Give Me Something by Elizabeth Lee

matter-of-factly.
    “ I get that,” he laughed.  Neither of us looked at each other as our hands intertwined on top of the bed.  “I guess I mean, where do you see our dating going?”
    This was the point in typical jobs were I would lay on the “I want to be with you for the rest of my life” spiel.  I didn't say that. All I could come up with was, “I don't know.”
    “I feel like you have a hard time opening up to me,” he blurted out.  “I mean... It's just...”  I looked over and watched as he tried to figure out what to say next.  He looked at me and I could see the frustration in his eyes.
    “ I know.  I'm sorry,” I said as I let my head fall back down.  “I guess I'm not very good at letting people in.”  I felt his hand tighten around mine.
    “ I'd never hurt you.” His voice was sincere and it tugged at the very heartstrings I was trying to keep out of his grasp.  I wasn't worried about him hurting me.  It was the opposite actually.  He was going to find out what kind of girl I really was and then he'd be broken.  I didn't think I could deal with hurting this mark. Scratch that – I couldn't deal with hurting Tucker.  I was wrestling around for the right words to ease his mind and keep the plan I had on track, when he spoke again. “I'm pretty close to the line when it comes to falling for you, Lila.”  My heart stilled.  “It wouldn't take much for me to trip over it.”  He turned on his side and his blue eyes begged me to give him an honest shot.
    “ I...” I started to stammer out a response.  When he pulled me on my side to face him I couldn't speak.
    “ You don't have to say anything.  I just wanted you to know how I feel.”  He feathered his lips against mine and jumped up off the bed.  “So... what are we doing for dinner?”

Chapter 8
    I was treated to a fine meal of frozen pizza and a can of Cherry Coke.  Tucker apologize profusely for the lack of food in the house.  It didn't really bother me, in all honesty, I'd rather eat a pizza than be forced to sit through an inedible fancy dinner any day.
    “ This is really good,” I murmured, taking another bite.
    “ You like frozen pizza?” he asked in disbelief.
    “ What's not to like?”
    “ I just took you for a fancy restaurant kind of girl,” he chuckled.
    “ Nah.” I shook my head. “This is better.”
    “ I think so, too,” he agreed.  “In fact, I hated that place we went on our first date,” he confessed. “I was just trying to impress you.”
    I was pleasantly surprised at his admission.  I'd definitely pegged him as a fancy restaurant kind of guy.    “That's sweet, but from here on out it's frozen pizza and fast food.”  I raised my can.
    “Sounds good to me,” he smirked, clinking his can against mine.  “You know we're going to get fat eating this shit all the time, right?”
    “ You wouldn't love me if I was fat?” I joked with a mouth full of pizza.
    He grinned. “Yes, I'd still love you even if you were a whale.”  Even though we were joking around, the word love took hold in my brain.  Was he serious? What if he found out I was a complete fake?  Would he love me then?  I laughed and pretended I wasn't thinking about that freaking four letter word.
    After changing into comfy pairs of sweats, we snuggled down on the overstuffed sofa in the family room for a movie.  It was hard not to feel comfortable in this house.  Even though I was sure it cost more than I could hustle in ten years, it had a charm that couldn't be bought.  Tucker said that his dad had hired an interior decorator when they built the place, and she'd spent hours poring over pictures and items of Tucker's mom's to figure out exactly how she would have decorated.  Mr. Kline thought that it would help Tucker feel like there was a part of her with him.  It was sweet, and apparently Mrs. Kline had fabulous taste.  The cream-colored couch we were sitting on was covered with a soft linen fabric and