Finally His by Emma Hillman

Alex. I need to talk to her.”
    Lucy looked up just in time to watch her brother leave the
room, Nick striding in as if he owned the damn place. “What do you want?”
    “We need to talk.”
    “Oh, really? It took you all of two weeks to guess that?”
    Undeterred by her sharp voice, he sat down beside her and
asked, “What do you want from me?”
    She gaped at him. Was he kidding? After all this, the
waiting, the crying, her turmoil over having done the wrong thing, he had the
gall to come here and ask her that? “Didn’t I make myself clear last time
around?”
    “Indulge me, baby. You said you loved me, but I remember you
telling me all those weeks ago that you didn’t want a relationship.”
    “I lied.”
    He drew back a little. “About what?”
    She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I want a
relationship. With you,” she added, in case he really was that clueless.
    “You lied. Right.” He looked in the distance before focusing
once more on her face. “Why did you?”
    “Because I knew you didn’t want to have a serious
relationship with anyone. Alex was right. You are a player first and foremost.”
    “And yet, you wanted us to be together.”
    She shook her head no. “No past tense about it, Nick.”
    “What does that mean?”
    This time, she did roll her eyes. “I want us to be together.
Present tense, see?”
    “Don’t be like that, Luce.” He ignored her intake of breath
and kept on talking, “What do you want exactly?”
    She sighed. “I want us to be a normal couple. Nothing more,
nothing less. I’d like us to have sex, sure, but also to do other things like…
I don’t know. Go to the movies, spend time together, play pool, hang out with
Alex and your friends. You know, couple stuff.”
    “Couple stuff.” It was clear he had no idea what she meant
by that.
    “Seriously, Nick, I know you don’t do relationships, but
you’ve had girlfriends before. What did you do with them?”
    He seemed to think about it. “Had sex. Drank beer. Huh, more
sex. More beer?”
    “That’s all?”
    “Pretty much, yeah.”
    She shuddered when she realized that’s how he’d acted with
her over the past weeks. All they’d done really was have sex and hang out at
the bar. She’d been a groupie like all his other women before her. Argh! “You
know, that’s downright sad.”
    He jerked back. “What? I’m not sad!”
    “Yes, you are. You don’t even want to try for more because
you’re too afraid of what might happen. I know you like me, Nick. I know you. I
thought we’d make a great couple, and maybe it was me being completely
delusional about it all, but I thought you’d at least try too.”
    “I’m not scared.” She looked at him steadily and he
relented, “Okay, I might be. A little.”
    “A lot. Why did you do start all this if you knew you would
never go all the way? Do I really matter that little to you?”
    “It’s not that,” he cut her off. “I wanted you. I…still do.”
    “I’m not talking about sex, damn it! Sure, we have fun
together in bed, but I want more. I need more!” She sprang to her feet.
    “What do you want me to say?” He stood up too, his eyes
flashing.
    “I want you to love me the way I love you! Is that so much
to ask? You know what, Nick? It’s easy enough. If you think you can’t do it,
then don’t. I’m sure I’ll find someone else to replace you, someone man enough
to know what he wants in life, someone who won’t cower—” The rest of her
sentence was lost in his mouth.
    He grabbed her hands when she started hitting his chest. He
nudged her face to the side so he could kiss her deeper, as if he knew that was
the way she liked it best. She became lost in his kiss, in him , and when
he drew back and she opened her eyes, he traced her lips and said, “I love
you.”
    It was her turn to be speechless.
    But not for long. She took a step back and asked, “Are you
just saying this because you know it’s what I want to hear?”
    “Lucy, come