Flawed Pretense

Chapter 26

You know that feeling you get when you aced that test that you thought you failed, or the time when you bought that adorable, fluffy puppy (cat, fish, or whatever you wish) and she gives you those little kisses? Or how about when you scored that winning point for your team?

Well, all of those feelings of utter bliss, glee, exhilaration, or whatever you want to call it was what I felt right now.

My breathing stopped. “What?” I asked, trying to see if Ian was joking or not.

“I love you, Princess,” Ian murmured again and searched my eyes with hope mirroring my own.

“I—how?” I asked dumbly, blinking.

Ian threw his head back and chuckled, happiness shining from his whole being. I blushed immediately at the stupidity of my question but felt better when Ian calmed down and kissed my cheek. “Emily, I’m in love with you. Is that so hard to understand?”

“When?”

Ian thought for a second, squeezing my hand. “As crazy as this sounds, but I think I started to love you when we had detention together and you blew up on me in that hallway. You were so cute all angry like that,” He teased.

I rolled my eyes in response and stared at him intently as I couldn’t fathom that Ian truly loved me back. It must have been awhile because Ian’s facial expression seemed to fall ever so slightly the longer the silence stretched. It soon became worried and lost some of its confidence when I still refused to say a word.

“Princess? Can you say something?” Ian questioned as he seemed to get pale.

I guessed the question was: should I leave him hanging or stop his suffering? How bad of a girlfriend should I be?

Leaning in, I put my lips on his softly, but I could still sense the uncertainty when he kissed me back. I pulled away and rested my forehead on his, grinning and looking into my favorite glowing grey orbs. “I love you, too.”

It was definitely worth telling him now instead of later as his whole entire being lit up like the brightest of stars. Ian’s pearly whites shined dazzlingly in the dim light of the room, and I didn’t think his smile could get any wider. He placed his hands on either side of my head and kissed me with so much passion I thought I would pass out. I swore that every kiss between him and me got better and better every time.

Ian continued to smile even when we kissed—which wasn’t anything new—and I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him with everything I had. Tingles shot everywhere on my skin, my heart beating wildly, and I feared that it would soon jump out of my chest. By putting one hand on Ian’s chest, I knew he was reacting the same way.

He pulled away, much to my disappointment, but what he said made up for it. “I love you so much,” Ian whispered as the emotion clearly shone through his eyes and he kissed me again.

“I love you,” He repeated with a kiss on my forehead.

“I love you.” A kiss on each cheek.

“I love you.” A kiss on my nose.

“I love you—”

“Ian!” I exclaimed while laughing in glee and lightly smacking his shoulder.

“What? Am I not allowed to tell my beautiful girlfriend how much I love her?” He asked rhetorically, chuckling.

I shook my head, not believing that I was so lucky to find such a wonderful guy. Really, I didn’t know how it happened.

The rest of the night Ian and I “watched” more movies and held each other. Of course he took every opportunity to tell me he loved me, and my heart wouldn’t stop racing. I didn’t think I need to inform you on how much my cheeks lit up that night either. I think by this point, we can just assume that my cheeks will be bright red anytime that I am around Ian.