Page 101 of Fall Apart

“You mean it’s not black?” I chuckle.

She narrows her eyes at me before tracing a finger tip along the top of the sapphire blue car. “Yes, I like this color.”

I look into her eyes. “So do I, it was my mom's favorite, and now it’s mine because it reminds me of your eyes.”

Her parted lips curl into a warm smile as she lowers herself into the car and I shut the passenger door behind her.

“So that was a night,”I say, watching the road in front of us from Park City back to my house,our home.Something about hearing her tell her dad that my house was herhomefilled my heart in a way I can’t ever remember feeling.

She laughs softly. “Yeah, you can say that again. Definitely not how I thought the night was going to go.”

I peek over at her and her eyes still have a look of giddy disbelief. “You mean you weren’t planning on skewering my boss in front of all his rich friends and investors and then having your dad promote me?”

She furrows her brows and glares at me sarcastically. “No. I didn’t even know my dad bought JSC until last night when I talked to him at the condo. But I’ll admit it was fun torturing Mr. Jensen.”

I grin at her, my eyes darting between her and the road. “I have to say I enjoyed that too. Thank you.”

She rests her hand on my thigh, sending a jolt of electricity through my spine. “For what?”

I drum my fingers along the steering wheel, rowing through the gears, shifting with my other hand. “Piecing all of that together. I knew something seemed funny, but you went next level digging in. Ihope I can finally move on now, not having a daily reminder of so much baggage.”

“What do you mean?”

I sigh, letting out a long breath. “You were right. He was a piece of shit. I always saw it as him helping me, but now I see how much he was breaking me down. It’s already such a weight gone, like I can breathe again.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” She pats my thigh, humming to herself. “But really, it was nothing. I’m glad I could help. Thanks for trusting me with it.”

That word, trust. It means so much to both of us.

“I trust you with everything, Lizzy. Even my heart.” My voice is strained. “But I’m still so sorry about the texts, about Kayleigh. I wanted to tell you and it was killing me not to.”

I feel her hand squeeze my thigh. “I know. I saw how much it hurt you that night when I went back to the condo. But I’m only going to say this one more time: don’t apologize for that.” I hear her clear her throat and her fingers rub the fabric of my pants over my thigh. “Trust is hard for me. I haven’t had the best luck with the men in my life. They’ve never been there for me like you have. I see how you’re there for Grace and Kayleigh. You were ready to give up your own happiness to protect her. I understand what trust means to you now. I know I can trust you,always.”

Hearing her say she trusts memeans the world to me. I know what she’s been through and how hard it is to earn that. I know I’ll keep working every day to keep it. I look over to see her eyes fixed on me, soft but serious all at once. “But, Clay? I also need something else from you.”

I nod. “Anything.”

“I need to know that you can put yourself first for once. I love you because you make me feel good about being myself, exactly the way I want to be, excessive amounts of pink and all.” She tosses me a playfulwink and I feel the mood lighten a bit. “But I want to be that person for you too. I want to see you thrive and be happy like you have been these last few weeks. I want to see you make choices just for you. I don’t want to see you be afraid to be happy again or think you don’t deserve it.”

I take my hand off the shifter, squeezing hers tightly, rubbing my thumb over the back of her soft skin. “I know I can do that. I want that part of me to be my past, not my future, because you’re my future. I want everything that comes with that.”

“Good, because I want that too.” She smiles and lifts my hand to her lips, kissing my knuckles. “Ok. I like watching you drive my Bronco, but this might be better. Any more secret cars I should know about? Because I love being your passenger princess.” My eyes flick over to Lizzy in the passenger seat, but hers are locked on my arm, rowing and shifting through the gears as we make our way up the windy road to my driveway.

“I’d hardly call this a secret. Again, you literally just had to lift that cover and it was there.” I flick my eyebrows at her in a taunt. “But no, no more secrets. Period.”

She nods and her smirk grows into a wide smile. I reach over, watching the road but rubbing her thigh at the hem of her dress. I could get used to nights like this with her, driving, talking, literally anything with the woman that makes me feel like it’s ok to lose control.

That’s all I want in my future, endless time with her.

When we walkin the door from the garage, we throw our coats, keys, bags, everything down in a flurry of emotion. I don’t care where shit is in my house any more as long as she’s in it.

My hands hug the dip of her waist, pulling her into me. Her lips crash to mine and it’s hard to tell who’s more desperate for the other's heated touch.

It was only one night apart, but it felt like an eternity. We may have talked things out, but our bodies haven’t.

She pants into my neck. “Can we finally get me out of this dress?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” I reach down, hiking her dress up to her hips and lifting her up in my arms as she giggles in surprise and wraps her legs around me. The feeling of her soft, bare legs and ass in my hands makes my erection borderline painful in these dress pants. Holding her, feeling her, will be something I crave until my dying breaths.

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