Page 133 of Made Better Together

“Oh crap.” He puts his hand to his mouth, dropping his voice to a whisper. “I’m sorry. Fucking intrusive thoughts. Hence, needing my meds.”

I try not to get irritated. Maybe, with the door closed, Eden didn’t hear him. She could even be back snoozing.

Not to mention, I wish I could introduce them. I just can’t. I’d rather lie to him than put him in a position to lie for me.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, well, the place is yours again. Got what I needed.” He raises the bottle.

As they head toward the door, Avery says something to Rawley about a wager they made about his last game. “You’re lucky I don’t check with Johnson whether things were rigged.”

“Never. Regardless, I’m claiming my winnings when we get back to the house,” he says, with a wide grin to her while she rolls her eyes, shutting the front door behind her.

I don’t want to know.

Anyway, my priority is that Eden didn’t hear Rawley’s quip about introducing them. When I swing the bedroom door open, that hope gets dashed pretty quickly. She’s standing in the middle of the room, hurt in her eyes. A jolt of pain smacks into my chest that she’s upset.

“I’m going to get cleaned up in the bathroom.” She disappears into the en suite before I can say anything.

You need to talk to her. Don’t let her misunderstand what’s going on.

Once she emerges, she looks like she’s all business, ready to get out of here.

“Eden, I know you heard him.”

“And you didn’t correct him.” She grabs her dress and slips it up her body. “I thought I could handle this… But how can…any of this, dating in secret, result in anything real?”

She doesn’t make it sound like a question, but I want to give an answer anyway. My answer.

“Eden, can you stay for a minute, please? Can we talk?”

She doesn’t respond, just searches for something, probably her cardigan. I think I see conflicting emotions on her face, though.

“Please. Can you sit down on the bed?”

She puts her arms through the cardigan, but her movements slow down. Finally, the war on her face comes to some kind of resolution. “Fine.”

When she sits, I weigh where to start. She’s upset, but I’ve never seen her not be logical. So I start there.

“I couldn’t correct him. I don’t want Rawley to have the burden of protecting our secret, especially with Grace.”

“Right.” Her face tightens. That wasn’t the best place to start, in retrospect.

I need to fix this. “That doesn’t mean that you’re not important to me. That I don’t know what I want. What I’m hoping you want.”

“Which is?”

I sit down next to her, resting my hand on hers, and lock our eyes. “A real chance at being together. Even if we’re the only ones that know about it for now.”

“I’m just…this is nice but…” She struggles to push the words out, hands squeezing my comforter. “I want more than we can have in secret.”

“Me too. I know I’ve said this in the past, but I’m not in this to be casual either. You, and only you, are what I want.” Shit, maybe it’s too early to be that blunt.

She doesn’t seem to mind, though. “That’s good to hear.” Her eyes clear of doubt, and she gives me a small smile. “I know…I just freaked out when he said that.”

My thumb grazes her soft skin. “You’re important to me, Rosy. Very.”

“Same.” A wisp of a reply.