Broken Until You

Chapter 39 - Hug Me Tighter

Ryder

We walked through a field that had the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen. Flowers different shades of pink, purple, yellow and orange were interspersed throughout the field, except on the dirt pathway that cut the field in half directly in the middle.

Without Autumn noticing, I glimpsed over at her and smiled to myself. Just looking at her, even to this day I still can't count all the reasons why I'm madly in love with her.

She was wearing a beautiful white, short floral dress and she had her hair in a half-up, half-down style, allowing me to see the side of her face. I looked down at her hand and had a strong urge to hold it, but I fought it off.

I could tell — just from looking at her from the side — that she was thinking long and hard.

That's what she said!

Sorry, no time for jokes.

She looked like there were a lot of thoughts buzzing around in her head. She didn't speak unless I spoke first. I honestly didn't know what to say, so I just stared at her, taking in her beauty.

"When did you get that dress?" I finally asked her. "I don't remember getting it for you."

Autumn didn't even look at me. "I had it before I knew you," she said bluntly.

"Oh."

"Are we there yet?" she complained.

"You're acting like a little kid on a road trip. We're almost there."

She glared at me. Oops, shouldn't have said that.

After five minutes of more awkward silence, we finally made it to a little bench at the end of the field that looked out over the entire field, so you could get a whole view of the flowers.

She sat down, crossing her arms as she did so.

I sat down next to her but made sure to keep at least three feet of distance. I didn't want her to get mad if I was too close or anything.

There were a couple other wooden benches near us but thankfully there was no one around us.

We sat in awkward silence, each waiting for the other to begin speaking. Every time I looked over at her, I couldn't remember what I was going to say because her beauty hypnotized me.

I'm amazed when I look at her, not just because of her looks, but because the fact that everything I've ever wanted is right in front of me.

And when you finally get the thing you want, it is the greatest feeling ever. I don't ever want to loose Autumn, but I can't tell how she feels because she won't speak up. I can't tell if she wants to end things.

Oh, did I mention she was wearing light pink lip gloss that shimmered every time she moved her head? Yeah...it was very hard not to kiss her.

But I do wonder what it taste like. Hmm...maybe strawberry? Or cherry? Or candy? Or watermelon? Or-

"Ryder," she whispered so faintly that I had to break the three feet of distance we had between us so I could move closer and hear what she had to say. "I'm...sorry."

Damn, I felt like an old man. Is my hearing getting worse, or is it the fact that she's barely being audible?

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

She looked down at her feet in sadness. "I'm so sorry I didn't hear you out when you were begging me to. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions without hearing your side of the story and for ignoring you for three months," Autumn finally said with more volume in her voice so I could hear her.