Chapter 37
37
W ant to win your girl back? Have your abuela tell her all your embarrassing stories.
She spends the entire lunch doing just that.
Essie tries to look uninterested, but my abuela has her full attention. She also spends her time asking Essie questions about herself. Essie tells her she loves living in Blue Beech, and my abuela takes that opportunity to mention how much I’ve grown to like the town as well.
When the server drops off the check, my abuela grabs it faster than I can.
She then passes it straight to me.
“I know I said lunch was on me, but Adrian would never let me pay,” she says with absolute certainty. “He’s the definition of a true gentleman.”
I nod, pulling out my wallet. “Never.”
I’ll happily spoil Essie every minute of every day.
My abuela looks at Lainey. “Didn’t you mention needing a manicure?”
“I did,” Lainey replies.
“How about we make a stop at the salon?” My abuela’s gaze snaps to Essie. “Would you like to come?”
Essie holds up her hand to show off her pink nails. “I actually just got a fresh mani-pedi.”
“Are you able to take Adrian home, then? I don’t want the salon to close before we get there.”
Essie’s face reddens, and she bites into her lower lip.
There’s no way she can say no to my abuela.
“Uh,” she stutters.
The server returns, interrupting us. I hand her the bill and cash before telling her to keep the change.
If this were a normal situation, I’d tell my abuela not to put Essie on the spot with her question. But right now, I need this.
I need to talk to Essie .
Putting her on the spot be damned.
I’ll make it up to her later.
“I actually walked,” Essie starts.
“No, we drove,” Lainey unknowingly corrects, scrunching her brows. She’s not trying to throw her friend under the bus.
“I mean …” Essie pauses, frazzled. “I was going to walk and get some fresh air.”
“That’s just perfect,” my abuela says. “Adrian loves a good stroll after a meal. It helps with his digestion.”
This time, I can’t stop myself from groaning. “Abuela.”
She stands, Lainey following her move, and they say their goodbyes and leave the table before Essie has the chance to say no.
“Okay,” Essie drawls out, her eyes wide as she glances around, “what the hell just happened?”
“You were Valeria’d,” I explain. “It’s one of her many skills.”
If my abuela wants something to happen, she’ll make it happen.
“Yeah, well, joke’s on you,” she huffs. “You can walk.”
She unwinds her purse strap from the chair, drops the bag onto her lap, and searches for her keys.
When she finds them, I immediately take them before she can stop me .
She attempts to grab them, but I jerk back.
I wiggle the keys in the air before shoving them into my pocket. “I like the idea of us walking. It doesn’t have to be to my place, though. We can take a walk. Like my abuela said, it’s good for digestion.”
“It’s also good for tripping you or throwing you off a bridge,” she murmurs.
“I mean, if it gets you to take a walk with me, then trip me all you want.” Standing, I hold my hand out toward her. “I’ll choose that over the bridge, though. It’s a little cold to swim this time of year.”
She rolls her eyes, ignoring my hand, but rises from her chair. “You’re insufferable.” As she walks toward the exit, she says, “This was such a setup.” Her ponytail swings through the air with every stride she takes.
“A setup I will definitely not complain about,” I say to her back as she waves goodbye to the hostess, who then tells us to have a good day.
“Of course you aren’t complaining.” She opens the door and walks outside.
“In my defense, I had no idea of said setup.”
I wish my abuela had told me, though, so I could’ve been better prepared. I’d have brought flowers and had one of those romantic apologetic speeches planned.
But not that I really need that shit. It’s so easy to come up with reasons I want her to be mine, why I’m in love with her, and I have no problem admitting my wrongs. I’m perfectly okay with groveling.
She makes a right, not toward the parked cars but down the sidewalk toward her office.
“I miss you,” I say to her back.
She keeps walking.
“Tell me what I have to do to make things right.”
She doesn’t stop .
I run my hand through my hair, and my voice almost sounds pained when I say, “Essie, my life is lost without you.”
She whips around to face me, shock on her face.
I take a step toward her, and surprisingly, she doesn’t pull or shove me away.
I’m pushing my limits as I grow closer and closer.
She stays in place. When I reach her, my movements are careful as I cup her face in my hand. Her lower lip trembles.
“You make me a better man, Essie. You make me feel like I have a life.”
“Adrian,” she whispers.
“I was so lost in my day-to-day routine, not living life, until you showed up and changed everything for me. When I went to bed, I couldn’t wait until I got to talk to you in the morning. Even when I was sleeping, I dreamed of you. You consumed my every thought. My life is empty without you. I’m begging you, please , tell me how I can make this right.”
All she has to do is tell me what .
I’ll do it, no matter how hard.
Because nothing can be harder than knowing I lost her.
Abso-fucking-lutely nothing.
I moved to Blue Beech to win Essie back, but now, I want more.
I want us to build a life here.
To build happiness.
I don’t care about being the best attorney, or a promotion, or anything . All I care about is spending my life with her.
A soreness forms in my throat.
I want to say more but also want to give her time to reply.
Though, from the sadness on her face, I’m unsure if she will.
Her eyes are downcast.
My hand falls from her face when she retreats a step.
When she takes another, a breath leaves me. I capture her hand to stop her and clutch it tight, like a lifeline, because she’s mine .
And, goddamn, do I want to be hers.
I want to make her feel safe with me.
I want her to trust me.
“Adrian,” she whispers.
Without a word, I tighten my hold on her hand and walk us to a bench a few feet away. Our steps are unhurried, and with each one, it’s like she’s contemplating whether to break away and make a run for it.
We sit on the bench at the same time, and I wrap my arm around her.
She doesn’t snuggle into my side, but she does scoot somewhat closer.
Minutes pass, neither of us saying a word.
It’s like right now, silence is what she wants.
What she needs .
Every move she makes is slow.
She rests her head on my shoulder and sighs.
She shuts her eyes and levels her breathing.
“I like this,” she finally says, staring straight ahead as cars pass by.
“What?” I ask, peering down at her.
“Sitting here, saying nothing, being with you.” She sighs. “It reminds me of our history—how, even without saying a word, you always calmed me.”
I twirl a strand of her hair around my finger. “I’m here anytime you want me. Talking, silence, whatever.”
I’m not sure how much time passes as we sit here.
I don’t check my watch or phone.
The longer we’re here, the more I notice the tension leaving Essie’s body.
The same with mine.
Some people need a hot bath to relax.
Others, the gym or their favorite movie.
But Essie and me? We just need each other.
“All right, give the keys up,” Essie says, breaking her silence.
Her voice is more playful than before.
A smile plays on my lips. “No, ma’am.”
“Oh, look at you, getting the small-town manners down.”
“I’d like to inform you that my abuela taught me those manners decades ago.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“If we’re going with your reasoning, then it seems I was built for the small-town life here, then, huh?”
I frown when she ducks out of my arm and stands. Rising to my feet, I hold the keys in the air. It’s childish, I know.
She crosses her arms, faking annoyance.
Deciding to play the game further, I walk toward a sidewalk trash can and pretend to almost drop them inside. She stalks toward me and makes another attempt to take her keys back.
I shake my head and teasingly jiggle the keys in front of her.
They’re just out of her reach.
Smirking, I turn on my toes and head toward her office.
She does the same, and then we’re walking side by side, the silence returning.
When we reach her office, the door is locked.
“How convenient that I have these,” I say with a grin while unlocking the door.
“How convenient will it be when I call the cops and have you arrested for key theft and breaking and entering?” she fires back.
“Breaking and entering? No, babe. I’m simply letting myself in.”
“Okay, you’re over here, using the serial killer version of letting yourself in .”
The door opens, and as soon as we’re inside, she tries swiping her keys again .
“Babe,” I say with a laugh, “you’re nearly four to zero.”
She puckers her pink lips. “Aaliyah taught me that if at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.”
“Try again. I don’t mind you jumping all over me. In fact, I’m a fan.”
This time, when she tries, I move away from her until she’s chasing me. As she follows me around the office, laughter breaks out of her.
It’s like this is what we needed to lift all the heaviness off our shoulders.
We’re two people who have been serious for so long that we nearly forgot how refreshing not caring for a minute feels.
Without thinking, I turn on my toes, envelop her in my arms, and circle her around. She loses a breath, the laughter fading.
I halt, afraid I went too far.
But after a few seconds, a giggle leaves her. “Just like the silence, maybe this is also what I needed.”
She doesn’t pull away, and I feel like I’m on top of the damn world.
“Is this like one of the rom-coms Lainey was talking about?” I ask.
She squints, closing one eye as if in deep contemplation. “I think so, but since I haven’t decided whether I forgive you yet, I don’t want to say yes.”
“How about we watch a rom-com together to see if it qualifies?”
With her arm out, she pulls back and does another twirl. “Don’t you have a job?”
“I’m off for the rest of the day.”
“That’s not very professional.”
“I’m not concerned about being professional at the moment.”
“What are you concerned about?”
We’re in the lobby, in front of a window, for people’s eyes to see. I collect her hand in mine, take us to her office, and push her against the door as soon as I shut it.
My lips are instantly on hers, and she doesn’t hesitate before kissing me back. Our kiss is slow-building and intimate, and I fucking love it.
Essie grips the back of my neck, sucking in breaths, and slips her tongue inside my mouth. I groan, grabbing her thigh and hooking it around my waist.
She moans my name at the same time my pocket vibrates.
The sound cuts us out of our everything is okay between us trance.
Reality cracks through us, and she lowers her leg from my waist.
I draw back a step, pulling my phone from my pocket, and without bothering to glance at the screen, I ignore the call.
Our moment is gone.
Silence returns, but this time, it isn’t comfortable.
It’s awkward and bursting with uncertainty.
I gulp, wishing we could time-travel back to only a few minutes ago.
Hell, if I had an actual time-traveling wish, I’d go back to before I was stupid in college .
She clears her throat. “I, uh … need to get back to work.”
I rub my sweaty hands together. “Do you want me to walk you back to your car since it’s still at the bake shop? I’m sure you could use the company.”
“No,” she says, her voice suddenly shaky.
It’s like we were riding a high, and now, we’re coming down hard .
And, dammit, just like an addict, I want to take another hit to bring us back to when my lips were on hers.
I nod, playing with the phone in my hand. “Before I go, will you promise me something?”
She flutters her lashes, halfway looking at me and the floor simultaneously. “What? ”
“I’m sending you an email. Please read it.”
“Nice work today,” I say, fist-pumping my abuela when I slide into her Buick.
According to my GPS, the walk back to my place would have been an estimated hour.
Since my abuela was still at her nail appointment, I sat on the same bench Essie and I had been on earlier and waited until she was finished.
My abuela grins from ear to ear. “We make a good team, don’t we?”
I nod. “Sure do.”
“Now, I need you to do me a favor.”
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow is the town’s fall festival. You’re helping me in my booth.”
I shrug, buckling my seat belt. “Works for me.”
She shifts the car into drive. “I’ll put my money on a pretty, dark-haired girl who sports cowboy boots and speaks legal jargon being in attendance as well.”
A fall festival—whatever the hell it is—sounds like a nice way to spend my day, especially if I get to see Essie.