Three Days

Chapter 8

I found him next to his car, he looked up when he heard the door and froze.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just didn't want to lie to you," I said as more tears fell down. Julian and I never fight and when we do I turn into a blubbering mess.

"Why didn't you tell me that you liked my brother?" he said, looking at the ground.

"When I was younger I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to tease me. When we got to high school, I tried to get over my crush on him by dating. Then we grew up and it just wasn't important anymore. I became real friends with Ryan and that was important. But when my Nonni died she told me that I needed to stop running from love. She told me to stop running from Ryan. I don't know how but she knew," I said, keeping my eyes on him until he looked up at me.

"Then why wait till now to do something?" he asked.

"I wasn't going to do anything, I came here thinking he was still dating Lisa. I wasn't going to try to win him over or anything crazy, I just kept feeling a pull to him. I really want to try and see if there is anything there, if I don't I'll always regret it," I said as the tears combined with the lack of sleep made my eyes heavy.

Suddenly Julian pulled me into a hug, "We will be okay, I promise. I wish you had told me about this years ago but it's okay."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable with this," I said, trying not to sway.

"I'm sure but for now you have to go back to bed. You're barely standing."

"Well you scared me half to death walking out like that. I don't want to hurt you," I said as more tears filled my eyes.

He signed and, "No I was acting like a little kid, jealous because he was stealing my toy. That is not okay of me, I always knew my brother liked you and I would be an ass to take away what could make you both really happy." He lifted me into his arms and carried me into the house. Ryan was standing by the door looking worried as he followed us up the stairs. I knew he needed to talk to Julian too but he wasn't going to do it in front of me. It needed to be just them and I understood that more than anyone. Julian set me on my feet and leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Get some sleep. I'll come get you when Amber gets here," he says before walking to the door.

"Thanks Tesoro."

Ryan stops him, "Are we good?"

"Yeah we are good. If Nonni approves then I approved," and with that Julian left.

Ryan turned back to look at me with a question in his eyes. "I'll tell you about it someday, I promise. For now will you just take a nap with me," I said, pulling on his hand.

"Every time you and Julian have a fight you get exhausted and sleep for two days," he said, shaking his head at me with a smile before crawling into bed with me.

"Well it's a good thing we don't fight often," I say, sighing as he puts his face in the crook of my neck and snuggles close. The way this man holds me makes me shiver in delight.

"You smell like heaven," he said, inhaling.

"So do you, you smell like campfire and coffee mixed together," I said smiling.

"The campfire is all the smoke from fires seeping into my pores. You smell like ginger and basil," he said with a chuckle.

"The ginger is from my shampoo and the basil is from cooking. I guess I'd rather smell like basil than garlic," I said, with a chuckle too.

"I love the smell of garlic, it reminds me that you are home," he says, quietly.

"I know I should have come back home more," I say sadly.

"It's okay, we understand that something is going on with Nick," he says as I nod.

"I'm sorry this morning went like it did," I said quietly.

"I'm not. I don't want to hide this, and if that means that we have to have hard conversations and deal with our families watching us as we try to figure this out, then so be it," he said before placing a hot kiss on my neck. I moaned and arched against him.

"This is crazy. We have skipped so many steps. I mean, we haven't even been on a date yet," I said, running my hands through his hair.

"What's my favorite color?" he asked.

"Green, because of your mom's eyes," I said as I closed my eyes and listened to his heart beat.

"Favorite book?"

"You tell people it's The Catcher in the Rye but it is actually Harry Potter."

"And my beliefs?"

"You believe it's important to have something to believe in. It's why you go to church. You believe in honesty and loyalty. Most of all you believe in family," I say, looking into his eyes now.

"That is why it feels like we are skipping steps, because we already know everything there is to know about each other. We know each other's likes and dislikes but we also know each other's hearts. I don't care if we are going too fast, I just care that we are going somewhere," he says, stroking my cheek with his thumb. I am taken aback by his words and their meaning. A single tear falls down my face as I lean up and capture his lips with mine. This kiss is different from the others, it's filled with promise and hope.

"I am glad we are going somewhere too," I whisperer. He kisses me again before pulling his face back into neck and inhaling. We drift off to sleep together, content just being in each other's arms.