Page 84 of Waiting for Her

I don’t know where to look first, my eyes darting from one body part to the next, each one just as perfect as the last. Thin straps are all that’s holding up the top as it drapes a little around her chest. The short skirt flares out about mid-thigh and when she turns, reaching for something behind her door, my eyes have the honor of seeing her back, completely open.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” I tell her when she turns back around, reaching out to wrap an arm around her waist. The fact I was around her all day and didn’t touch her once is a miracle. Now that she’s back in my life, I don’t plan on days going by without the feel of her skin on mine.

Her pretty red lips lift into a smile and oh yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing those lips smeared really damn soon.

The shiny dark hair I’ve been obsessed with for as long as I can remember is curled lightly in big loose waves and I have to fight the urge to reach down and adjust myself, hoping I’m not a walking hard on.

When I first discovered Bri was more than just my buddy, that she was a girl—a beautiful girl—I had a hard time understanding the feelings. For years she and I were really good friends. Best friends. We would play together at recess, pair up with each other for class projects, even when she or I would have a crush on someone, we would talk to each other about it.

Then one summer it all changed.Shechanged. Call me superficial, but the summer between our eighth grade and freshmen year, I started noticing the differences in her, and I definitely liked what I saw. Suddenly I was petrified of going to high school, knowing all the upper classman would be seeing exactly what finally caught my attention.

Bri Jameson wasn’t just a girl who knew her football stats and could throw a ball better than most of the boys in our grade, she was a knockout with brilliantly shiny eyes, a curvy, athletic figure, long gorgeous hair… and it didn’t end at her looks. She was beautiful on the outside because that’s exactly what her heart was. Still is.

That summer was a game changer for me, but I was scared. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship if she didn’t feel the same way. So I waited—and almost lost my chance. Other guys were constantly asking her out, and every single time I’d try to come up with reasons why she shouldn’t date them. She was mine.

I lean down, brush a kiss across her temple, and slide my nose down the side of her face, kissing her once more below her ear.

“Damn,” I whisper, smiling against her neck when I feel a shiver roll through her body, “you smell fucking amazing, too.”

“Grady,” she says, voice wobbly.

“I gotta get us the hell outta here or I’m not going to be able to stop myself from barreling right over the ‘take it slow’ sign.”

“I wouldn’t stop you.”

I groan. “You’re gonna be the death of me, you know that?”

She giggles and it’s like a thousand-pound weight is lifted off my chest. Six years ago, I felt like my life had turned to dust. Everything I thought was laid out before me, my entire life plan was suddenly out of my reach and now it’s back again.

Looking back, seeing who we are and what we’ve overcome on our own… I have no doubt in my mind that regardless of our past and what the two of us went through, it made us stronger as individuals. Maybe if she hadn’t gotten so scared and broken up with me, we’d have already been married. Maybe Anderson would have a cousin or two. But would either of us have our careers or would we have settled into a comfortable life, one that, no doubt, would have been great if she were by my side, but different, for sure.

There’s not a time machine that allows us to see the paths our futures would have taken if we had just made one decision differently. For the first time in my life, I’m beginning to think that’s okay. Because if I’d have tried to control my future, tried to play puppeteer in my own life, I can’t imagine where I’d be right now.

“What?” Bri asks, head turned to the side but eyes focused solely on me. My arm still wrapped tightly around her waist, I pull her body flush to mine and lean down, kiss her on the lips only once because I know if I start anything deeper, I won’t stop.

“I can’t believe we’re here.”

“I know. I’m so…”

“No, Bri. You don’t need to apologize. I think everything happened for a reason. I don’t know how our lives would have turned out, but I do know this, what our lives are right now? It’s pretty incredible. But being able to share it with you, it makes the journey to get here so much sweeter. I know I have a deeper appreciation for you now.”

“You always appreciated me,” she says, defending me.

“I did,” I agree with a nod. “But it’s more intense. Fiercer or something. I’ve loved you for so long and got complacent. I thought you’d always be there by my side. When you weren’t, I was too stubborn and confused, immature, to question it. I won’t take you for granted again.”

She looks between my eyes, slides her hands resting on my chest up around my neck, playing with my short hair. “I never once would have thought you took me for granted. I love you, Grady. I never once stopped loving you.”

I release a breath and close my eyes, bend clear down to rest my forehead on hers. “See? The wait was so worth it. Those words mean everything to me. I’ll never tire of hearing them. I love you, Bri.”

Her hands make a trail to my back and she tugs on the fabric of my shirt, causing me to lift my head. “Now, I’m starving. Where are you taking me on our second first date?”

I chuckle, grateful she pulled us back to the present. Instead of telling her, I wink. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, simply enjoy.”

After a forty-five-minute ride, I place my hand on her arm, stopping her from getting out of the pickup. She looks at me in confusion, so I lean over and kiss her, threading my fingers through the soft curls.

“I told you, when I had you back, I was going to go slow and make it right. The slow part is stumping me a bit. I really want to be on the fast track, to be honest. But tonight is about us. I was going to take us to the same place we went on our first date, but I got to thinking, that’s the old us. We’re new and improved Brady now.”

She bursts out laughing. “You didnotjust do the name combo thing on us!”

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