If this isn’t awkward, nothing is.
“You won’t come?”
I cross my arms in front of my chest, needing to keep them from reaching out to her. “Tessa, you … No, I can’t.”
“Luke will be there,” she whispers, and her eyes start to glass over with tears.
“Yeah?”
She nods and swallows real hard.
“Look, I pushed too hard. I get that, okay? I don’t want to cause you any more struggles, Tessa.”
The first tear falls, and I clench my jaw.
She whispers so softly I can hardly hear her, “I need you there.”
I feel my emotions swell up, the threat of tears of my own, and I will not fucking cry like a little bitch when she’s finally voiced that she needs me.
“Why?”
She wipes her tears away and looks up at me, scowls, and then turns to walk away.
Knowing I pushed when I shouldn’t have, I reach out and grab her elbow, stopping her. “You need me there?”
“Yes, dammit!”
I turn her so she’s facing me and hold her shoulders, keeping her still. “Then I’ll be there.”
She reaches out and hugs me as she cries.
“You tired?”
“Exhausted.”
“I have two hours.”Or a lifetime.I take her hand and walk her to the passenger side of the vehicle. She gets in, and I walk around, sliding into the driver’s seat. I adjust it then drive to Jade’s where I park the SUV and get out.
She meets me at the front of the vehicle.
“Where to?”
My bed, I think, but instead I do what she truly needs. “The couch.”
?
I sit on Jade and Ryan’s couch, her sideways on my lap, and I cradle her in my arms. She looks up and rubs my lips with her fingers, looking into my eyes with those pleading baby blues. I bend and give her what she’s asking for—a kiss.
She lays in my arms, asleep, for two hours. Two hours of me watching her, holding her, giving her what she needs, all that she can handle.
When she wakes up, she kisses my neck, my cheek, and my lips. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, Tessa.”
I help her stand up then follow her to the garage and carry the boxes of the candles to the back of the SUV.
I look down the road as I put the candles in her back seat when I hear a vehicle roaring up and watch as the eighteen-wheeler pulls into my driveway.
She looks up at me and tilts her head.