Page 101 of Wrong For Me

My first reaction is to roll my eyes. To tell him he’s being silly. But then I think about everything I’ve learned about this man in the last twenty-four hours. The ideas his mom put into his head. His admission that his first instinct is almost always to distrust. This is still so new—it’s unreasonable to expect him to automatically assume the best.

I reach up to cup his jaw, loving the way he leans into my touch. He’d done the same thing last night. Maybe Leo Malone is a little like a lonely puppy, desperate for physical affection. I can definitely help him out there.

“I didn’t mention you in my text to him because my family is nosy as hell. Will is a little better than the others, but he definitely would have told his girlfriend. And maybe my brother. And my brother for sure would have told everyone else.” I roll my eyes. “You should see our cousins group thread. It’s more gossipy than the girl’s bathroom in a middle school.”

His expression relaxes. “So I can expect a lot of chatter about me when you finally come clean?”

“You have no idea. I guess I just wanted to keep it to myself for a little longer.”

He nods. “Makes sense.”

But as we disembark from the plane, I can’t help but feel like there was some disappointment in his voice. He’s quiet while we wait for the Uber we agreed to share and my nerves start to grow. I want to reassure him that nothing has changed since we woke up in bed this morning, but I don’t want to come on too strong, either. I guess there’s still some remaining doubt in my mind, the tiniest bit of fear that he’s going to balk.

We’re twenty minutes from my apartment before he turns to me. “I’m sure you’re looking forward to getting back home.”

I blink at him, caught off guard. “I guess?” To be honest, I’m kind of dreading saying goodbye to him. I know I’m going to spend the evening worrying that he’s talking himself out of this. Plus, there’s the simple fact that I’ve enjoyed the hell out of our day together, airport waiting areas and uncomfortable seats in coach and all.

“So you probably don’t want to come back to my place?” The hopeful, almost nervous note in his voice makes my insides melt.

“I wouldlovethat.”

I get the smallest glimpse of his grin before he pulls me into his side, wrapping an arm around me and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Good. Turns out I’m still not ready to say goodbye to you.”

I cuddle into him, chastising myself for being so silly. Last night I made him promise he would talk to me when he got scared, and here I am making myself worry and not saying a word.

“Do we need to stop at your place first so you can get some clothes?” he asks. “Or are you okay with what you have in your suitcase?”

“I need clothes, huh? Am I spending the night now?”

I expect him to tease me back. Instead, he pulls me tighter to his side. “Hell yes, you are.”

I consider the clothes I have in my suitcase. There’s probably a dress or two that’s suitably clean, but I’m pretty sure I’m out of panties. When I mention this to Leo, he growls in my ear. “You cannot be in our office tomorrow without panties on. We’ll end up missing all of our classes.”

“Guess we need to go to my place then.” I play with the hem of his t-shirt, loving the feel of his taut, warm stomach beneath the soft cotton. “We could just stay there, if you want? I mean, you’d have to meet my brother and Will if they’re around, and they’ll probably give you a hard time, so it’s fine if you’d rather go to your place.”

“I have met your brother and your cousin, if you remember.”

“True. But that was…before.”

He’s quiet for a minute. “And now they think I’m the asshole who didn’t call you after we hooked up and then spent the first six weeks of the semester acting like a dick.”

I pull back to look up at him. “I never told them you were acting like a dick.”

He smirks a little. “But the asshole who didn’t call you part was correct?”

“Yeah.” I slump back against the seat. “They, uh, probably won’t be super polite. But they’ll come around. I promise I won’t let them treat you badly—”

He silences me with a soft kiss. “Rose. I told you I’m not going anywhere. Your family is everything to you. Being in your life means I’m going to be spending time with them, right? I can handle a little attitude in the beginning.” He scoffs and mutters under his breath, “I definitely deserve it.”

“Okay, first, you don’t deserve it. Secondly, I kind of want to jump you right now for being so sweet.” I lean up to kiss him, heart clenching at his words about my family and being in my life. “I would love for you to meet Will and River again. They’re my best friends and I know they’ll come around when they see how happy I am.”

He nods. “Then your place it is.”

I try to tamp down a flutter of nerves as we unload our bags outside my apartment. If I’m serious about having something real with Leo, this meeting is inevitable. But I also know how overprotective my family can be, especially when it comes to me. It’s ridiculous—I’m the oldest, I should be the last person they baby. But that won’t stop my brother from being a dick if he wants to be.

Before we get in the elevator, I turn to Leo. “I should probably mention that Will’s girlfriend might be there.”

He shrugs. “Cool.”