Page 36 of Stay With Me

“Really! Did you set up the mini propane burner on the table and everything?”

“Of course. I spared no expense.”

Samantha laughed hysterically, which caused him to smile at her again.

“I love your laugh.”

She laughed again and appeared to blush.

“Anyway,” she interjected. “Are your folks totally thrilled with how last night went?”

He shifted again. “I uh, I haven’t had a chance to tell them yet.”

“Why not?”

“I want to wait ‘til the review came out. I thought it might be a fun surprise. And hopefully, they’ll cut me a little slack.”

She gave him a funny look. “What’s the deal with that? Do they just really want grandkids or something? I remember my parents used to constantly harp on how badly they wanted grandkids. Once my sister settled down, they finally dropped the subject.”

“I think they don’t understand my lifestyle and believe I’d be happier if I were exactly like them.”

“But didn’t you say they’re, like, super happy? I can understand why parents would want that for their one and only child.”

“They’re happynow,”he replied, unable to contain his indignant attitude about the whole thing. “They were downright miserable when I was growing up. It’s all perfect for themnow,but this is like five minutes of perfect after a lifetime of misery and fights and my mom threatening to leave and my dad actually leaving once.”

He paused to shake his head and breathe.

“And they want me to havethat.I just.” He paused again as he came back to reality and recalled the ultimate task at hand. He had to maintain the ruse of leading Samantha to believe he was potentially open to the long haul. So he dialed it back a bit. “I want something better than that. I want something that’s more happy than frustrating. I want a marriage that is passion and friendship and all the good stuff.”

He squinted at the road in front of him.

Did I really just use the words “I want a marriage”?

This was far more out of his comfort zone than he’d anticipated.

“I totally get that,” Samantha agreed. “But all of that you mentioned—passion and friendship—don’t you think going through something difficult can cause people to be more passionate and better friends than if they’d had it easy the whole time? I think if you have to work for something you tend to value it that much more.”

She paused and patted his leg. “Like your restaurant for instance. You are so passionate about your restaurant, and that’s because you’ve put so much work into it. Right? It’s sort of the same thing. Isn’t it?”

He glanced at her face. “I suppose.”

She rubbed his leg again and softened her voice slightly. “I’m sorry you went through that. It must’ve been hard to watch your parents struggle while you were growing up. I’m sure it was scary as a kid to not know if your family was going to remain intact.”

He flinched subtly as he stared at the car in front of them while a stabbing sensation materialized in the center of his chest.

“But they made it, Nick. Your family is still together.”

He swallowed hard.

What the fuck. Pull your shit together and be a man.

He took a chance and opted to glance at her face again, then lifted her hand to kiss the back of it.

“They certainly did.”

She abruptly covered her mouth and yawned again.

“Still sleepy?” he asked, feeling immediate relief at the opportunity to change the subject.