Page 109 of This Time Around
She was lying on a bed that was so soft, she would gladly let herself be swallowed by it. A warm breeze flowed through the barely cracked window, cooling whatever skin the sheet covering her body had left exposed.
August heat was no joke in Florida, even with September just a few days away. She was visiting her parents as a quick summer getaway and staying at a small, rental holiday home. And she wasn’t visiting alone. In fact, her parents had been so excited to have them around.
Maddy knew her parents loved it here but for the life of her, she had no idea how they handled this kind of temperature. After a week, she was already at her limit.
Of course, the heat only got worse when a man that doubled as a human furnace hugged her close to his body throughout the night. A man who had been holding her like this for half a year now and who she couldn’t imagine not making her sweat at night.
As if on cue, said man’s arm twitched against her stomach, pulling her closer as he brushed a soft kiss on her shoulder.
“Why are you up so early?” Nate mumbled against her shoulder, his voice muffled and groggy with sleep.
“It’s all your fault. You’re too hot.”
A sleepy chuckle.
“That’s never been a problem before.”
“And it’s not a problem now, I’m just stating facts here.”
“Good. I always like it when you call me hot.”
It was her turn to grin against her pillow.
“I can always leave you be if it’s too much.”
Maddy turned into his arms before he’d finished his sentence.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” she glared into his stupidly handsome face.
Nate’s eyes twinkled, some undecipherable emotion shining through them.
“Hey, Mads?”
“Hm?”
“Live with me.”
If Maddy hadn’t seen the words leave his lips, she would have thought her mind had conjured them up. But she’d seen the words. And she’d heard them. And her heart was beating so hard she knew the words had been real.
And Nate was looking at her with such hope and tenderness.
“What?” Yeah, perhaps she needed further confirmation like an idiot.
“Live with me, Mads. I don’t want to wake up without you anymore. You can move in with me, or I can come to you, or we can go wherever you want. To me, the only thing that matters is that I’m with you.”
Maddy didn’t know when she’d risen to sit on her folded knees or when Nate had lifted himself up as well to hold her face softly in his gentle hands.
“I want to hold you when you sleep, and fuck you on our kitchen counter when we can’t make it to our bed. I want to make you hot chocolate whenever you want it, and tackle you in our living room whenever you’re playing an audiobook that’s spicy as fuck. I want all these things and I want them all with you.”
“Nate...” she whispered, her words failing her, as emotion clogged her throat.
“You don’t have to answer me now if you’re not ready. Just know that you’re my adorable, little weirdo and I love every crazy thing that comes out of your mouth.” He drew in a deep breath as if steeling himself for something. “I fell for you before I even knew what was happening. I followed you 20 years in the past when I didn’t even know what you would mean to me. I sure as fuck am going to follow you wherever you want now.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Maddy said softly, as she shuffled on her knees until she was straddling his lap and his hands had dropped around her waist. “I would still go through everything again and again if it meant I got to meet you again, and be your friend, and love you so much it hurts.”
Her words were barely out of her mouth when Nate’s lips found hers with a desperation that matched hers. His arms were tight bands around her, holding her like she was something to be protected and cherished. And suddenly kissing became too difficult when her smile and his were that big.
She peered into his eyes, showing everything she kept in her heart.
“You make everything better, Nate, and I can’t wait to live with you.”
And as Nate’s lips brushed a feather-light kiss against her temple, all she could hear were the soft words he pressed there into her skin, words that she would never forget.
“My friend. My girl. My love.”
