probably some oriental blend that he’d learned about while studying traditional Chinese medicine.
I sat on the edge of his couch, my fingers tightly interlocked and resting on my knees. When he returned with two cups of tea, he glanced at me for only a second, giving me just a hint of a smile with one side of his mouth. Then he sat down and handed me one cup before focusing his attention on his own.
After several agonizing seconds of silence, I said, “I’m sorry,” because it felt like the only thing I could say.
He glanced up at me again with the same ghost smile. “I understand why you did it.”
“It’s still not fair to you.”
“I won’t argue with that.” This time the smile was real, though it was small, and he held my gaze.
When he looked back at his hands as they slowly rotated his mug clockwise, I took the opportunity to study his face. I’d missed him. And I wanted him back, but sitting here in awkward silence wasn’t going to get us anywhere, so I breathed deep to shore up my courage and asked for what I wanted. “So”—I cleared my throat—”I know I used up my second chance, but do you think you might be able to give me a third chance?” My voice shook as I asked, and I likely had the most pathetic puppy eyes, but I’d said the words. They were out there, and what happened next was up to him.
He frowned at me in silence as his gaze intensified. Finally he heaved a sigh. “Honestly, I’m still mad, Libby. I am. I can’t make all of that go away just because you had a good reason for treating me like crap.”
I dropped my gaze in shame, knowing I deserved his anger.
“So, I can’t just jump in and start where we left off. But…I’d like to talk. I’d like to be friends. And I’d like you to try really hard to be honest with me.”
I nodded frantically as I tried not to let the tears of relief escape my eyes. “I can do that.”
“No more phone calls that make you run off?”
I shook my head. “I blocked all of his numbers.”
His shoulders dropped. “Okay.” He stood and gestured for me to do the same.
I was surprised, but happily accepted the embrace he offered.
“I’m sorry for what he put you through,” he murmured into my hair. “I wish I could have been there to help.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t let you.”
“Me too.”
“Thank you, Jonas.” The words were so inadequate for all the grace and acceptance he was offering, but they were all I had to give him in that moment.
♪♫♪
It took us a while to get back to the ease we’d had before I had run out on him. Ditching your new boyfriend without explanation after he took you to his extra special restaurant will put a damper on the trust of any relationship. We texted a lot the first few days after I asked for yet another chance. A lot of How are yous and What are you doings.
When it would take me a while to respond, he would tease me, asking if I’d decided to ditch him again. Those ones actually hurt my feelings, but I didn’t think that’s what he intended. I sent screenshots of his texts to Naomi and asked what she thought about it. She said he sounded like someone who was hurt and afraid of getting hurt again. So I did my best to simply reassure him of my decision and let him know that I didn’t regret my choice. We started calling each other almost every night, talking a little more freely, laughing more easily. I took a leap of faith and asked him to take me back to Roy’s, since I had nothing but good memories associated with that place. He obliged.
As we were out on the dance floor, I ran my hand over the tattoo on his forearm, then I pulled him close enough that he could hear me over the music. “You said you had another tattoo, but you’ve never told me what it is.”
He looked away and I could have sworn he blushed. “Maybe I’ll show you sometime when it’s appropriate to take my shirt off.”
My eyebrows shot up, intrigued by this bit of information. “I don’t think anyone here would mind.”
“Haha. Very funny.”
“It was worth a shot,” I muttered.
He shook his head but couldn’t smother his grin. “You’re going to corrupt me.”