Page 116 of Stay With Me

But he also said it could be great and that it depended on her.Surely that would mean thegoodversion ofthetalk. Right?

She swallowed. “Okay.”

“Sorry.” He chuckled nervously. “That sounds awful. I’m just sort of nervous.”

Her gaze darted around the room.

“Well, you’re making me nervous too,” she retorted more candidly than she’d intended.

“Here.” He patted the couch. “Come sit down with me.”

She sat on the cushion next to him, giving him an expectant look, but he remained silent as he just stared at her.

Her gaze shifted. “So what is it?”

He cleared his throat. “I uh… Well, first can I just—”

Then he grabbed the sides of her face and smashed his lips onto hers.

Well, hel-loo.

It was the type of kissing he hadn’t done in a while, and she didn’t realize how much she’d missed it until right then.

The feeling of his hand on the back of her neck; him skirting his hand around her waist; the taste of his breath and his tongue.

She became preoccupied with realizing how much she’d missed it to the point that she almost forgot he said he needed to talk to her.

Surely if he was kissing her like this, it had to be thegoodversion ofthetalk.

And suddenly, as glorious as the make out session was, she got an intense desire to cut it short so she could hear him finally say what she’d been wanting him to say for months.

“Honey,” she murmured as he swept his lips across her jaw and kissed her neck. She purposefully used a term of endearment, hoping she’d be able to call him that all the time from here on out. “Wasn’t there something you needed to talk about?”

“Oh. Yeah.” He abruptly stopped and sat up straight again. “Yeah. Sorry, I just wanted to do that in case it’s the last time I ever get to—”

“What? Why would you say something like that?”

Thatwas definitely indicative of thebadversion ofthetalk.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I have to tell you something and I don’t know if you’re going to be mad or like—”

Her eyes grew huge. “Nick, you’re really freaking me out. Just tell me already.”

He gulped and squeezed her hand. “Remember, however you feel is totally fine, and if you need time to process—”

“Nick!”

This had to be bad. She was now convinced the day that had managed to be horrible by nine a.m. was about to get a lot more horrible. He was definitely about to tell her something awful, and she couldn’t begin to approach having any clue what it could be.

She noticed herself bracing both physically and emotionally, perching rigidly on the edge of the couch.

“Sorry. Okay.” He rubbed his palms together. “So when I met you, I was kind of … not a good person…”

She crinkled her brow. “How do you mean?”

“Well, remember when we were in my office that first night?”

She briefly bucked the chip on her shoulder as she smirked and fanned the flush of her cheeks. “Yeah.”