“That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say, Nick? Of course I agree. I get it. I really do. You need to put Bria first, and I totally understand that. I’ll take a few days and think about everything.”
He looks at me skeptically.
“I’m sorry. This should be easy. We should be going on dates, kissing, and fucking in airplane bathrooms, and we shouldn’t be afraid to fall in love. But I have a daughter, a daughter who is still very affected and fragile from her mother’s death. I come with baggage—a lot of it. I hope… I hope that’s okay with you.”
I look at him just as he lifts his head, and I see the sadness behind his eyes. He’s right, though. He does come with a lot of baggage. It was all fun and games until I fell for him, and now we have to be responsible adults for the sake of Bria. We can’t just date like normal people. So much more is at stake. It’s so much heavier than a normal relationship. Am I ready for that? Am I ready to possibly be a stepmother? I honestly don’t know. I haven’t thought much past the first date, past the first kiss, the first everything… relationships are hard work, and unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of dating casually. It’s all or nothing with him.
“Nick, I honestly don’t know. I like you. In fact, I think I’m falling in love with you. But you’re right. I need to think about everything.” He nods his head and looks down. “And Nick?” He looks up and meets my eye. “You are enough. I hope you know that. I’d be lucky to have you. You are so very enough. Do you understand? It’s unbelievable how enough you are.”
“You can still go to South Korea,” he jokes, lifting an arm above his head. “Might be more interesting than playing house with me.”
Ah. I see where he’s going with this.
“Seeing the Eiffel Tower would be exciting,” I say, feigning intrigue. “The Great Wall of China… the Taj Mahal…” He nods along with me solemnly. “But as exciting as those places are, I’d bet they’re not even half as exciting as how I feel around you… how you touch me… how you kiss me… how you look at me. Anyone can experience a monumental thing. Anyone can buy tickets to hike the Inca Trail, or swim in the Great Barrier Reef. And yes, I do want to do all of those things one day. But I want to do them with you. None of those things would mean anything if you weren’t by my side. Nothing matters unless you experience it with another person.”
“You’re wise for twenty-five, Evianna,” he breathes.
“Yeah, well, it’s funny how love seems to make everything else seem inconsequential.”
“I love you too, by the way,” he says tenderly. “I don’t know when it happened, but it did.”
Fuck.
“I know we said we’re waiting a few days to think everything over, but it’s going to be really hard not to kiss you…” I look up at him through my eyelashes. His pupils darken. “Truth or dare,” I whisper.
I can feel my palms sweating and my hands trembling.
“Dare,” he says, his voice tinted with confidence.
“I dare you to take your shirt off,” I say simply. He balks at me.
“Evianna, I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”
“Mr. Wilder, with all due respect, you brought me into an airplane bathroom and told me you loved me. I need a moment to lose control. Okay?”
He stops to consider my proposition. I hope he continues to play. I said it as a joke, but now I actually want to see him take his shirt off.
“Okay.” He acquiesces. He grips the hem of his shirt and pulls it over his head. I have to sit down, but there’s nowhere to sit other than the toilet, and there’s no way I’m sitting there. The view is just too good. “My turn,” he growls, pushing me against the door. I let out a small moan. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” I say immediately, liking where this game is going.
“I dare you to turn around, facing away from me.”