My Grumpy Old Bear - Jayda Marx Page 0,15

thing I don’t have a heart condition.” Brooks smirked again as he adjusted himself. I leaned on the hood of the car for support. “I think I might pass out. There are dick-shaped spots of color dancing in my vision.”

Brooks snorted at my theatrics and took my hand. “Come on, Sunshine; time to wow me with this date.”

Chapter Five

Brooks

Okay, I’ll admit it; I was one proud bastard over the fact that the sight of my chubby got Noah so worked up. I’ll also admit that when I got a glimpse of his answering chubby, I nearly passed out myself. From what I could tell through his jeans, Noah was packing some serious heat.

I also enjoyed the feeling of his hand in mine as we walked toward whatever mystery date he’d put together. It’d been so long since I’d even held a man’s hand; since Ernie, actually. Not that Ernie held my hand much. He also never planned a special date for me or bought me flowers. I realized that our relationship was pretty shitty years ago; after I’d healed from the loss and looked back at it without a grieving heart. We were together mainly for convenience and, I’ll be honest, sex, which was pretty good, but I’m not sure I ever really loved him.

I looked at the smiley man beside me and wondered if he could ever love me. I was sure I could fall in love with him easily; of course it was too soon for that, but I already liked him so much. I loved being in his company. I loved his personality and his laugh and the way he made me feel. So loving him didn’t seem like that big of a leap.

We broke through a line of trees and I saw the building we’d come for; a butterfly house. He squeezed my hand and gave me a blinding smile. “Surprise! Have you ever been here before?”

“Never.” And I probably wouldn’t have visited a place like this had it not been for Noah. I had a feeling the young sweetheart would be introducing me to lots of new things.

We walked inside the large building and Noah paid for our tickets, despite my protests. He insisted that since he invited me out, he should be the one to treat me; that I deserved to be treated. And damn if that didn’t make me feel incredible. He also bought us two cups of this goopy, gross-looking brown shit to feed the butterflies. Then we entered the actual butterfly habitat through a set of mesh curtains.

Noah gasped. “It’s beautiful in here.” It truly was; there were huge, flowering plants everywhere with dozens of butterflies flitting about. A cobblestone walkway wound through the flowers and a little bridge went over a pond in the center of the room, which had a waterfall dumping into it. There were also benches speckled throughout the space to rest and enjoy.

“Oh, look!” he exclaimed before pulling me by the hand over to a far wall. There were glass windows you could look into to see cocoons in little boxes and the butterflies that had just broken out of them. “This is a big reason I brought you here.” I cocked my head in confusion; they were neat, but why the cocoons over the butterflies themselves?

Noah smiled. “See, the caterpillars wrap their bodies up in these cocoons, surrounding themselves with darkness. They’re closed off to the world until they break free. Then everyone can see how beautiful they are.”

I licked my teeth, trying not to give him a cheesy, dorky grin over his sweetness. “You brought me all the way out here for a metaphor?”

Noah’s shoulders slumped and his eyes drifted to the floor. Shit! Shit fuckity shit. This is exactly what I was worried about; I made a smartass remark and I was dulling his sunshine. “I brought you here because I thought it would be romantic and peaceful,” he said quietly. “It was stupid; let’s just go.”

“Noah, please…” I cupped his cheek in my hand and tipped his head back so he was looking at me. “I’m sorry. That was a dick thing to say. My default setting is cranky bastard. I’m just...I’m not great with...you know...feelings, and sometimes when I don’t know what to say, stupid shit comes out.” His mouth quirked up into a pretty smile and I breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s very romantic and peaceful here.” I rubbed my thumb across his smooth cheek. “And I appreciate the