Page 150 of Come to Me

That's a lie, and it's a cheap one. I love you so much. Like I've never loved anyone. You're better than a perfect cup of coffee and a "bullshit English major novel" on my Kindle. Hell, you're better than just about anything I can think of.

So, fuck you for trying to squirm out of this breakup. But I forgive you for it.

Because I really do love you, and I really do want to marry you, and I really want to do whatever I can to make this work.

Please let me do what it takes.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Alyssa

Laurie takes a long sip of her coffee. She nods like she's confident, but she's not fooling me.

She's a nervous wreck.

She looks at the clock. It's almost ten. "Why did you give him so much time to think anyway?"

"It seemed fair."

She sets her coffee cup on the counter and paces around the kitchen, her chaotic energy not doing a whole lot to calm me down. "This is a ridiculous 180, Alyssa. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I'm positive." I run my fingers along the engagement ring. Pretty sure. At least eighty percent.

"It's rather dramatic for you."

"I could use some dramatics."

"Are you really going to drive yourself to the Marina. Shouldn't you take a limo or something?" Laurie stops at the counter. She pushes against it, turning back to me. She shakes her head. "It's stupid. He lives like five minutes from here. Why are you going 10 miles south?"

"Because that's where we..." I can't explain it exactly. It's not the first place we kissed--that was at his old house. Or where we met--at the office he used to share with Ryan. It's not even where we had our first kind of but not really a date thing.

I want to say that's where we fell in love, but that's not quite right either.

It's where... it's where I found him lying on the grass, reading a dog-eared paperback.

It was the paperback that got me. It was falling apart, like he'd read it a hundred times but still wanted more.

It was our secret place to meet. Where we'd hide in plain sight. And it was like he was there every time I wanted to see him. Like he could read my mind.

"It's important," I say, settling for that vague statement. I gather my purse, doing a mental check. I have everything I need for this. And it's warm enough that I shouldn't need a coat.

"You can't leave yet," Laurie says.

I give her a look.

Because you'll miss me?"

She rolls her eyes.

"What if he doesn't show? Are you really going to wait alone?"

I bite my lip. It's not like I've been replaying that possibility in my head all week, imagining myself standing at the marina like an idiot, waiting until the sun sets.

"How about you call at noon? If I don't pick up-"

"Assume you're having crazy hot sex?"

I laugh, and a bit of my tension releases. "Exactly."