Page 38 of Fall of Us
I stepped aside and let Andrew into the apartment. “I want to see you every night.”
He grinned and leaned in, placing a gentle kiss against my lips. The contact made my toes curl, and I was still blown away that his kisses were real.
“I didn’t think you’d complain.” He took off his jacket and dropped it across the back of my couch. He clutched a paper bag that he carried into the kitchen and set on the counter. It clinked, and he went searching in my cabinets. Andrew came back with two shot glasses and set them next to the bag. “Open it, I got you a present.”
My heart thudded in my chest. Andrew was always getting me things, and he didn’t need to, especially when his money was tight. When I pulled back the brown bag, my pounding heart skidded to a halt. Inside was the most beautiful bottle of tequila I’d ever seen. With delicate fingers, I lifted the bottle andinspected it.
“Where the hell did you get this?”
His laugh made my stomach flip. “Nowhere special, but it’s sort of our thing and I wanted to buy you the good stuff for once.”
I smiled as I opened the bottle, pouring a healthy amount into each of the shot glasses. If it was really good, we didn’t need the chaser. It smelled smooth, almost sweet. Not like most that singed the inside of your nose.
When we each had a glass in hand, we looped our elbows together and tossed back our shots. My eyes watered, but the sting I was expecting didn’t come. There was a smokiness to the tequila, and it was so damn smooth as it went down.
Glass clinked against marble as our shot glasses landed back on the counter, and then Andrew’s lips were on mine again. I clutched at his shoulders as his tongue speared into my mouth. I groaned because the taste of him combined with the taste of the alcohol was intoxicating. His fingers sifted through my hair, knocking my glasses off my ears. They fell to the ground, but neither of us moved to pick them up. We continued to nip and suck at each other, getting lost in the moment.
“Do you like it?” he asked when he pulled away. Questions danced in his dark eyes and I slammed my mouth back over his, only pulling back long enough to answer.
“I do, but I like you even more.”
It seemed to be the right answer because the next moment Andrew was lifting me, placing me on the counter as he continued toconsume me. The shot glasses fell to the ground, but I didn’t care. I’d just get more if they broke.
Andrew’s long nimble fingers found their way under my shirt, trailing along my stomach, causing the muscles to jump. I craved the contact. It was everything I’d been dying to have for the last few days, but something in the back of my brain was telling me to slow down and to figure out what was going on here. The gift was nice, but it was out of left field.
“Andrew?”
He didn’t slow down, pushing my shirt up and over my head as his mouth landed on my neck. My head instinctually tilted to the side to give him better access. This all felt amazing, scratching that itch that was dying to be relieved, but I needed an answer.
“Andrew.”
More force and he stopped, backing away, eyes searching mine.
“What is it?”
My bottom lip worked between my teeth as I thought of what to say. Once the words formulated, I set them free. “What brought all of this on? The nice gift?”
He ran a hand down his face, shoulders slouching.
“I said I wanted to romance you. I thought...”
The light bulb went off and my gut twisted. I’d just shit all over his thoughtful gift.
I did my best to smile, reaching out to grab his hand. Our fingers linked, but his eyes wouldn’t meet mine. More than anything, Icraved the warm depths of his irises. He was the anchor to my rocky boat in the storm.
“That was very sweet of you, but you don’t need to buy me fancy gifts to romance me. You should know that.”
Andrew’s eyes pinched closed and he let out a small laugh. “I know, but it didn’t change the fact that I still wanted to do something special.”
I needed to fix this situation. There wouldn’t be any more of this feeling sorry or guilty for doing something nice. My feet hit the ground as I slid off the counter. With our fingers still interlocked, I effortlessly directed Andrew back to my bedroom.
It was dim, only a lamp illuminated the space from one nightstand. I hadn’t made my bed when I’d gotten up, so my blankets were still rumpled. Maybe this wasn’t the romance Andrew was aiming for, but he said something about the tequila being our thing. And this was us.
“We don’t need overly special, Andrew. I just need you.”
That seemed to do the trick. His arms circled around me as he buried his face in my neck. He breathed me in as his fingers danced along the edge of my sweats. When he finally lifted his head, his kiss was tender and unhurried. Sweet. Perfect. Andrew.
We drifted to the bed like two souls drifting to inevitability. We’d spent too much time avoiding this, and now it was time to just be. To finally acknowledge us.
