“I wasn’t, really,” I admitted. “I did smoke one, too.”
Upon hearing that, she took a step back from me and looked up into my eyes.
“You were smoking?”
“Um…yeah?”
“Thomas, you’re an athlete…”
“Yeah, I know,” I said with a shrug. “I really don’t do it very much. I mean, almost never.”
The look in her eyes was…confusing…and heartbreaking. She looked like she was about to start crying again. There had to be more to this.
“Nicole, why does that piss you off so bad?”
She dropped her forehead against my chest again before she answered.
“The guy I dated in Minnesota smoked,” she said quietly. “It just…makes me think of him.”
Shit.
That was, in fact, about the last fucking thing in the world I wanted her to be thinking about. Ever. I definitely didn’t want her thinking about him when it came to me.
“Nicole?”
She sniffled again and didn’t look back at me. I took a step closer to her and wrapped one arm around her waist, bringing her close to me.
“Rumple?”
She finally looked up, and there was fire in her eyes again, but only for a second.
“I won’t do it anymore,” I told her. “Really, I never did it very much anyway. If it reminds you of…of him, then I won’t do it anymore. I swear.”
“You won’t?”
“Not a single one. There are a few in my soccer bag. You can throw them out yourself if you want.”
She continued to stare up into my eyes, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was she was seeking. I just looked back at her because her eyes were just really, really pretty and I found it hard to look away from them.
“Would you really do that?” she asked. “No more?”
“No more.”
“For…for me?”
“In a heartbeat,” I replied.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why does it matter to you?” she asked. She seemed somewhat irritated…or maybe just confused.
“That’s a very good question,” I replied. I gave her a half smile. “I guess it just does.”
“You hardly know me,” she informed me, refusing to just let it go. “Why would you agree to do something like that for me? It doesn’t make any sense.”
As I thought about my response, I reached up and laid my hand on her cheek. I leaned forward and looked deeper into her eyes.