Hard Limit (St. Louis Mavericks 2)

“I understand. You might want to take some time to process things. And if I can help you come up with a game plan for that conversation with Sheridan, I’d be happy to do that.”

“Is this the last time I will see you?”

“That depends. Do you feel like talking to me helps you?”

I nodded. “It is hard, but…I don’t know the word.”

“Necessary?” David offered.

“Yes.”

“I really think we can get you to a place where you not only accept how autism makes you different, but where you can start to embrace it. Your rigid training regimen and hyperfixation on things like statistics have helped you get where you are.”

“English is not my first language,” I reminded him.

He grinned. “Sorry. I need to work on not using words like hyperfixation.”

David walked over to one of his bookshelves and studied the titles, pulling three books out by the spines and walking back over to hand them to me. He retrieved a folder from the table and passed that to me, too.

“Give these a try. These are a few books I recommend and also the written reports on my findings. Feel free to seek a second opinion if you’d like, but the testing I did is an industry standard. And remember, I’m here every day and you can call the office if you have a question or need to get in an extra session.”

“I am not doing extra sessions.”

He put his palms up and said, “That’s fair. Just letting you know the option is there.”

“I want to leave now. I want to call Sheridan.”

“Sure thing.”

I stood up and David walked with me to his office door. As I reached for the handle, he turned to me.

“You got through the hard part. I’m proud of you.”

“The sound of that fountain is making me have to pee.”

He laughed and stepped aside. “Go ahead, Lars. I’ll see you next time.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sheridan

* * *

After a few harrowing days at the office, I was so ready for date night. Lars and I hadn’t spoken the day after the incident with Hugh, but then I’d texted him and asked if he wanted to get together. Then Annie had texted me and asked if Lars and I would be interested in a double date, so that’s what we were doing tonight. Lars would be here any minute and I adjusted the lingerie I wore beneath my gray leggings and silver tunic. Lars and I had a full evening planned, and while I wanted to end it with him seeing me in some sexy new lingerie, we had to have a serious talk before that could happen.

It was time to come clean about everything and let him know just how precarious my situation was. Hopefully, he wouldn’t freak out. That had been my hesitation for a while now, since Hugh complicated almost every portion of my life. Lars deserved the truth, though, so after we had dinner with Sawyer and Annie, I planned to invite him up so we could talk in private.

He always waited for me right outside the doors of my building and I loved seeing him standing there. In black slacks and an emerald green button-down shirt with a long leather coat, he looked good enough to eat. I hated that we’d been at odds the last couple of days, but I intended to make things right tonight. I hoped so, anyway.

“Hello.” He smiled at me, and I leaned up to press my lips to his. I let them linger a little longer than I usually did standing on the street, but I’d missed not talking to him every day. His eyes crinkled a little as he looked at me. “You are okay?”

“I am. I will be. Let me tell you on the way.”

“Okay.” He opened the passenger side door and held one of my hands as I climbed up. Then he shut the door behind me and went around to the driver’s side.

I leaned back in the seat and reached for his hand after he’d pulled into traffic. “I was hoping later tonight, after dinner, we could come back to my place and talk. I’ve had some stuff on my mind and after what happened the other night with Hugh, I want to explain why it upset me so much.”

“Yes, I’d like some time for us to be alone. I have something to discuss with you as well.”

“I’m not mad anymore,” I said, glancing over at him. “I just…well, I don’t want to talk about it now, but I feel like we’ve reached a point where we can trust each other with the things that are most important to us.”

He hesitated what seemed like a beat too long but slowly nodded, squeezing my fingers. “I feel this too.”

We drove the rest of the way to the restaurant in silence and I snuggled against him when he put an arm around me as we walked inside. Annie had texted me that they were already seated, so we found the table and joined them.