Page 77 of Replay

“You need to use the bathroom. Then we are going to take a shower.”

“Okay, but I’m dripping all over you.” I feel her legs tremble around me.

“Does it look like I am scared of our cum getting on me?”

She laughs lightly, and I kiss her forehead, sitting her down on the toilet. Turning on the shower, I step in, giving her privacy.

I hear the toilet flushing, and then she’s joining me, wrapping her arms around my middle and placing a kiss on my back.

An onslaught of emotions burn inside me. Tonight has been surreal, and a huge part of me is scared for it to end.

If I have anything to do with it, it won’t.

With my loofa soaped up, I turn around and begin washing her. Sensually rubbing over every inch of her, I revel in the feel of her being so close again. I used to love doing this. Typically, whenour hands were on each other, it always turned sexual, but there were times when it was genuinely just for intimacy or, at times, comfort.

“Gah, that feels so good,” Berkley moans.

“It reminds me of our outdoor shower back in Nori.”

She bites her lip. “I’ve thought about that shower more than I should probably admit.”

When we first started dating, it was an easy place to sneak to for some privacy. We experimented a lot in that little shower, unbeknownst to my parents.

I give her an admission of my own. “I haven’t used it since I went to college… I just couldn’t without you. Hell, I barely even took the boat out when I was home in the summer. Everything made me think of you and just miss you even more.”

She wraps her arms around me, fitting her soapy body against mine, and whispers, “I get it. I literally even changed my toothpaste because it was the one you used. We were so intertwined.”

I press a kiss to the top of her hair. “Do you think we can ever find our way back to that?”

My heart thuds powerfully, anticipating what she’ll say.

Berkley’s quiet for longer than I’d like before she whispers, “I’m not sure we ever fully lost it.”

Her words light me up, warming me from the inside out. I know we didn’t lose it, not one bit. Now I just have to keep breaking down her walls and show her we can have it all again, maybe even better than the first time.

I maneuver her body under the water, helping her rinse off the soap.

“Can I stay with you tonight?” she asks, and I can hear the vulnerability in her voice.

“If you leave, I’m coming with you,” I answer without skipping a beat. There’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight after everything that’s gone down tonight.

She giggles. “I’m kind of liking these stalker vibes.”

Then her eyes widen sightly, like she just remembered something.

“Speaking of that. I can’t believe you never told me about seeing me on the boardwalk a few days before we actually met.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess my stalking days started long ago.”

“Well, it’s definitely a turn-on. So, keep it up, Outlaw,” she smirks and lifts onto her tiptoes to press a kiss onto my chest.

We finish up in the shower, and I wrap her in a towel before she even steps out, knowing she hates the cold air.

With heavy eyes, she kisses the corner of my mouth, and then languidly deepens it for a moment before pulling back. I see an emotion in her gaze that I don’t think she allowed me to see before as she asks, “Can you hold me now?”

I nod, taking her hand in mine as I walk toward my bed. As I dry her body off, my chest aches, because the moment takes me back to the day we broke up. But when I look up at her and find her watching me adoringly, I shake the thought away and remind myself that this is the fresh start we needed.

We settle into bed. Her body perfectly molds into the little spoon position she loves, and I realize this is the most at peace I’ve felt in so long. A smile takes over my face as I stare at her, knowing I’ll lie like this for hours tonight. Not wanting to miss a second of her.

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