farrah hesitated. “You’ve been acting kind of strange recently. Like you’re here, but your mind is a thousand miles away. I thought…I don’t know. That something was up.” Her eyes searched his face. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

The lead balloon grew heavier. “Yeah. I’m stressed about the bar, but it’s a bunch of technical stuff I didn’t want to bore you with. Leases, liquor licenses, permits. That sort of thing.” Blake forced a smile. “Lots to do before I go home.”

It wasn’t a total lie. He had a shit ton on his plate. Fortunately, Landon was on the ground in Austin, which made it a lot easier to scope out potential rental spaces and deal with contractors. That didn’t mean Blake was going to sit back and let his best friend do all the work.

It was his idea to open a sports bar; he needed to take ownership.

“I can imagine.” Farrah’s face cleared. “Let me know if I can help.”

“Thank you.” Blake kissed her on the forehead. “I will.”

“I was overthinking, as usual.” Farrah rested her cheek against his chest. “Now if Leo and Courtney would just make up, everything would be perfect.”

“They’re still not speaking to each other, huh?” Farrah filled him in on what happened. Blake wasn’t surprised. Courtney didn’t take well to pushback and things not going her way.

Then again, he’d done something far worse, so he wasn’t one to talk.

“More like Leo isn’t speaking to her. I think he needs space. Not that I blame him.” Farrah snuggled closer to Blake. “If someone cheated on me, I’d never speak to them again.”

His heart stopped, then raced double time. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s a huge violation of trust. If someone cheats once, they’ll cheat again.”

Blake had the sudden urge to throw up. Maybe ice skating wasn’t the best idea right now. He needed to sit down and breathe. “That’s not always true.”

“It is 99% of the time.” Farrah lifted her head to look at him. “I mean, in Court’s case, it was only a kiss. Which isn’t great, but at least she didn’t sleep with Nardo. That would be unforgivable.”

“Yeah. Unforgivable,” Blake choked out.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t