Page 88 of Hurry Up And Wait
“Come on,” I said, jerking my head toward the bench outside the theater.
“Riley will throw a bag of popcorn at your head.”
“Probably, but if you’re leaving…”
“Yeah,” he sighed, sitting down beside me. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at the ground. “I’m really sorry about last night.”
“For what exactly?” I asked, cocking my head at him.
“For the whole protection thing. I know I took it too far.”
“And?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “And I’m sorry.”
It was nice to know he realized his mistake, but there was still one glaring issue. “What about the whole IKE thing?”
I knew it wasn’t over the moment he stiffened beside me.
“I realize you might not like another man looking out for me, but that’s all it was. I need you to know that. And I need you to trust me.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust,” he grumbled.
“Could have fooled me. You get that tone when you talk about him.”
Sighing, he thrust his fingers through his hair and stood, pacing just a few feet from me. “I’m sorry. I know it’s—But it’s you. Five minutes ago, you weren’t in my life, but now you’re back and—I swear, I don’t mean to be a jealous ass about this.”
There was something oddly charming in the way he put that. It made it nearly impossible not to forgive him. In fact, I almost felt bad for him. I held out my hand, glad when he took it and sank down beside me.
“This is all very new.”
“I know and?—”
I covered his mouth, my eyes laughing at the shocked look on his face. “We haven’t seen each other in years, and then we jumped into bed together. And on top of all that, there’s all this other crap going on. It’s just…adding a little strain.”
“Buh-yu-mmmhmmm?”
I removed my hand from his mouth with a smile. “Sorry.”
“But you still want to make this work, right?”
Despite everything that happened and the intensity in which it all came down, I still wanted Kavanaugh. We just had to find some even ground. “Yeah, I still want it to work.”
His lips quirked up in a smile and he scooted closer, sliding his hand around the back of my neck. “Thank fuck I didn’t screw it up too badly.”
“Well, I can be a little stubborn. That may have been part of the problem.”
His brows furrowed the longer he stared at me. “Is this a test?”
“What?” I choked out a laugh.
“Am I supposed to sayNo, Isla. You’re not stubborn at all.Because I will. Just tell me what to say so I don’t screw this up again.”
“I’m not going to tell you what to say,” I laughed. “You’re doing just fine on your own.”
“You kicked me out of your house while I was still in my underwear,” he reminded me.
“Look on the bright side, you might not have even gotten that far.”