Iris Blaire - Dark Frame

I down the rest of my glass with a single swallow. It’s a shame that I’m drinking an eighty dollar bottle of wine in the midst of such a stressful conversation. Dallas doesn’t ask, he just pours me another glass.

“Then why was leaving you so easy?” I say. It’s the question that’s been on my mind for too long. If he really cared about me, then he wouldn’t have let me walk out of that airport without a fight.

“Because I thought I wouldn’t be seeing you for months. I didn’t think there was a way to prove myself to you.”

“Prove yourself to me?”

He nods. “I didn’t want to just plead with you to make you stay with me, especially if you were so unhappy, then have there be months of not being able to see you, and possibly not being able to call you. You’d be at Harvard wondering if it was really worth it to give me another chance and there would be no way to show you that I desperately needed one, Evan.”

Everything in his expression begs me. And I can’t tell if I want to give him another chance because he’s so goddamn gorgeous, or because I love him back.

“Okay,” I say.

His face softens. Relief. Suddenly I wonder what it would have been like to kiss him if the kiss had been before the foreplay—if it would have been crushing or sweet. Who would have initiated it? How long would it have lasted? A part of me wants to crawl across the table right now just to feel his warm lips on mine.

When our food comes, we don’t talk much. Part of me is grateful, and the other part of me wants to ask more questions. Like what made him decide if he was going to come to Boston for me. Was it before, or after A.J. offered him all of that money?

My stomach twists into a tight knot at the mere thought of it.

“What?”

I glance at Dallas. His eyes are narrowed.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“What were you thinking about?” he asks. “You looked horrified for a second.”

I scrape my food around with my fork until I realize there is no use lying to him. If this is the time to discover if we’re supposed to be together, I can’t go dancing around real problems.

“Did you decide before or after A.J. offered you the advance that you wanted to come and prove how much you loved me?”

His eyes sparkle with something… amusement, curiosity… I can’t tell for sure. He wipes his mouth and smiles down at his plate.

“What’s so damn funny?”

His blue eyes flicker to mine again and the breath is sucked right out of me. “You sure make it difficult to be a romantic, you know that, right?”

I cock my head, relaying my confusion.

He sighs. “I had the entire evening planned. We were going to break into the Bunker Hill Monument, and at the top I was going to tell you—while pressing you to my rock-hard body like the maiden you are—that A.J. never called me.”

I don’t know whether to giggle or gasp. So instead, I stare at him blankly. “He what ?”

“He never called me, Evan. He never offered me any money to come out here. In fact, I called him and begged him to pay for my plane ticket.”

I snap my mouth shut when I realize my jaw is hanging open. My heart is swelling with so much heat and joy and giddiness that it’s a battle just to keep my cool in front of him.

“The evening is ruined,” I say flatly, taking another sip of wine.

He raises his eyebrow at my reaction, and asks slowly, “What do you propose we do?”

I swirl the rest of the wine in my glass. “Well, since I ruined your surprise.” I hold up my glass. “Why don’t we get another one of these and head back to the Manor?”

^^^^

The rain came pouring down.

Somehow we end up back in Boston because Dallas found these amazing cellars on his phone that are open until eleven. Drenched and shivering, we discover the cellar hosts an antipasto bar and there’s live music tonight.

So we get a little drunk. And I end up on his lap.

The music is nothing like I’m used to listening to. It’s a couple of old men playing folk, but they’re really good at it. The crowd is mostly forty-to-sixty somethings looking to have a good time. Dallas and I might even be the youngest ones here.

He holds me tightly around my waist. I crane my neck and lean in, open mouth pressing against his strong, bold jaw, and exhale. Immediately, goose bumps emerge on his neck. He groans at the warmth. Or my mouth. One or the other.

“I think we should head back,” he says.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

The night is freezing, the rain pummeling us, and yet we waste time searching for the train station to take us back instead of paying cab fare. When we arrive at Veda Manor, it’s just past midnight, and the foyer and dining room are empty.

We giggle and trip our way up to Dallas’s room. There’s no way I’m making my lecture tomorrow—thank God I’ve studied well ahead and already know the material.

I peel my jacket off and lay it on the back of one of the leather armchairs. “I’ll have to borrow clothes from Britain tomorrow. That’s going to be one hell of a walk of shame.”

As Dallas grins at me, water drips from the tip of his nose. “Who says that staying the night with me is shameful?”

“I’m just saying she’s going to want dirt is all.” I shiver involuntarily.

Dallas steps toward me, reaching out and toying with the collar of my soaked shirt. Water drips across his full lips and I want nothing more than to push myself on my tiptoes and lick it off.

He traces his thumb along my collarbone and pops my first button. Then my second, and my third. Our eyes stay locked as he undresses me. When my wet shirt falls to the floor, he turns and grabs the throw off the loveseat, shaking it out and tossing it over my shoulders.

I look at him questionably.

“I told you,” he begins, lifting the tip of my chin with his knuckle. “I didn’t come all the way to Boston to seduce you.”

“Even though you want to?” I ask.

He smirks. “Even though I would kill to.”

I slowly work the button of my jeans and slide them past my hips. “Are you going to make me sleep on the couch too?”

He rolls his eyes and walks toward the bed. I’d like to think that it’s because he can’t stand the sight of me undressing when he isn’t going to do anything about it. He even turns off the light before either of us are in bed. I slip beneath the covers as he peels off his clothes, the mattress shifting as he crawls in on the other side. He turns to face me. I reach forward and press my hand squarely against his broad, firm chest, skin still cold from the rain.

We talk about Costa Rica and his research partner, whispering back and forth even though no one else is in the room. Laina doesn’t go a day without hitting on him, which doesn’t surprise me at all. In fact, it was a reason I couldn’t bear to be with Dallas when he was away.

“You knew that was going to happen,” he says.

“I didn’t…” I pause. I know what’s about to leave my mouth is insensitive, but I can’t hold it back. “I didn’t want to end up like Trish.”

“Whoa, hey.” His hands find my waist. “Is this what all of this is about? Fuck, Evan. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Anything I say will make it sound like… like…

“You don’t trust me.”

Yes, exactly.

“And I totally deserve that.”

Wait, what?

“What?”

“I should have broken up with Trish years ago, not just when I met you. Both of us were unsatisfied and bored. But we were busy and pursuing our careers and our relationship was safe.”

“But you and I are both busy and pursuing our careers.”