I smiled and said, "I see no pain."
He kissed my chin. "I know you're hiding something... let me save you from yourself. Rid your soul of this secret before it eats away at you... leaving you no more than a human skeleton with an faux leather coat. Cry on my shoulder."
I did.
"There was a man once, who took the pain I'd buried for all these years and brought it to the surface. He saved me from my past... Let me ease the pain of yours."
I was silent.
(His hand was on mine last night, in a symbol of his love for me...)
"I do love you, Erin... not the way that I love her, but in another way. I think that if it weren't for her, I would have been your first. You could have been mine. We're not soulmates, but we're more than friends..."
I nodded.
"I have two questions for you, Tim...
Why did I kiss you, and why did you kiss me back?
I know that you are taken... more than taken really...
Engaged."
"I can only answer half of that. You first."
"Why did I kiss you?
Lord, I didn't mean to... but after the last time that you kissed me, I longed to be with you again. I know that you're in love with her. I'm happy for you... truly I am. But I like you."
"And?"
"There is no 'and' Tim... I like you. That's all there is."
"Do you love me?" he asked. His dark eyes probed mine. I could not meet his gaze any longer, for fear he'd see the truth in them. I still don't know what the truth is myself. I shouldn't love him... I didn't intend to...
Silence.
