43. Kaitlyn
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Kaitlyn
NOW
I can’t sleep.
I’ve been tossing and turning for almost two hours, and at this point, my mind won’t stop racing.
My steps are light as I try to avoid the spots on the floor that creak on my way from the guest bedroom to Bailey’s. I’m just hoping he’s in his room instead of on the roof because I’m not sure I’m brave enough to face my worries about falling off tonight.
I knock softly on the door, hoping it’s loud enough for Bailey to hear if he’s still awake. It feels like an eternity before his door opens, but I’m grateful he’s up. “Kait?”
“Hey, B. Can I come in?” I ask, reaching for my necklaces.
“Of course,” he answers, stepping back. “Just wanted to make sure that was really you, and I wasn’t dreaming.”
“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
He turns his lamp on, casting a soft glow across the room. “I was still up. Couldn’t sleep either,” he says, turning to face me, and I sit on the edge of his bed.
“Must be something in the air,” I try to joke, and Bailey moves to sit next to me.
I didn’t think about changing out of my pajamas before walking down the hall, but now that I have, I’m hoping it doesn’t send the wrong message.
“Can I talk to you about something?” I ask, wondering if maybe this is just something I should forget about, but for some reason, it’s nagging at me.
Maybe I’m poking the hornets’ nest by wanting to talk about this, but I don’t want any animosity to form between us.
“Sure,” Bailey says, but he sounds hesitant.
“Is it weird for you that I dated Hunter?” I blurt out, forcing myself to not look away from him.
He chuckles under his breath. “Not really. Is it weird I spent the entire summer hoping you and Hunter would break up?”
God, we’re quite the pair. “Can’t blame you after everything that happened between us, but I just want to make sure it really doesn’t bother you? Like this isn’t going to be something we get hung up on because Hunter isn’t going anywhere for either of us.”
Bailey rests his hand on my knee, squeezing it with reassurance.
“Kait, trust me, I’m very aware of how long you and Hunter were together.
It doesn’t matter to me because I’m glad you were with someone who cared about you, even if it was my brother.
Just like . . . maybe do me a favor, and don’t like compare us, please?
I don’t really need to know what the differences are between us,” he says, and that makes sense.
“I couldn’t do that,” I promise, and he drags his thumb across my skin in the most distracting way.
“I told my parents about us tonight,” he says, and I wish it made me feel good, but instead, I’m terrified to learn what they might think.
“Do they hate me now?” I ask, turning my head in his direction.
His eyebrows knit together as if the idea of his parents hating me is confusing. “Why would they?” he asks, and I know that Thalia told me she thinks everything happens for a reason, but I don’t know if me and Bailey being together is something she had in mind.
“Because I dated Hunter, and now I’m dating you,” I say, trying not to wince at the thought of how awful it sounds. It’s more complicated than that, but it doesn’t change the truth at the end of the day. “It might not matter to you, but it could matter to them.”
Bailey shakes his head. “Kait, I don’t think they care, and even if they do, it’s not going to change anything for me. I told them because I’m not ashamed of how I feel about you, and I don’t want to hide one of the best things to ever happen to me. You’re not a secret.”
“I hope you know that even though you said I’m the center of your universe, your light is so bright, it’s blinding.”
“If you’re the sun, then I’m the moon because I don’t shine without you,” he says, and I reach to cup his face, turning him toward me so I can lean forward to kiss him gently.
“I think I like the idea of us being each other’s sun instead of star-crossed lovers,” I say against his lips, and Bailey pulls me closer.
“Shit!” I swear, momentarily blinded after jumping when the doorbell rang, unfortunately at the same time I was trying to put on mascara. Blinking, I try to keep from smearing the mascara all over my face, but my eye is definitely watering.
I literally have no one to blame but myself because I lost track of time until my “oh shit” alarm went off fifteen minutes ago, and of course Bailey’s early. Why couldn’t he hit traffic or something today?
I asked Bailey earlier what I should wear because he didn’t tell me what we’re doing, but I think it’s safe to assume that with all the damage from the hurricane, we won’t be going to any of the typical first date spots like the movies or ice cream.
He said, Wear whatever makes you comfortable , but that doesn’t help me at all. I don’t want to fuck this up by wearing the wrong outfit, but now it looks like I’ve barely put any effort into my appearance because I lost track of time.
Thalia let me leave work early today, which didn’t make sense because I saw on the calendar there’s a private event happening tonight, but she told me I didn’t have to worry about it.
I thought I had enough time to paint for a little bit, but I kept snoozing my alarms that were trying to tell me to get ready.
“Dammit,” I mumble under my breath, trying to carefully swipe away the tears leaking from my maimed eye while I walk down the stairs to let Bailey in.
Thankfully, I’d already changed into a flowing lavender romper that’s easy for me to move around in depending on what we end up doing, but I wasn’t able to tame my wavy hair back into a braid.
I open the door, ready to blurt out that I need a few more minutes, but I’m speechless when I see him standing there with a bouquet of sunflowers.
B’s blond hair is styled back neatly, he’s wearing a nice maroon V-neck, and his face lights up when he sees me—but his quiet excitement fades to concern when I realize my eye is still leaking tears against my will.
“Are you crying? Is everything okay?” he asks, stepping forward to wipe my tears away.
“I’m not crying. I’m better than okay, I promise,” I say, smiling at him, trying not to squint.
He looks like he’s trying not to laugh, but I don’t buy it. “Kait, I hate to break it to you, but you are crying. ”
“I stabbed myself in the eye with my mascara wand,” I admit, and Bailey smiles, rubbing his thumb on my cheek again.
“You look really pretty,” he says, and the final puzzle piece of my heart settles into place as he offers me the flowers.
“You got me flowers?” I ask, taking the bouquet.
He nods, his green eyes crinkling as they watch me. “I thought sunflowers would be perfect for you because you’re my sunshine.”
“You’re my favorite person,” I say, not even caring about how corny it might sound. I know the lore behind the flowers with the Walker family. It never bothered me that Hunter didn’t buy me flowers because I told myself we were young, and they’re usually a promise of forever.
This was the most romantic gesture Bailey could have possibly made to show me how serious he is.
Maybe it should scare me, but the only terrifying thing is imagining a single day without him again.
“You’re mine too.” Bailey leans down to kiss my cheek, and the butterflies in my stomach flutter. “Should we go, or do you need a couple more minutes?”
“I’m sorry, can you give me like five minutes, then I’ll be ready?” I ask, letting him in.
“Take your time, there’s no rush,” Bailey says, shutting the door behind him.
I rush through to make sure my other eye has mascara on it too, but at least this time I don’t poke my eye out with the wand.
“Okay, I’m ready,” I say, taking the stairs two at a time. I should’ve been ready when he first got here, but I’m excited to see what we’re going to do. “Thank you for waiting.”
“You’re worth waiting for,” he says, standing up from the couch, and wiping his palms on his thighs. How is he always managing to say the exact right thing to make my heart smile ?
“You look really nice, Walker,” I say, smiling when his freckled cheeks flush.
“Thanks, Price,” he replies, taking my hand in his.
Bailey’s doing everything the right way, and I don’t even care what we do tonight. I just want to be here with him.
A thought crosses my mind on our drive that this might be the first date Bailey’s ever gone on, but I don’t want to bring up the past. I want him to enjoy tonight too.
I’m surprised when we pull up to 1133 , and Bailey casts a nervous smile in my direction after parking. “You ready?”
“What are we doing here? There was a private event on the calendar tonight . . .” I trail off, realizing our date is the private event. “Is this why your mom let me leave work early today?”
“She might have helped me set up some things,” he says, and now I’m really curious.
“B, are you secretly a romantic?”
Bailey uses a key on his keychain to unlock the door, opening it for me. “It’s not a secret, but I’ve never had someone I cared enough about to do things like this for,” he says, and I have no doubt this is going to be an unforgettable night.
Inside, there’s twinkle lights hanging from the ceiling, casting a warm ambiance across the gallery. In the center, there’s two art easels set up with canvases that definitely weren’t there when I left earlier.
“Are we painting?” I ask, turning to find him as my heart threatens to burst out of my chest.
He nods, his green eyes never leaving mine. “I thought it might be nice to try doing your favorite thing together?”
I close the gap between us, throwing my arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. His hands land on my waist, and Bailey kisses me back with the same intensity.
“Thank you. This is perfect,” I murmur against his lips.
“Not done yet,” he says, leaning down to kiss me again .
I’m falling hard for Bailey, or maybe I’ve already fallen. Being with him feels like summer days on the water and warm nights under the stars.