Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)

by Abby Jimenez

“You know, we never really talked about this, Daniel. Maybe we should set rules.” He studied my expression. “Okay.” “So what rules do you want?” I asked. “You really want to know?” “Yes.” “I want to be your boyfriend.” It punched me right in the heart, and my stomach did a somersault. But my brain shot it down. He wants to be my boyfriend? Why? I’m too old. Too old for him anyway. I live too far away, our lives are too different. What did he want with me? It was almost naïvely sweet. Like when a kid says they want to be an astronaut or a ballerina when they grow up. And then of course you get older and you end up doing something else that actually makes sense. Maybe he just meant that he didn’t want us sleeping with other people? That he wanted to be exclusive? That I could understand. I realized, almost in that moment, that I really didn’t want him to see other people either. Even the thought of him hugging someone else launched me into an internal fit of jealousy so sudden it shocked me. If I’d shown up here and he’d been with another woman, it would have devastated me. I didn’t even realize it until just now. Looking at his open face, feeling his warm arms around me, something inside of me screamed MINE.