Page 149 of Aftersome
“It’s hard not to be when I have you making me want to be a better man.”
A flurry of butterflies exploded in the pit of my belly. And that’s when I realized something. While peering into the eyes I had once loathed, the face that I had found so handsome, yet so different from Hayes, I realized that there were all different kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice.
Never.
And as his rough palms held my face, I didn’t think twice before leaning in close to place a tender kiss to his forehead. His eyes had tightly shut on an inaudible groan that rumbled throughout his chest.
“I hope I haven’t ruined our date with all this emotional talk.” I pulled away from his face and laid my forehead against his.
His arms had then swooped around my waist where he pulled me into his embrace.
“You haven’t ruined anything, so get that thought out of your pretty little head,” he reassured me. “Hands down the best first date ever.”
I couldn’t stop myself from grinning from ear to ear.
“Even if I cried?”
“Even if you cried. Even if you yelled at me.”
Even if I told you the truth of why I was here?
Guilt had swarmed my gut and I knew it was time to tell him. Whether I wanted to or not, I had to remind myself that to move on with our lives, I would have to tell him.
I would have to tell Greg and Shelia too.
But right now, as my heart hammered violently, I finally went to unload everything. But right before I could, I was lifted off of Mal’s lap and laid softly onto my back. It all happened so quickly that my vision had gone hazy before finally refocusing on the stunning man who had settled right above me.
His elbow landed onto the blanket beside my head, while his other hand had clung onto my cheek. His eyes had no longerlooked lost and vacant like they once did. Instead, they were filled with a warmth that would only come out around me.
Only ever for me.
“God, Doe. You came out of fucking nowhere and made me yours.”
My heart fluttered at his confession.
Then with hesitant eyes and hesitant movements, he brought his mouth close to mine, our lips barely grazing in a ghost of a touch.
Finally, in a whisper, one that rocked me to my core, he confessed, “I love you, Doe. So fucking much.”
My chest filled with an abundance of relief and happiness that I let out a sharp gasp along the seam of his mouth.
Finding my next breath of air, I closed the distance between our mouths and fused them together. I was desperate to show him just how much I adored him. How deeply and madly I had fallen for him over the time we had been together.
“I…” I kissed him with everything I had. “Love you.” He leaned more of his weight onto me. “Too.”
He pulled back abruptly, his widened eyes and flared-out nostrils taking in every square inch of my face.
“I love you, Mal,” I repeated. The words fell out naturally as I did so.
His gaze flashed in amazement.
In pure shock.
All I could think about doing was pulling him back down onto me.
“Tell me you’re mine,” he demanded softly, causing my heart to flip.
“I’m yours.”
