Page 61 of Not Made to Last

She looks up, teary eyes locked on mine. “Because goodbye is forever. And I’ll never be ready to say goodbye?—”

I kiss her.

I hold her face in my hands, because I’m so afraid she’ll somehow disappear, and I kiss her as if she’s the only form of oxygen and I’ve been underwater for years. Her breaths become mine, inhaled into my lungs, pumped into my veins, all so the smallest part of her can live inside me forever. Maybe that’s all I need. Just a fragment of her. A single particle. Maybe it’ll be enough to get me through my dark days. To get me up and out of bed and living my life in the light. And maybe —

I freeze when I taste her tears on my tongue, then pull back. My stomach twists at the sight of her cries. At the sound of her destruction. And even though there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to know, I have to ask, “What’s wrong?”

She wipes her tears, refuses to meet my eyes. “I came here to talk to you, remember? Not for…this.”

“Okay.” I try not to smile. “But can we dothisfirst, talk after?”

32

Rhys

“We have no self-control,” Liv says, laughing as she drops her full weight on top of me. For minutes, we lie in silence, naked, satisfied, and trying to catch our breaths.

She nuzzles into my neck as I run a fingertip down her spine, back up again. “That’s on you,” I say, my voice scratchy. “I’m not trying for control.”

She lifts her head, just enough to meet my eyes. “Oh yeah, because sleeping with me isn’t grounds for instant dismissal,Coach.”

“Fuck,” I grimace. “I forgot about that.”

“How did that even come about?”

“It’s a long story, and not mine to tell.” I guide her off of me carefully, so we don’t make a mess of the sheets, then slap her ass. “Don’t move,” I tell her, getting out of bed. I turn just as I get to the bathroom door and add, “I mean it, Cheeks. Don’t fucking leave me.”

Within minutes, I’m back in the bedroom, and she’s nowhere to be seen. “You’re fucking kidding me,” I murmur, but really,why I am surprised? I find my shorts, slip them on, then grab my phone and sit my ass on the edge of the bed, thinking. I could call her, but what would be the point? It’s clear?—

“What’s wrong?”

My eyes snap to Liv standing in my doorway with the box of books in her arms. “Motherfucker,” I spit.

“What?” she giggles, and she knows exactlywhat.

“You scared the shit out of me. I thought you left.Again.”

Pouting, she sets the box on the chair by the door, then makes her way over. “We left the books outside,” she explains. “I didn’t want to get them ruined.” She bypasses me and lies down on her side of the bed, then pats the spot beside her.

Of course, I comply and lie down beside her, settle my hand on her waist. She’s in the T-shirt I’d been wearing and—I glide my hand down her hip, then back up under her shirt, andyep—nothing else. A sound emits from deep in my throat—one I have no control over.

Liv reaches up, kisses me once, then scratches the hair on my jaw. “I like this,” she says.

I squeeze her thigh, just below her ass. “I likeallof this.”

She laughs at that, then moves in closer, so our faces are only inches apart. “So, these books…” she starts. “I probably should’ve checked before I bought the first two for him, but they’re age appropriate, right?”

I scoff. “I think that kid could read Dostoevsky and understand it better than most adults.”

Olivia’s smile widens, her pride evident. “What’s it about?” she asks, shifting on her pillow to get comfortable. I smile, giddy for no other reason than the fact that she’s here. With me. And it doesn’t look like she plans on leaving for a while. “I always assumed it was about a kid named Miles with superpowers.”

“Like Miles Morales?”

She scrunches her nose. “Who’s that?”

“The animated Spider-Man,” I say slowly, because who the hell doesn’t know Miles Morales? “You know…Into the Spider-Verse?”

At lightning speed, she lifts both her fists between us, fingers out, web shooters ready, and then, in the cutest fucking voice possible:“Pew! Pew!”

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