Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) by Amy McClung Page B

placed my hands on either side of her face, leaned in, and captured her lips with mine. She closed her eyes and released a soft whimper as I deepened the kiss. Her hands moved around my waist, sliding up my back. If she’d been any other girl, I’d try to have her come back to my bed. This one was special though, and I wanted everything to be exceptional for her. I wouldn’t ruin this again.
    She pulled away from me. “I'm not a prude, but I don’t want to be a one-night stand anymore, Tristan,” she said softly, sadly.
    Caressing her face with my palm, I tenderly said, “I don’t want that either. As much as I want you right now, I want to take things slow.” The happiness returned to her face; I was beginning to gain her trust.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Ten
    Making Plans
     
     
     
     
     
     
                 
     
     
     
    The spontaneous date with Lanie went so well that we began talking for a few hours every night. During the day, we’d send text messages back and forth with little quips about our day. Our second date would be on Saturday, it had been a long time since I'd had a weekend night off.
    I scheduled time with MJ and Macy for the day. Mary Jane arranged our afternoon activities with Macy while I was at work the night before. We began our day at our favorite local diner to chow down on greasy burgers and salty fries. Junk food is a weakness and a very rare tradition between the three of us. We began the junk food challenge when MJ and I worked in Disney. We'd eat healthy at every meal and then agreed that once a month we'd pig out on whatever sinful treat we wanted. Somehow it never failed that we decided upon burgers and fries.
    “Derrick and I are going up to Fall Creek Falls this weekend, and we wanted you and Macy to come along,” Mary Jane stated as soon as we sit down.
    Macy’s excitement shown brightly, “Yes, please Tristan can we go?”
    “Well, I have a date this weekend being that I’m off for a change.” 
    Mary Jane doesn’t hesitate to say, “Bring her along! We’d love to meet her.”
    “I’m not sure we’re serious enough for an overnight trip. We’ve had barely one date and a kiss.” 
    Mary Jane placed her hand on top of mine, “You two have been talking for a while though, right? Ask her, you never know what she’ll say. And if it makes her feel better she can share a room with Macy and Katelyn, and you can sleep on the pull-out sofa.” 
    Macy sat with her hands together in a praying fashion, and her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. Once MJ noticed the pose, she mimicked it. "Fine, I'll ask her." They both cheered with victorious excitement.
     
    Next evening I decided to take Lanie out, so we had two official dates before a weekend trip idea was brought up. Lanie insisted it was fine for me to pick her up for this date; that was a good sign that the trust was building.
    Tonight we’d decided on dinner theater. There’s a great theater on the outskirts of town that is inside a barn. The tickets are a little pricey, but you get an all you can eat buffet dinner in the cost, so it comes out as a pretty cheap date, in the long run.
    Once shown to our table, I held the chair for Lanie before taking a seat across from her. Small talk between us flowed easier than I’d ever experienced with anyone else. We rarely had awkward silences it seemed. During the course of the meal, I brought up Fall Creek Falls. “Oh, wow. Um, yeah I’d love to.”
    “You would?” I exclaimed, sounding more surprised than I intended to.  
    She read me wrong at that point because she said, “Were you hoping I’d say no?”
    “No. Of course not. I didn’t know if we were serious enough for an overnight.”
    Lanie shrugged and said, “Who decides when we can do stuff in a relationship?” As soon as she said relationship she began to back pedal, “Um, I mean a friendship relationship. Err…dating. I…”
    I covered her hand with mine, “I know what you