Stay with Me (With Me in Seattle 9)

“Thank you.” I check my phone. “No news is good news, right?”

He nods, watching me, and I can’t help but reach out and brush his hair off of his forehead. “Thank you. For everything.”

He plants his hand on my ass, giving it a little squeeze. “You’re welcome.”

“How’s your dad?” Jules asks the next day. We’re at lunch on the waterfront, enjoying a Friday afternoon in the sunshine.

“He’s doing much better. He should be able to go home tomorrow. I was at the hospital this morning, and he was grouchy. I apologized to the nurses for his behavior.”

“I’m sure he’s ready to go home,” she says with a laugh. “Men aren’t good patients.”

“To be fair, I’m not either. I had my appendix out about five years ago, and I wasn’t a delight. I must get it from my dad.” I shrug and take a bite of my chicken and avocado sandwich.

“Do they know what caused it?”

“Well, yeah. He doesn’t eat as well as he should, but they think it mostly stems from genetics. Mom will be on him to eat better, and he’ll be on medication for the rest of his life.”

“And how are you?” she asks. “Any news from L.A?”

“Not in about a week,” I reply, wiping my mouth. “We’re still waiting. I’m so over this, Jules. It’s frustrating.”

“I know. How are the makeup people taking it?”

“It cost them some money to put the launch on hold, but so far, they’ve been understanding. They moved the release date to late fall, so it should be in stores by Christmas.”

“That’s still good,” Jules assures me.

“I know, I’m just impatient.”

“I’m sure you’re ready to go home and get back to your life.”

I stare at the French fry in my hand for a long minute. “Actually, I’ve been thinking. I don’t miss L.A. like I thought I would. I have some friends that I miss, but honestly, I just don’t think I fit down there anymore.”

“What are you saying?” She’s staring at me with so much hope, it gives me excited butterflies.

“I think I want to move home. The other night when we were at the hospital, I just kept thinking that if this had happened when I was in California, I could have lost my dad without being able to be here with him. I miss my family, all of my family. Even though your brothers are overprotective and drive me mad, I love them. I love all of you.”

“We love you, too,” Jules says. “And trust me, I get it. I thought Caleb was going to kill Nate the first time they met.”

“I only have one protective brother. I don’t know how you do it with five of them.”

“I don’t either,” she says with a laugh. “But they mean well. And we all just want what’s best for you. Have you talked to your family about it?”

“No, I don’t want to get their hopes up in case it doesn’t happen. But I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s going to happen.”

“This is so exciting!” She dances in her seat. “What does Wyatt think? He must be excited, too.”

“I haven’t talked to him yet, either.” I shift in my seat. “That’s a whole different conversation.”

“Oh, are you ready to break it off? I thought you guys looked so happy the other night.”

“No.” The thought of breaking it off makes me sick to my stomach. “It’s not that. Jules, I think I’m in love with him.”

“Okay.”

She’s watching me as if I’m about to drop some bombshell. “That’s it. I’m in love with him.”

“That’s awesome.”

“Is it?”

“Okay, you’re confusing me.” She sets her empty plate aside and sips her iced tea. “You’re in love, with the opportunity to move home. Why is this bad again?”

“I’m so confused.” I hang my head and rub my hands over my thighs in agitation. “It’s not that it’s bad. But it’s scary. I did the love thing once, and it turned out horribly. I trusted him, I loved him, the sex was great. And then it went to hell in a handbasket.”

“So you think it’ll happen again.” She nods, thinking it over. “I mean, there’s no guarantee that it won’t, Lia.”

“That is not encouraging.”

“But you’ve been through the bad, and you know what signs to look for. Is Wyatt like Vinnie?”

“Not even in the same wheelhouse.”

“Well, there you go. You can’t judge Wyatt based on what you’ve been through before him. Have you said it yet?”

“No. That’s the other thing. It doesn’t seem fair to tell him I love him when I could turn around and move away.”

“But you’re ninety-nine percent sure you’re moving to Seattle.”

“There’s still that one percent. And I don’t want him to think that I’m moving here just for him. That’s a lot of pressure, and it’s not true.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “What are you afraid of?”

“Getting my heart broken,” I admit right away. “Wyatt is, well, he’s everything I thought I’d never find. He’s amazing. And what if he decides that I’m not amazing and he bails?”

“Not gonna happen. Sweetie, you didn’t see the way he was looking at you the other night. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you. And when my brothers grilled him, and he replied with it’s none of your business? Yeah, that was hot.”

“Totally hot,” I agree.

“He loves you, too, even if he hasn’t been able to say it either. You’re on the same page.”

“I wish I was as sure as you are.”

“It’s early days yet,” she assures me. “You can give it more time. Relationships aren’t a race.”

“You don’t have my mother hassling you for grandkids.”

Jules tips her head back and laughs. “True. But still, it’s really none of her business either. Give it time, say it when it’s right. You’ll know.”

“You always were really smart.”

“I know.” She winks at me and picks up the dessert menu. “I really want something lemony. Will you share with me?”

“Of course. Also, back to moving here, do you think Nat and Luke would let me stay in the house until I find my own place? It shouldn’t take long, and I’d be happy to pay rent.”

“Oh, I can’t see why not. You should just go over and talk to them. They’re awesome.”

“Luke intimidates me. Even more than Nate.”

She cocks a brow. “Really? That’s awesome. I can’t wait to tell Nate.”

“Don’t tell him!”

“Why not? He thinks he’s so intimidating.”

“Well, he is. But there’s just something about Luke that makes me nervous.”

“He’s a really nice guy.” She tips her head and frowns. “I don’t think he has a mean bone in his body.”

“It’s not that.” I shake my head, trying to put my finger on it. “It could be because he’s so fucking hot, he could set the sun on fire.”

“There’s that,” Jules says. “And maybe because he’s a movie star?”