Page 112 of I Don't Need Your Romance

“Good.”

We sit in silence, enjoying the beauty around us. I’m glad I feel comfortable and not awkward about the silence between us. It seems she feels comfortable, too.

I can’t help but just watch her. The way the wind blows her hair away from her gorgeous eyes and the way her face brightens when she takes in our surroundings. This girl has brought so much joy to my life, so much light to my dark world.

I think I’m finally ready to have a girlfriend, but only with one particular person. One special person. I only wish she felt the same.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Sophie

As the wind blows around us, I feel Damian watching me. I don’t dare meet his eyes because I know that he will quickly turn away. And I don’t want him to turn away. I want him to continue watching me and…what, exactly? I’m not sure. But I just want him to continue.

“Sophie?” he finally says.

I turn my head to him.

“This may sound sappy, but…”

“You know I’m the queen of sap with how much I love romance books.”

He chuckles softly. “Right. I just wanted to say…” He shifts in his seat. “It’s not so easy for me to open up like this.”

“That’s okay. Take your time. We have the whole day ahead of us. I’m not leaving here until curfew. The place is just too stunning.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I’m just really thankful for what you’ve done for me, Sophie. You have no idea how much you’ve impacted my life. It might be cliché for me to say this, but…well, you’ve changed my life.” He hangs his head. “Okay, that sounded really lame.”

“Why do you have to ruin the moment, Mr.?” I gently grab him by the chin and raise his face so his eyes meet mine. “Forget about sappiness and cheesiness and lameness. Just speak from your heart, Damian.”

“Okay.” He takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. “You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. Everyone else at this school wrote me off as trouble and had no interest in making friends with me. Heck, they all preferred to pretend I didn’t exist. But you didn’t care about rumors or the way I looked. You made aneffort to get to know me. You saw me in a way no one else did. That means a lot to me.”

“Because you’re a good person, Damian.”

“I never saw myself that way,” he admits. “I thought I was damaged beyond repair.”

“You’re not,” I insist. “You’re…” My cheeks grow hot. I don’t know if I want to admit this to him or not, but…you know? What the heck. “You’ve come to mean so much to me. Since the moment you offered to take me to the bookstore and pay for my books, I knew there was more to you than you made it seem. Iknewyou had a good heart. What guy would sacrifice so much for a stranger? Agoodperson.”

“You were right about everything,” he continues. “You claimed I’m not allowing myself to move on and be happy. You’re one hundred percent right. I didn’t think I had the right to be happy when my dad’s dead, but he wouldn’t want me to mourn him for the rest of my life. He wouldn’t want me to deny myself happiness or a good future. He wouldn’t want me not to get…close to people.” His eyes search mine before they drop to my lips.

“Of course,” I whisper, finding myself moving closer to him. He’s moving closer to me, too. My eyes dip to his lips as my heart starts beating rapidly in my chest.

“You’re so special, Sophie,” he murmurs as his hand strokes my hair. “I never imagined I would be so happy after my dad died. But I wake up in the morning in a good mood. I go to sleep in a good mood. All because of you.”

“You’re the first person I think about when I wake up,” I tell him. “And you’re the last person I think about before I go to sleep.”

His brows rise in surprise. “Really?”

I nod.

“The same with me. In fact, I was up all night just thinking about you.”

We’re now sitting so close to each other, mere centimeters between us. My heart is pounding so fast I think it might catapult out of my chest. It’s a good thing we’re sitting because I doubt my legs would support my body. His chest rises and falls heavily.

“Sophie,” he whispers as he moves his face closer to mine.

“Dami—” I don’t have a chance to finish my words because they’re swallowed by his lips as they gently press into mine.

I startle for a second because I’ve never been kissed before, but then I melt into him, locking my hands around his neck and shifting even closer to him, until our bodies are practically fused into one. Damian takes his time moving his lips slowly against mine, as though he’s savoring every second of it. My fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck as I take my time, too. The real world disappears and it’s just the two of us in our own bubble, where everything is perfect.