The Free Pass

Chapter 52

Mallory

Shawn was saying everything I wanted to hear. His words were what I'd sometimes fantasize about when I thought about what I wanted to happen between us. It was like he'd gotten into my head and knew exactly what to say.

The problem was, now that I heard him say that he loved me out loud, I was terrified.

"I need some time to process what you're saying," I told him.

I could tell he was disappointed by his expression.

"Take your time. I know this is a lot to throw at you all at once," he said.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm having a hard time believing you. I want to believe you so badly, but something is holding me back."

"I'd never lie to you, Mal. Especially about something this serious."

"I know you'd never deliberately lie. You are the most pure and honest person I know. But what if you're wrong? What if this feeling is just temporary and not true love?" I asked.

He took my hands in his. "Then give me time to prove to you that this is real. All I'm asking for is the chance. We don't have to jump into anything. Okay?"

"Okay. But what happens now?"

He smiled at me. "We go back to square one."

"Our square one was meeting each other, having sex, and conceiving a baby. All in one day," I pointed out.

"While that doesn't sound bad to me at all, we'll have a new square one this time."

He released my hands and scooted over a bit. He then picked up his phone. A few seconds later I heard my phone alert from the kitchen. I got up and checked it.

Shawn: hi Mallory

Shawn: I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me on Friday night

I couldn't help but smile. I stayed in the kitchen and replied.

Me: What did you have in mind?

Shawn: dinner

Me: I'd love that.

I looked over at him. He grinned as he read my text and then looked up at me.

"I'll arrange babysitting," he said.

I walked back to the living room and sat down.

"I really need this glass of wine now," I said before taking a long drink of it.

He laughed. "There's more if you need. I promise I'm not trying to get you drunk, though."

"Given that I just got over being very sick, I think I'll stop with this glass."

He took a drink of his red wine. "Movie?"

"That would be great. I'm going to go change."

I got up and changed into sweats and a t-shirt. Shawn did the same when I got back. He picked Grace up to hold while I scrolled through our movie choices. I chose a romantic comedy.

~~~~~~

For the rest of the week, I lived in a wonderful state of excitement. Whenever I thought of our upcoming date, I'd experience frisson.

Shawn and I managed to be fairly normal around each other, though there were a lot more exchanges of shy smiles and incidences where one of us caught the other staring. It was a bit like middle school.