Dylan hadn’t said he loved me, and he hadn’t asked me to live with him permanently, so I refused to get in any deeper. I had to end it tonight, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy. I frowned, falling off my cloud and landing in a puddle of reality. If things were going this well, that only meant one thing when it came to me...
My life was about to hit the fan.
***
“Did I thank you for my new coat?” I asked Dylan as I tucked my legs beneath me and snuggled deeper into the black leather sofa. My stomach hurt from stuffing myself with take-out, but the orange chicken and egg rolls had been to die for.
“Several times,” Dylan answered, putting his arm around me and pulling me closer to his side, then crossing his sock-clad feet on the coffee table in front of us. He picked up the remote and turned the TV to the sports channel. “Come on, guys, you’re beating yourselves,” he said as though the baseball players could hear him.
“Dylan?”
“Hmmm.”
“Are you sure you like this room?” I leaned my head back to rest my cheek on his shoulder and looked up at him. God, I wished I could take a picture so I’d never forget his profile. I inhaled deeply, trying to ingrain his musky scent in my brain forever.
“Positive.” He still stared at the TV. “Bad call, ump. Get some new glasses.” He shook his head and ran his hand up and down my arm as though it were the most natural thing in the world for him.
I unfolded my legs and plopped them across his lap, wanting to be closer to him, if that was possible. He laid his other hand on my thigh and squeezed, then gave me a quick kiss and went back to watching the game. “Why all the questions?”
I sighed. “Just tying up all the loose ends before I have to go.” There, I said it before him, yet my heart still thumped painfully. No matter how hard I’d tried to guard myself against it, the thought of leaving him still hurt. But I had to. I already cared more than I should.
“Go? Go where?” He gave me his full attention now, and his brows formed a deep V.
My breath hitched. Why did he sound so surprised? “Well, the semester is over, and I have to live somewhere. Since I couldn’t find a place here, I thought I’d go back to Cutesville to confront my parents. It’s time.”
He frowned. “Okay.” He turned off the game--his favorite team, no less--and slowly set down the control. “I’ll go with you, and then we’ll come back here together.”
My heart started hammering. “Why would you do that? And where would I live if I stayed here?” He couldn’t be suggesting what I thought he was, could he?
“You’d live here with me.” He stared deep into my eyes, and his filled with an emotion I was afraid to name.
“B-But this is only temporary. You said so.”
He took my hands in his and ran his thumbs over the backs of mine. “Because I knew you’d never move in if I said anything else. This doesn’t have to be temporary, Callie. This could be a whole lot more, and I think you know that.”
I pulled my hands from his, slipped my legs off his lap, and crossed my arms in front of me. “No. No, I don’t know that. Men don’t commit. Men c-can’t be trusted.” My eyes darted left, then right. Anywhere but on his face. I couldn’t believe what he was trying to tell me, because then everything I’d ever thought about men had been a lie. I wasn’t ready to believe there were still good guys left out there, even though deep in my heart I knew it to be true. Dylan was everything I’d ever wanted but thought I couldn’t have.
So why was I freaking out?
“Callie, look at me.” His voice rumbled soft and low, until I was helpless to do otherwise. “I love you. I have for a while now, and I want us to be together. Please say you’ll move in with me for good.”
I jumped up off the couch and backed away from him. “No, you don’t love me. You can’t.”
“Sweetheart, I know you’ve been hurt, but I’m not that guy.” He stood up and stepped toward me.
“Don’t come any closer.” I ran into the bathroom and locked the door. I couldn’t breathe. My palms began to sweat. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t let it happen. I had no clue why, I just knew I couldn’t.
“Callie, come on out,” he said, his voice filtering through the door. “You don’t have to decide anything right now, just sleep on it, okay? We’ll talk it over in the morning.”
I sat on the edge of the tub for ten minutes until I’d finally calmed down. Maybe I could let this happen. Maybe I deserved to be happy for a change. I didn’t know what I wanted. This was all too much too soon.