Chapter 11

KY

“My place is closer to your work,” I tossed out as Bea took her last bite of French toast. Her tongue poked out and dragged across her lips to swipe away any remaining syrup and I couldn’t look away even if I was ordered to at gunpoint.

“Yes, I know where you live.”

“It’s closer than your family’s place too. Since all your stuff was at Law’s, I’m guessing you never resigned your lease."

"That is true.” She placed her fork down on her plate and started to stack all the dishes in a nice pile at the edge of the table. Bea had worked as a waitress during college, even though her parents footed the bill for her tuition. She wanted to make them proud and pay for her own living expenses. Her family was always shocked to see her tidy everything, but I thought it was endearing. Having done the job, she wanted to make someone else’s day a little easier whenever she ate at a restaurant.

“Okay, I’m not sure if you’re dropping a hint or just spitting facts out at me, Kylan.”

I clutched my hand over my heart. “Not the full name!” I widened my eyes dramatically as Bea giggled. “I know you want to go back to your family’s place tonight so that you have the time to think about what to do tomorrow with the whole make it legal or let it go as an impulsive decision that ultimately had no consequences. The thing is, even if you decide not to marry me, you still need a place to live.”

“So, you’re saying even if we don’t make it official, you’re still willing to live in sin with me?” Her teasing tone made me want to flip her over my knees and spank her beautiful ass, but that wasn’t something people were supposed to do while sitting in a pancake house just before noon on a Sunday when the church crowd had already started to trickle in.

“I’m being serious. Even if…” I hesitated because this was the part I didn’t want to say out loud. “Even if you don’t want to be in a relationship with me, other than friendship, my door is still open. We’ll just have to agree on one major rule.”

“What’s that?”

“No bringing anyone else home. No offense, Bea, because I will always respect your decisions, but I don’t think I could handle seeing you with anyone else.”

She stared at me for a while and then nodded her head. “I know that feeling all too well, Ky.”

Fuck. After hearing about how the girls I’d dated through high school had treated her without me knowing, it felt fucking insensitive as hell for me to tell her that I couldn’t handle it when she had done so with more grace than I ever knew.

“Bea,” I started but she stopped me with a shake of her head. Those beautiful raven curls of her bounced as she did.

“Let’s just take it one step at a time and see what kind of clarity a good night’s sleep, and a few hours apart, brings to each of us. This is a huge change for you as well. I need you to really think about how making everything official, or simply living together, dating, or whatever we mutually decide on will impact your life.”

I grinned at her. “Already thought of all the angles, Sweet Bea. Been thinking of them since about middle school when you first started growing boobs.”

She rolled her eyes, threw her napkin at me, and I wanted nothing more than to lean across the table and take her sweet lips in a heated kiss. I gave myself thirty seconds to decide and then dove in for that kiss anyway. My girl needed to know that I was done putting us on the back burner for idiotic reasons. Law was right about one thing; I was dumb as shit for not making it happen sooner.

Even if Bea had a point about how we were probably lucky we didn’t try to get together back in high school, I knew deep down in my heart that I should have never backed down when she first met Law. I should have told her then and there that she’d never see the fucker again because she was going out with me.