“You wanna know what he said to me earlier?” he asks, ignoring my question. “He said after you’ve had a dose of him, you won’t be running back to me. The guy’s a dick, Natalie. I really don’t want you to talk to him again. He only wants one thing—”
“Oh, like you didn’t?” I counter.
“I’m not like that anymore.” His voice is gruff.
“Tyler is a really nice guy, Nolan.” I say it but I don’t know the truth. While we were at the mall earlier Harper brought up what happened to me last night, too, but I just can’t believe it. I really can’t remember a thing after talking to Tyler at the shore of the lake. After that, it’s just blank. It makes me kind of nervous.
“I’m just telling it like I’m seeing it, Natalie,” he says, reaching for my hand. His fingers entwine with mine as he stares into my eyes. “I’m trying to make this right. I’m trying to make it better. We can’t move forward if you don’t leave him behind. I don’t want you seeing him again. Don’t call him, text him . . . anything.”
Pulling my lips in, I bite on them, looking away. The breeze brushes against me and I’m glad because it’s cooling me down. I watch as the waves drift towards the shore, the way the moonlight reflects off of the massive body of water.
“Natalie?” Nolan calls, bringing me back. I look at him, blinking quickly. “You know I love you, right?”
“I love you, too, Nolan.”
“Do you love me enough to take me back?”
I frown with a smirk. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t like that you’re single and can do whatever you want. I want you to be mine again. Mine only.”
I laugh, squeezing his hand. “I’ve always been yours, Nolan. Just because we took a temporary break—which was needed—it doesn’t mean we were going to be done forever. Although I felt you wanted it to end, I wanted you to have your space. I wanted you to think about if I was who you wanted to be with.”
His lips twist as he thinks on it. He then nods and brings my hand up to kiss it. “So can you explain to me why you love me now?”
“I could tell you . . .,”
His head tilts. “But?”
“Then the night will feel short. I’d rather tell you later on tonight—when we have nothing else to talk about.”
“Fine. Later on tonight—after we do what we’re best at.” He winks and I bite on a smile, my cheeks burning.
The waiter comes back and takes our orders. After we’ve ordered we talk some more about little things. We joke around, laugh, and sip champagne. It’s a great feeling. A feeling I’ve missed. I feel whole again. Nolan seems way happier than I expected him to be, especially after telling me he ran into Tyler.
I debate on whether I should tell him what Brittany said about Tyler and just as I’m on the verge, our food arrives and we eat. Nolan tells me about the check he received for selling his mom’s house and how excited he is to get a place of his own. He then goes over how much he misses his guitar and how he’s going to write a few songs about us tonight. I smile at that and I can’t help but notice the boyish smile that’s been on his face all night. He’s adorable and I can’t break it so instead I drop any other conversation about Tyler and focus on what he said to me earlier. Tonight is about us.
After our table is cleared, I look into his eyes and squeeze his hand. “Thank you, Nolan.”
He looks me over, his head tilting curiously. “For what?”
“For this. For letting us be us. I’ve missed it.”
“I have, too, Bunny. More than you think.”
I grab his other hand and press my lips together. “Let’s agree that the next time something tragic happens, we won’t avoid or run away from one another. We’ll talk about it and try to get on good terms. We’ll be mature and actually start acting like adults. I don’t want that to happen again, Nolan. I don’t want us to be torn apart because of temporary emotions.”
He stares at our hands for a while and I grow impatient, waiting for him to respond. Just when I’m about to fix my lips to ask him what’s wrong, he nods and looks into my eyes again. “Nothing