Page 69 of Carry On (Love Doesn’t Cure All #4)

LINCOLN

Maybe we could try…

Maybe we could try…

Maybe we could try…

The words played on an endless loop in my mind while I rode the elevator down to the first floor.

I like you, Lincoln…

I like you, Lincoln…

I like you, Lincoln…

The words cut into every little wall I’d built around my heart, taking them apart piece by piece, as I walked out to my car.

Nash liked me. He wanted an actual relationship with me, one that wasn’t built on insurance fraud and lies.

But did I want that? I’d trusted someone once, and he destroyed me. Most days, invisible duct tape and sheer willpower held me together. I hid it well, but that was the reality of my past. I didn’t know how to go through that again.

And yet…

I paused on the sidewalk and glanced up. Nash stood in the window with his hands in his pockets, watching me leave.

Looking up at the closed window, I realized I had a good man waiting for me.

A man who cooked me dinner and played the guitar for me while I worked.

A man who paid attention to the little things.

He wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but neither was I.

Any version of a relationship would mean a lot of work, but Nash was worth it.

I wanted him. I wasn’t willing to touch the idea of feelings yet, but I did know that I wanted Nash.

The idea of something real with him was terrifying.

It was opening myself up to all the potential for hurt again.

That trust was hard to give out again. I wanted to believe that Nash wouldn’t hurt me like that.

Not intentionally. I wanted to believe all the little things spoke volumes more than he could say aloud.

But if I wanted to follow through—wanted to be in a relationship with him—I had to move. I had to get out of my own way.

That part, I wasn’t sure I could do.

It kept me rooted in my spot, just watching him until he finally closed the curtain and disappeared.

Yes, I wanted to be with Nash. One small moment of determination was all I needed to make myself move.