Page 56 of The Call of Azure (Unexpected Love #3)

Gabriel

Panic. Panic. Panic.

“What the floof, baby?” I scoop Cupcake into my arms and fall onto my back on the couch so she can stand on my chest like the empress she is.

“I don’t panic over dates. I don’t panic over anything.

I especially don’t panic over dates with men who have already almost, sort of, kind of told me they love me. ”

For the past three weeks, we’ve done exactly what Liam suggested the day I accidentally told both of our families that I love him.

We’ve sent texts and talked on the phone, and once a week, we’ve met up somewhere simple and easy, like the park or a casual little pizza place for dinner.

We’ve pretended like my little outburst and our subsequent heart ejaculations never happened, and it’s been…

good. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.

Sweet hand-holding and lingering good-night kisses at the door.

Whispered words of care and support against my neck.

Texts about boring daily life and funny cat videos, and thoughtful, kind words that show just how much attention he’s been paying to me since the moment we met.

And all of it without wondering whether I’m falling too fast yet again or trying to make sure I’m exactly what he expects at all times so that I’m not a disappointment.

Without daydreaming about our future wedding and honeymoon and homestead in the French countryside with scary goats.

Without having to create fantasies in my head about what our life together could be like if, just for once, things finally work out.

I don’t have to do any of that because the reality of our texts and dates and time spent together talking about work and television and life…

it’s enough. I don’t have to wonder if he’ll be good in bed, or if he’ll leave me if I have a night I don’t want to go out or answer the door dressed in sweats.

For the first time, I don’t have to wonder what it would be like if just once in my life, someone saw me… really saw me.

I’ve still gone out to Friday Night Friends Date every week, just like I always do, and each time, Blue and Ethan show up as well, just like they always do.

They hug me and laugh and joke just like they always do, but there is a softness in the glances they shoot my way when they don’t think I’m looking.

They ask about Liam, and I tell them that things are stable and good, and that we’re enjoying taking things slow, and they coo and squish my knee or my forearm and tell me they’re happy for me.

That doesn’t scare me the way it probably should.

They’ve always supported me in everything I’ve done, including listening and smiling and telling me that they’re sure I’m right every time I’ve come to them gushing about how this time this guy is finally the one…

and then bringing me ice cream every time he’s not.

They’re not any different when I talk about Liam, even though I don’t tell them that I think he’s the one…

I can’t bring myself to say that out loud.

I can tell they believe that without me having to say a thing.

I nearly jump out of my skin when the doorbell rings, and Cupcake’s nails dig into my chest through my floofy silk shirt as she scrambles toward the door.

Liam is taking me on a surprise date today, which is something I’m nervously excited about.

I like surprises, and Liam knows me well enough that I’m sure he’s planned something I’ll enjoy.

He doesn’t wait for me to answer, and before I can make it to the door, he’s scooped Cupcake up just like he always does and is telling her how cute she is as he kisses her snoot.

He sure as flood better stay with me forever because my heart will never be able to forget the sight.

“You look stunning, as always.” He grins as he glances my way briefly before turning his attention back to Cupcake for one more moment before setting her on the floor.

“Same.” I step close, slipping my arms around his neck and catching his lips with mine in a kiss that lingers until it’s a struggle not to just drag him to bed for the night instead of going out.

He glances down at my skintight jeans and billowy burgundy floral shirt before gesturing dramatically at me and then at himself.

“I happen to like your boring old neutral T-shirts.”

His head falls back with a laugh that vibrates through his chest and into mine, where we’re still pressed together. “A ringing endorsement of my fashion sense.”

I steal one more tender kiss, my lips brushing his with my words. “You don’t need fashion sense. I have enough for both of us.”

I feel his lips turn up in a smile since I can’t seem to pull mine away. “Now. Where are you taking me?”

The loss of his giant body against mine is tragic as he steps back and slips his fingers between mine. “Told you it’s a surprise.”

I offer my best pout. A look that has gotten me into exclusive clubs, free drinks, coffees, dinners, and into more than one pair of pants over the years, but he doesn’t relent.

He chuckles once more, tells Cupcake to be good while we’re out, and leads me through the door like I’ve been following him without question all my life.

“Wait…this is where we’re going?” I nearly squeak in panic as Liam turns off the main road into a tiny town that I know for a fact is filled with nothing but family farms and tiny houses. That’s all there is until…lumberjack festival time.

“Yes! Cool, right?” Liam is nearly bouncing in his seat, grinning from ear to ear, clearly beyond proud of the day he’s got planned.

“Liammmmm.” I drop my head back on a groan, and the way his face falls is as devastating as if I’d kicked a puppy.

“You don’t like it?” He sounds like a kid whose candy I stole and then threw in the mud, and I can’t help but laugh at the situations I find myself in.

“Of course I like it.” His forehead wrinkles in confusion as he glances my way quickly, over and over, while navigating the already overly full field that’s doubling as a parking lot.

“You don’t sound like you like it.”

“UGH. Okay. I actually really love it. I’ve been to a couple of these before, and they’re a ton of fun, so of course you knew that I’d have a good time at one. It’s just…”

He slips the car into an open space, far…far away from the entrance tent and turns to me with a raised eyebrow. “Just…?”

“I promised Blue that I’d never go to another one after we got kicked out of one a few years ago because I was starting to get really interested in fire dancing, and even though I’d only had a couple of lessons, I thought I was just naturally gifted at that, too, since I’m pretty good at most things from the get go, and I picked up a stick and lit it at one of the barrel fires they had, since it was late fall and cold and misty, and I may or may not have ended up lighting some big guy with long hair and a beard a little bit on fire and then his tent a lot a bit on fire and we got kicked out.

” My chaotic rambling falls out so fast that it’s basically just one long word, and I have to take a few deep breaths once I’ve finally finished so I don’t pass out.

Liam stares at me. He stares and stares and stares, and then…

he laughs. It’s loud and joyful, and in an instant, the embarrassment I felt over telling him that I did something so stupid is gone because how could I ever care about my stupidity if that’s what makes him laugh?

All that matters is that he does. He leans across the center console to take my jaw in both of his strong, soft hands and kisses me with his entire heart while tears of laughter roll down his cheeks.

I cling to him, my hands wrapping around his forearms as I lean in close so my mouth can capture his.

Our tongues explore and teeth nip as our lips dance together until they’re tingling.

Just as I’m getting ready to beg him to find somewhere more isolated to park so I can drag him into the backseat and slide his cock down my throat until he’s crying out my name, his lips slowly leave mine with soft, tender brushes before he rests his forehead against mine.

“I love you, Gabriel.”

I try to jerk back in shock and panic, but his hands tighten on my jaw, and he shifts away only far enough that I can stare into his eyes without going cross-eyed.

They’re such a pale blue in the midmorning light, and the tender smile on his lips isn’t one that looks confused or patronizing or even caught up in a moment of lust. It looks… real.

“You don’t have to say anything in return.

I just want you to know. I never said it that day at Ken’s, not really, and you deserve to know.

You deserve to know that I’m in this for as long as you’ll have me.

For every performance, every night on the couch with Thai food straight from the containers, and every time I have to drag you away from tents you set on fire.

I want to be the person who holds your hand and laughs with you.

The one who gets to hear every one of your absurd stories and learn your quiet secrets.

That doesn’t mean that the way we’re dating needs to change. I just…”

I surge forward, crushing our lips together until we’re too breathless to continue.

“I love you too.”

Liam tries to nearly crawl into my lap as he wraps me in his arms in a hug so tight I can barely breathe, and it’s not until he bangs his head on the ceiling and we’re laughing until we’re crying once more that he finally lets go and shifts back to his seat.

My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and I don’t think the ache in my chest from finally knowing what it feels like to have someone love me back is ever going to fade.

Still, he was so excited to bring me here, something that I know he probably had to plan well in advance and psych himself up for, since it will be loud and crowded and unfamiliar.

I want him to know how much I appreciate everything that went into this, so I wiggle an eyebrow and throw him my flirtiest grin.

“Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, how about we go leer at sexy lumberjacks and eat fried snacks, and you stop me from lighting anything on fire?”