Page 109 of Let You Love Me

Either way, I hate to think of how this might affect Teagan if Chance tries to read into things and make a big deal of nothing.

I blow out a slow breath, trying to calm my racing heart as I start down the walkway again. I have thirty minutes before my next class, so I decide to grab a coffee from The Buzzy Bean to ease my nerves.

I can’t help but feel like Teagan and I have been inching our way up the steep incline of a roller coaster since the day we met, and now we’re cresting the hill, teetering on the edge before the fall.

Lord knows I’m trying to stay there, to put on the breaks and keep him at arm’s length, but each time I’m with him, it feels a little harder to just be friends. A little more impossible with every longing look, every brush of the hand, and the way he seems wholly devoted to me despite me giving him very little in return.

My walls are up, but I feel them crumbling. And I’m not sure there’s a damn thing I can do about it.

I zip the back of Sophie’s dinosaur costume up, then spin her around and soak in the sight of her with a grin.

“Do I look scary?” she asks, holding her arms up like a T. rex.

“Ferocious,” I say, even though she looks anything but in the soft green, plush costume. “Are you sure I can’t get you to eat more spaghetti before we go?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I can’t eat spaghetti, Mom. T. rexes are carnivores, remember?”

I arch a brow. “There’s meat in the sauce.”

She grimaces as if the thought repulses her, and I roll my eyes. Whatever. I guess the three bites she ate at dinner will have to sustain her until the inevitable binge of candy.

“Can we go now?” Sophie asks, tugging on my sleeve.

I slide my phone out of my pocket and glance at the time. Practice just ended. “Teagan will be here soon, and then we’ll leave. Until he gets here, why don’t you help grandma pass out candy to all the early birds.”

“Good idea!” Sophie beams and turns for the living room while I follow behind.

Even though trick or treating started thirty minutes ago, I told Teagan we’d wait for him to leave. At Sophie’s age, starting forty-five minutes late won’t hurt when she’ll barely last an hour, let alone the two allotted for trick or treaters.

I wander into the living room behind Sophie to find her making a beeline for my mother who’s sporting a giant black witch hat and clutching a huge basket filled with chocolate candy.

Sophie growls ferociously and claws at my mother’s back, clearly in character, while I stifle a laugh.

With a dramatic gasp, Mom jumps back with wide eyes, the picture of fear itself as she whispers, “Oh, please, T. rex, don’t hurt me.”

Dropping her arms, Sophie cocks her little T. rex head and says, “Grandma,it’s just me,Sophie!”

Mom covers her heart with a hand and closes her eyes. “Oh, thank goodness. Sophie, you scared me.”

Sophie chuckles. “Do you think I’ll scare Teagan when he comes?”

My mother quirks a brow, her gaze sliding to mine.

Pressing my lips together, I say nothing as she stares.

“Teagan’s coming?”

I shrug, shoving my hands in the pockets of my white jeans. “He’s meeting us here in a few minutes, yeah.”

“That’s lovely. He seems pretty solid, yeah?”

I know what she’s getting at. Teagan is reliable, present, a far cry from the love ‘em and leave ‘em type like the guy who knocked me up. So, I clear my throat with a smile I don’t have to force as I say, “Yeah. He’s different.”

And I have to hand it to her, she doesn’t push.

Instead, she just turns back to Sophie and asks her about all the candy she’s going to get while I watch on, feeling pretty damn lucky.

Chapter 28