Page 47 of Make My Heart Malt

“So like nine years?” I mumble into his chest.

He laughs, the deep rumble vibrating both our bodies. “You never had a smart mouth before. But I kind of like it.” He brushes a thumb over my cheek. “I’ll call you every day.”

“That’s a little excessive, don’t you think? I might have to screen my calls.”

“Two for two. You certainly know how to knock me down a peg or two. When did this happen?”

“When my former best friend left without a goodbye.”

“Never. Again,” he murmurs, his arms tightening around me with a desperate tenderness.

“I hate this. I hate saying goodbye. But I guess at least this time I get a goodbye.” The tear I’ve been fighting to hold back finally breaks free and rolls down my cheek. We’ve come a long way over the past two weeks. Some bonds can never break. Despite ours being tattered, we managed to repair it. I’m glad we could, and we even came out stronger on the other side.

“Look at me, Dessa.” He rests his finger under my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. His warm thumb brushes away the wetness on my cheek. “This isn’t goodbye. It’ll never be goodbye. I’m never making that mistake again. Got it?”

I nod. Anything I try to say gets lodged in my throat.

“I’ll call you every day. Or text when I can’t call, and when we both have a few minutes, we’ll FaceTime.”

“Only a few minutes?”

“We’ll make it several long minutes.” A rush of cold smacks into my body as he pulls away. My arms drop tomy sides. He cups my cheeks and presses a light kiss on my lips. With our lips still touching, he whispers, “Something to think about until the next time we're together.”

He gets in his car and reverses out of my driveway. I keep my eyes glued to his vehicle as it gets smaller in the distance. He comes to a stop at the stop sign, and I fully expect him to turn left and disappear down the road, but instead white reverse lights illuminate behind him. My brows pinch together. Did he forget something? He pulls into my driveway and jumps out.

“Did you forget—” Before I can finish, he kisses me again. My brows shoot to my hairline in surprise until I settle in and wrap my arms around his waist. The kiss is soft and gentle. I want to spend the rest of the day doing this.

He moves away a fraction of an inch. His voice is low as he says, “I told you it would be sooner than that.”

I chuckle. “I don’t know if five minutes really counts.”

“Oh, it counts, and I’ll show you exactly how much it counts.”

“But don’t you have a plane to catch?” I peer into his piercing green eyes.

“Yeah.”

“And aren’t you going to miss it?”

“I’ll reschedule.”

“Isn’t that going to cost a fortune?”

“Probably. But it’s worth it for a few extra hours with you. I wasted ten years not kissing you when I had the chance. I’m not wasting another second.”

And his lips are on mine once again.

TWENTY-THREE

SENTIMENT IS FOR SUCKERS

Dessa

I miss Garrett. When did I become that girl? The one who wants to bury herself under the covers and never come out because she misses her… I don’t know what we are, but I miss him. It’s been two days since he left, for real this time, but he kept his promise to call and text. He even called me the second the wheels touched down in Seattle. Luckily, it was a slow night at Porter’s, so I had a few minutes to chat with him.

“I still can’t believe you slept with two brothers!” Nora exclaims.

“I didn’t sleep with them at the same time or back-to-back, so the situation is a little different.” Stupid Garrett and not being able to keep his lips to himself gave it away that we were together. Since he was unable to keep his vampireness below the belt, when I walked into workyesterday, Rylee immediately zeroed in on the hickey on my neck. Within five minutes, everyone knew I had sex with Garrett. Granted, they were all super happy about it, but now I'll never hear the end. Which is fair, I guess, since we all razzed Rylee when she got together with Trey. Payback’s a bitch, and Lach and Nora will get theirs. It’s all a matter of time. Jake’s the only innocent one here, but he’s always kept himself on the outside. He likes to play the ignorance-is-bliss card, at least, when it comes to his employees’ relationships. Or sex life, in Nora’s case.

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