Page 81 of Crave

I throw my head back and laugh at the ridiculousness of her questions. “It’s a soccer game, Dee, not rugby. And that right there is why I love you. You don’t give a shit about this game, but you’re here because you know I need you. You’ve just given me so much of yourself, and I couldn’t wait another second to tell you how I feel.”

She sticks her head in the crook of my neck and we hold onto each other. Maybe she’s not ready to say the words back, but I know she feels them.

I realize she’s crying when I feel wetness in the crook of my neck and her body start to tremble.

“Hey,” I say, “look at me.”

She slowly moves her face from the crook of my neck and looks into my eyes.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just wanted to tell you how I feel.”

“I love you too,” she blurts out before hiding her face in my neck again.

“I know you do.”

“How could you know that?” she asks, her voice muffled.

“Because you show me in everything you do. You love me,” I say to her again. She looks at me again, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears, but this time she’s smiling.

“More than I love hot fudge sundaes with extra whipped cream.”

“That’s a whole lot of love, baby. How about I buy you one of those sundaes after this game?”

“Oh, god, yes.” Someone blows a loud whistle and Dee covers her ears with both hands. “Make it stop,” she whines, burying her head in my chest.

“How about I buy you a big, greasy breakfast to soak up the alcohol before I buy you that sundae?”

“You always know exactly what I need.”

“I’ve never said that to a man before.”

We lay naked, tangled in satin sheets on my California King, our fingers intertwined. I kiss our joined hands as her free hand roams across my chest.

“Hmmm? Said what, baby?”

The cover dips, exposing a brown nipple. Unable to resist the pebbled peak, I lean down, suck on it and hold it between my teeth. Her head rolls back and her back arches. I let out a soft moan when her hands end up in my hair.

“I love you,” she moans, taking my semi-erection into full erect mode.

“I love you, too.” I let the nipple go and start to nibble the sensitive spot behind her ear.

“I mean I’ve never said that to a man before. I’ve never loved a man before you. Not the romantic type of love.” I stop mid-nibble at her words. I pull back to look at her face.

“Are you saying you’ve never been in love before, Sandy?” She gives me a small nod.

“That’s what I’m saying. I’ve liked men, but I’ve never been in love. Obviously, I love Chris, my male cousins, and nephew, but the kind of love you read about in books or see in movies? Never even close. I thought maybe there was something wrong with me. Like I was missing something because as much as I tried, it never happened for me.”

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, Sandra Etienne. You’re perfect, and you can call me a caveman if you want to, but I love that you’ve only given that part of yourself to me. Love is not something you can force. It’s something that just happens when you meet the right person. You can’t will it into existence. You know why it never happened for you before me?” I kiss my way up the side of her neck until I reach her mouth. I kiss her with everything in me as I climb on top of her, covering her body completely with mine. “It’s because you were meant for me. Your love is mine.” When I bite her bottom lip, she lets out a soft gasp.

“It’s yours,” she agrees. “I was born to love you.”

“You were,” I tell her. “We’ve lived five miles away from each other all our lives. Think about how many times our paths almost crossed, but didn’t. Do you know why? It’s because we weren’t ready. But one warm April night, you walked into a house because your mother asked you to. I walked into the same house for the same reason. Neither one of us wanted to be there, but then our eyes met and everything changed.”

“We were ready,” she says.

“You love me, Sandra Etienne.”

“More than I love strawberry cheesecake.”

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