Page 51 of Praised
His shoulders sagged and he handed my phone back to me.
“We have different jobs,” I said. “Different lives. That’s not a cause for concern.”
“How much did your couch cost?” he asked.
I shrugged. I didn’t know and when I bought it, I hadn’t cared.
“Mine was seventy-five dollars at a thrift store,” he whispered.
I exhaled, stuffing my phone back into my pocket, even as another email vibrated its way into my inbox.
“I came from money, Rose, and I won’t apologize for that because I didn’t have control over it.” I took a step back and fidgeted with the buttons on my shirt, undoing the second one so I could catch a breath. “And I won’t apologize for having money now because I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I’m not sorry about it.”
“I think we should break up,” he murmured.
I slashed my hand through the air between us, cutting the thought off before it could get to me. “No.”
“What?”
“Absolutely not.”
He made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “That’s not how this works.”
“It’s exactly how this works.” I took a step toward him and he took a step back.
“Maybe in your world, but not mine.”
I took another step toward him, lowering my voice. “I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but from the first time I kissed you, you’ve been a part of my world, Ambrose.”
He shivered, a whimper falling out of his mouth. “Say that again,” he rasped.
I licked my lips and stretched my arm, placing my hand against the brick wall and boxing him in. Another shiver worked its way up his spine and when he blinked up at me, it was with a dark and heavy look.
“You’re part of my world,” I said.
He shook his head, eyes closing. “The other part. My name.”
“Ambrose?” I allowed myself a deep breath of him, noticing the way he didn’t smell like my sheets anymore, didn’t smell like my shampoo, but instead his own.
“This won’t work out between us.”
His protest came out sounding like a whimper, like he wanted to mean it even though he didn’t. Like the words were on autopilot and his body was crashing on the course.
“How do you know that?”
“Just a feeling.”
I gently pressed my finger against the underside of his chin and tipped his face up until he managed to look me in the face again.
I’d been with a lot of attractive people in my life, men and women alike, but Rose was one of the prettiest men I’d ever seen. The vibrant sky of his eyes was absolutely unmatched and I knew I’d never meet anyone after him that could even dream of comparing to him in any way.
And maybe that was why I’d been gone for him from the very first kiss. There was something inside of him that had connected to something inside of me. The pull was undeniable, and there wassomethinggroundbreaking between us. The desire to chase after it was why I’d been so immediately willing to break away from the tried-and-true rules that had governed my life for as long as they had. The need to touch him and find out more about him had been enough to have me thinking—even temporarily—that I needed to change for him. And if I had needed to, I would have. But the things Rose needed, the things hewantedwere all things I was able to provide him. That I was willing to share.
“I think you’re wrong,” I whispered against the tuft of white-blonde hair that seemed to float on the top of his head.
“That’s your prerogative.”
“Give me a chance to prove it.”
