Page 91 of Badd Baby

"B-b-but…wh-why? Why comfort me after I’ve been so shitty to you?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."

This made the sobbing stop, albeit temporarily, as shock forced me to pull away and look at him. "What?" I whispered. "What did you just say?"

He held my gaze, his deep and brown and wild and calm and sure. "I said I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."

"Pretty sure?"

He shrugged. "I mean, yeah. It's hard to know for sure since you keep pushing me away."

"We barely know each other, Duncan," I said. "Love takes time."

He shrugged again. "Ehhh, I dunno about that one, babe. My parents both claim they fell in love after only a few days of knowing each other. It took longer for them to both quit fighting it and accept it, but the feelings were there."

"We have great chemistry," I said. "I can't deny that. But that's not love. That's just physical, sexual compatibility."

"There's more to it and you know it, Rune," he said.

"Maybe I don't know that, Duncan."

"You would if you let yourself." He pressed his cheek to the top of my head and breathed in my scent, sighing heavily as if trying to absorb the reality of my presence. "You wouldn't be fighting me so hard if you felt nothing."

"I’m not fighting," I argued.

He barked a sarcastic laugh. "Okay, Miss Un-self-aware."

“If you're trying to woo me, you're not going about it very intelligently," I said.

"This isn't me wooing you, Rune," he said. "You'd know it if I was."

"Then what is this?" I asked, shifting so I was sitting sideways on his lap; I didn't dare to examine too closely the fact that I was still on his lap at all.

"This is me trying to make you understand that I'm not 'off the hook,'" he used air quotes around the phrase I'd both heard and used far too many times in the last few minutes. "I don't want off the hook. This isn't all on you. You're not alone, Rune." He paused, thinking. "I mean, obviously not—you have your parents and Lindsey, and the rest of your friends. But you've also got me."

I sniffled. "Duncan, I…" I wiped at my eyes with my fingertips. "I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I want. I don't know anything right now."

"You don't have to. I'm not asking for anything, Rune. Except, maybe, for you to be honest with yourself and with me about your real feelings."

"To what end, Duncan?" I asked, sounding exasperated, even to myself. "You're gonna give up your whole life for me?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

I barked a bitter laugh at that. "Right. Uh-huh, sure."

"If you told me that you do in fact care about me and do want to have a romantic, committed, long-term relationship with me, but the only way it could happen is if I moved to LA, then yes, I'd consider it."

I stared at him, not expecting that. "You…would? For real?"

He nodded. "Yes, I would. I mean, yeah, it would be hard. I've never been away from home or my family for more than a few weeks in my life." He laughed. "I realize this may be the kiss of death, here, admitting this, but I still live with my parents."

"Because it's cheap and convenient, or because you're not ready to be on your own?" I asked.

"The first one," he answered. "I mean, mostly. I could afford a place on my own, and I've considered it, but what's the point? What do I have to prove? I'm saving money so when I am ready, I can buy a house. I live with Mom and Dad because I can save money and because it's convenient, yes. I contribute—I clean, I do my laundry, I feed myself, I buy my own groceries, I mow the lawn. I pay for my cell phone, my car, my insurance. I just…don't pay rent." He shrugged. "I mean, I don't know what your relationship with your parents is like, but I'm super close to mine. I like being there. I like hanging out with them, and with my brother. Who's here, by the way. He flew down with me for moral support."

"He is?" I asked. "You didn't leave him alone with Lindsey, did you?"

He laughed. “Is he safe with her? Or is she, like, gonna eat his head?"