𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ( 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

𝐒𝐢𝐱 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨
𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨.
-(𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞) 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭

𝐋𝐢𝐚

Being alone with Luca in my bedroom elicited more feelings than I wanted to admit, especially when he looked at me as if I was a midnight snack. Taking a step back from him, he raised an eyebrow, and I wondered what his expectations were of me.

"I think before we talk, I need you to tell me what you expect from me."

He gave me a confused look, which meant he had not thought beyond our talk.

"What do you want from me, Luc?"My voice shook; going to sit on top of my bed while motioning him to sit on the chair. He moved his eyes to the bed beside me, but I shook my head. He walked to the chair slowly like he thought I would change my mind. I didn't; he sat down with a thud, leaning on the back like he was a Sheikh about to examine his harem.

"I want a lot from you." my heart almost jumped into my throat.

What the hell did that entail?

I did not have to ask him because a minute later, he said, "I want more than we had nine years ago."

Suddenly, I was alert; my ears could have flapped if they were bigger. I was on tenterhooks.

"What did we have nine years ago?" I asked in a whisper. I knew, but memories can be hazy. I wanted to hear whether he remembered it the same way I did.

"I remember running through the woods..."

"We are too old to do that," I cut in, giving in to an involuntary smile because I couldn't stop it. We had a fantastic childhood; we had nature and modernization in one freaking place, and we still did.

"Who says we can't? We can do it." he sounded like he was about to make a salesman's pitch.

"Luc," I called, my endearing tone making him smile, a grin that reached his beautiful eyes.

"Lia," he responded in a sensual voice. This was one of the reasons I was afraid to be alone in a room with him, his ability to get through my nine years of grudge to the point of craving his touch.

"Luca, please be serious. I deserve that, don't I?" I asked, sounding timid, a feeling I loathed. Why did he make me feel meek and courageous at the same time?

Immediately after I said that, Luca stopped goofing around; his face took a mask of an almost unyielding pose.

"You deserve everything you could ever want." my lips quivered, and butterflies swam in my stomach, making me feel like a nervous wreck.

"Why do you have this power to make me blush, shake or want to rush into a corner because I don't want you to know how much you affect me?"

He sighed, then ran his tongue over his lips while looking at me like he did when we were alone since we turned fourteen.

I didn't want to admit that to him; it was not very comfortable, but if we were to move forward, we both needed to be honest.

"I have loved you since I saw you walking in the middle of your two cats."

I felt tears brimming at those words, but I couldn't cry; thankfully, I did not. I held them in like the badass I was.

"I understand I was barely five," he added, leaning forward, his fingers clasped together as if he didn't want to admit it, yet he did because he valued me more than his pride. "But as young as I was, I knew you would mean the world to me; you did; you still do."