Free Hold Me by Talia Ellison

don’t really...”
    “No, I want you to choose. Something you’d like.”
    “And what if I pick something you don’t like?” He eyes me carefully.
    “Doesn’t matter. It can still be fun.” I shrug. “Come on. Pick something.”
    “Okay.” His eyes go from the list to me, as if he’s trying to read my mind and choose something he can be sure I’d like. “This one.” He finally points at one of the posters, and I sigh in relief.
    “Thank God you didn’t pick a romantic comedy.” I laugh.
    His shoulders slump in relief, and he seems a bit too relieved actually, so I wonder if I’ve just put him through a stressful situation.
    “Oh, do you like popcorn? Because I do. Let’s get some.” I’m more nervous than a little kid, and I can’t even tell why. It isn’t as if this were my first date ever, and yet it feels like it. I so badly want Caleb to have fun with me that I’m probably going to ruin it. As I dash to get the popcorn, I can see the corners of his lips turn upward. Maybe not everything is lost just yet.
    “Did you see that? She brought down like five guys. I wish I could do that,” I say as we emerge from the movie theater. After watching a fast action movie, I can still feel the adrenaline surging through me and my shoulders are no longer tense.
    “Have you ever tried? Maybe you can and you don’t even know it.” He teases.
    I give him an incredulous look. “What? No! I can barely do a light training routine, let alone take on an armed guy. I’d be dead in like... one nanosecond. What was your favorite part?”
    He looks thoughtful for a moment, then grins. “The moment you threw a popcorn at me.”
    “Whoa.” I raise my hands up. “That wasn’t... That wasn’t part of the movie.”
    “No?” He stops, amusement glinting in his eyes. “I thought it was. I’m sure you could take down a bunch of bad guys with just one popcorn.”
    I burst out laughing. “Okay, I shouldn’t have thrown that popcorn at you. I’m sorry, but you said the main couple wouldn’t make it to the end. What was that about?”
    “I thought you didn’t like romance. The tragic ending seemed more likely.” His lip twitches a little, and a shadow passes through his eyes.
    “No, I said I don’t like romantic comedies, not that I don’t like romance. That’s like a whole different thing. I can’t imagine a movie without a happy ending. That would be so...” I frown, “...depressing.”
    He averts his gaze.
    “Hey, don’t tell me you believe that love can’t defeat anything?”
    He scratches the back of his neck. “I know it can’t.”
    “How can you know that?” I gape at him.
    “Because I do.” He blinks, then shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. At least you enjoyed the movie.”
    “But...” I don’t want to upset him, so I bite down on my lip to stop myself from asking anything else. Does a disappointment in his love life have anything to do with his current job? I doubt he’d tell me even if I asked. “I’m starving. Wanna join me for dinner?”
    “Sure.” He takes out his phone and checks something, then focuses back on me.
    “Great.” We walk down the busy street while I’m trying to make up my mind about where to take him. Would he prefer a fancy restaurant or something more familiar? I don’t even bother to ask because I’m sure he’d just tell me to pick whatever I want.
    As we pass through another street, I notice a tall man in a black shirt and gray jeans. If I’m not wrong, he’s actually looking at Caleb and me. I’m not sure if the man recognized me or anything, so I quicken my pace.
    A couple of moments later, we take another turn, and when I glance over my shoulder, the man is still there; not too close to us, but definitely keeping an eye on us. I grab Caleb’s shirt and pull him toward me. His eyes are wide as we stop, our noses almost touching.
    “Someone’s following us,” I whisper, slipping my fingers through Caleb’s hair and pretending I’m