Page 87 of More Than Pen Pals

My heart pounds in my ears. I move my hands up and tilt Leslie’s head so I can look at her. “What are you saying?”

She gives me a shaky smile. “Will you be more than pen pals with me, Ashley Hamilton?”

I crush her against me again and press my lips to the top of her head. “Yes.” I let out a long breath. “Yes.”

Leslie clutches me as if she’s afraid I’ll slip away if she lets go.

“I’m here,” I assure her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

If someone had asked me five minutes ago what I’d do in this situation, I would’ve told you I’d kiss her silly. And while I still plan to do exactly that, right now I simply want to hold her in my arms.

Eventually, she loosens her grip on me and looks up into my eyes.

Then I kiss her silly.

* * *

Leslie’s lips are swollen, her eye makeup is smeared, and her hair is a mess, which somehow makes her more captivating than she already was. I feel a caveman level of pride that I did that to her.

We’re lying on the couch, but I’m so big I cover most of the surface area, which fortunately means Leslie is partly lying on top of me and I have to keep a tight grasp on her so she won’t fall onto the floor. Her cheek rests against my shoulder, and I’m going to have makeup stains on my white button-up shirt, but I don’t care.

“What made you change your mind?” are the first words I speak since I agreed to be her boyfriend at least twenty minutes ago.

Leslie lifts her head and shifts her body so she can look at me. “Wendy helped me realize I wasn’t being fair to you. I kept breaking the rules and letting you get close, and then I’d retreat again. I didn’t mean to hurt you by doing that.”

“I know you didn’t.” I tuck a curl behind her ear and trail my fingers down her jawline. “You were trying to do the right thing.”

“I was. But it was too hard.”

Her face is only inches from mine. I want to kiss her again, but I can tell she has more to say, so I keep my mouth to myself.

“I like you too much,” she says. “I want to be with you too much. You’re not my rebound, Ash. This isn’t my reaction to Glenn.”

“I know.” I smooth my hand along her hip. “You wouldn’t have tried so hard to do what you thought was best for me if you didn’t care about me. In theory, what you tried to do was right. But theory doesn’t always translate well into reality.”

She traces my lips with her fingertips. “I’ve never had a man talk to me about theories before. It’s extremely sexy.”

My lips form a smile under her touch.“You’reextremely sexy.”

And now we’re kissing again.

Some time later she removes her mouth from mine and declares, “I’m parched.”

“Parched?” I give her a half grin.

“Parrrrrrrched.”

So am I, come to think of it. I swing my legs around and then stand, bringing her up with me in one smooth motion. Her eyes are wide when I look down into them.

“Wow,” she says. “That was also extremely sexy. How are you so graceful for someone so large?”

“It’s a talent.”

Leslie laughs, and I decide it’ll be my mission to make her laugh as much as possible from now until the end of time.

“Do you practice this particular talent often?” she teases.

“Several times a day.”

---