Page 106 of How We Loved

I wrap my arms around him. “Absolutely. It’s always been you, Ben. And always will be.”

He lifts to look into my eyes. Moving a piece of my hair off my face, he whispers, “My Sunshine.” He takes a breath. “Do you know why I call you that?”

“Because I light up your world,” I say proudly.

He grins with a slight chuckle. “You light up my world and grow flowers within me, no matter how I feel inside.”

Tears prick my eyes as his words fill my soul.

He positions himself at my entrance, pulsing in and out, going just a little deeper every time, kissing me softly and letting me get used to him inside me just this little bit.

After a minute of making sure I’m okay, he gives one final thrust and fills me to the core, causing my body to tense. He pauses, kissing my lips as I get used to the fullness of him. I melt at his touch, which relaxes my body, and he slowly slides back out, then in again.

Chills race through me as I hold on to him tighter. I’ve never felt so close to another human being, but I still want more.

“I love you, Maya. You’re it for me. I’m never leaving your side,” he whispers.

So crazy how the boy I always cared for can be the man I crave now.

“You don’t have to tell me that. You’ve already proven it to me time and time again.”

He lifts and looks into my eyes, that cocky grin making me giggle.

I place my hand on his cheek. “I love you too, Ben.”

His lips crash into mine as his pace picks up. Gone is the pain I was feeling, replaced by sensations I’ve never experienced before.

He groans, and I moan.

He grips my shoulders, and I wrap my arms around him tighter.

Our bodies become one, moving in sync with each other, like they have for years already.

Pleasure starts to build low in my core, so I drop my head back, letting him take complete control over my body as the feeling begins to grow.

It gets so intense that I can’t even breathe, and when he thrusts one more time, I grip his back as I’m pushed over the edge of something so amazing and so completely out of my control. He grips me tight, reaching his own release, and we hold on to each other for dear life because that’s what this is. Our two lives becoming one—forever.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Maya

The last six months have been the best of my life now that Ben and I are a true couple. Honestly, nothing has changed between us, except I get to kiss him whenever I want—which I do as often as possible.

Today is my eighteenth birthday, and we’re going over to his house to celebrate, like we always do.

Since it’s Sunday, we decided to do a brunch out on their back porch, and when I enter their home, it’s obvious Sandy went way overboard with balloons, flowers, and decorations, making the entire area absolutely perfect. It looks like something straight out of a magazine.

I walk up to her in shock. “Sandy! This is too much.”

She opens her arms out wide. “Oh, sweetie, nothing is too much for your eighteenth birthday. Thank you for allowing me to host a party for you. You know Ben didn’t want anything like this.”

I laugh because she’s totally right, then sigh at the thought of his eighteenth birthday and how I almost ruined it.

“There’s my Sunshine,” Ben says as he enters the room and picks me up, swinging me around, then kissing me. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” I kiss him back.

Wayne comes over to give me a hug as well, and then we all head to the backyard, where I can fully take in everything around me, still in shock that Sandy would go through all this trouble for me.

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