Within These Walls (Within These Walls #1)(72)

I stood, taking one final look at the plaque I had placed in her memory. Kissing the pads of my fingers, I placed them against the cool metal on the back of the bench.

“Life—it really does go on, and I’m going to live mine now. Good-bye, Megan.”

Every step down that hallway felt final, another footfall into my future. My eyes dried as I moved up in the elevator. As I turned toward the exit, I saw her sitting on the concrete bench, waiting for me.

God, she’s beautiful.

Our eyes met as she stood, and I strode out the double doors.

I pulled her into my arms. “I love you, Lailah,” I said breathlessly. “I’ve loved you longer than I can remember, but I couldn’t ever find a way to say it until now. Now, I want to say it over and over—”

“Stop babbling”—she grinned—“and kiss me.”

I pressed my lips to hers as I gently lifted her off the ground and spun us around. Her laughter and squeals quickly filled the air.

“Come on, let’s go home,” I said, letting her feet touch the ground once again.

“I like the sound of that.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

Twenty-five: Date Night—Lailah

“LET’S GO SHOPPING,” Jude said one lazy afternoon while we were lying on the couch, watching a movie.

“Shopping?” I said, pausing the movie. I looked up at him from my very comfortable position in his lap. “Why? We just went grocery shopping yesterday.”

“I want to buy you a dress and take you out to dinner,” he answered before bending his head down to kiss my forehead.

“You don’t have to do that. You’ve already done enough.”

It had been over a week since I moved into Jude’s small apartment. It’d been a week since I spoke to my mother. As much as I loved my new living arrangement, I couldn’t help but feel guilty about a number of things. A twist of regret and longing would hit me every time I thought of my mom, and I wondered how much damage I had done to our relationship after walking away from her that night. But as terrible as I felt, I couldn’t bring myself to pick up the phone and call her. I needed to apologize, but my damn pride was getting in the way.

Why does she always feel the need to protect and shelter me so much?

The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that it might not be me she was protecting afterall, but rather herself.

Living with Jude had also brought out the guilt of not being able to contribute anything financially. I hated that feeling. I was twenty-two years old, and I’d never had a job or gone to college. I didn’t have a single dollar to my name. I felt like a freeloader. Jude might have been born to wealth, but he wasn’t living a lavish lifestyle anymore. He didn’t have money to throw around, and part of me worried how he could afford another person in his life.

“I want to. Besides, you can’t tell me going out on a date isn’t on that list.” A sly grin spread across his face.

“Well, considering I showed you the entire list in bed last night, I’d say you already know the answer to that question.”

His grin widened. “Yeah, I do, which is why we’re going shopping. Come on, get up. Let’s go!”

“Okay, okay!” I laughed, rising from the couch. “I should have never shown you that notebook,” I grumbled.

I felt his hot breath on my ear as he spoke, “I remember I was very persuasive, and I wanted to make sure a certain number was thoroughly crossed out.”

He turned me slowly around, so we were face-to-face. His hands slid down my back.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job on that one over the last week.” I grinned.

“Just trying to make you feel as normal as possible.” The dimple in his cheek appeared. “A hot young thing like you? How could I possibly be around you all the time and not want to be f**king you every single second of the day?”

His bold words left me breathless.

“See?” he said. “I’m just keeping it real.”

“Uh-huh,” I managed to say.

A slap to my backside brought me out of my lusty trance.

“Come on,” he laughed.

He grabbed the keys off the counter, and we headed out, immediately feeling the warm summer breeze blowing past us as we exited the apartment. Southern California had been having a bit of a heat wave over the last week. Rather than being greeted by the comforting cool ocean breeze that was one of the advantages of living so close to the coast, we were all being bogged down by the stifling heat.

“So hot,” I said as we got into the blazing hot car.

“Let me turn the air on. At least that works in this pile of—”

“Hey! Be nice to Yertle! He will hear you!” I said, rubbing the worn dash lovingly.

Jude shook his head as we pulled out into traffic. “I have no idea why you love this car so much.”

“It’s yours. Why wouldn’t I love it?”

He didn’t answer, but I saw the corner of his mouth curve into a small smile.

Several minutes later, we arrived in a popular area in Santa Monica that was well known for little boutiques and great restaurants. He didn’t bother asking me where I wanted to go. He knew I’d say some place cheap like Old Navy, or I’d ask if there was a Target around. He was so right. I was already scamming the area for the big red bull’s-eye.