Page 31 of The Devastation You Reap

"Did you really do this for me?" I ask as I step up to him.

"I really did," he confirms.

"B-but why? You don't even know me."

He shrugs. "But I want to, and I figured you'd like something like this."

"I do, I love it. It's just so…"

"So?"

"Unexpected."

"I told you," he says, closing the space between us, forcing me to look up at him.

His hand lifts and he reaches out, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"I'm not the person you think I am."

His words and his featherlight touch do weird things to me. My stomach damn near explodes with a million butterflies and my skin tingles, my need for him to keep touching me almost strong enough to force me to reach for him myself.

"You look beautiful, Red." His smile that follows those words is so damn endearing he almost makes me forget everything. Almost.

Instead, I force a little reality back into our situation and will my body to get a hold of itself.

It doesn't matter how much he might prove to me that he's different. That he's the opposite of all the football players I've been let down by in my past. I refuse to believe it, to accept that he won't just hurt me like them. Disappoint me like them.

"No one's ever called me beautiful before," I confess.

"Then you’ve been spending time with the wrong people."

A humorless laugh almost bubbles up my throat. Ain't that the freaking truth.

"What did you bring to eat?" I ask before he starts digging into the people, or lack thereof, in my life.

It takes him a second but my question eventually registers in his head and he takes a step back.

"I didn't know what you liked—aside from meatball subs—so I just got a little of everything."

"Sounds perfect."

I follow his lead and lower myself to the blanket on the ground and wait for him to pull out everything from the basket.

The entire situation is like a dream as I watch him lay out the food between us, stealing bites here and there as he goes, I can't quite believe it's actually happening.

My head wars with itself as I try to hold on to the person he was when I interrupted him with Charlie. The angry, vicious way he held me, the wicked promise he left me with.

It's at total odds with this version of Leon in front of me right now.

So which one is real?

"You're meant to be enjoying yourself, Red. You looked stressed."

"You confuse me," I blurt out.

"Well, relax and let me help to unconfuse you."

"But—"