Page 98 of Infinite as They Come
“Still is,” she whispered. “It’s okay if you don’t remember. It’s just a dumb thing I’ve been thinking about.”
But it wasn’t dumb and I didn’t forget. I hadn’t stopped thinking about it since the moment she told me. It had been in my head, bright and vivid and just close enough to reach but still with that fuzziness around the edges that always reminded me it was a dream. It was just a fantasy, just some beautiful thing I saw in my head. I wanted it to be real. For her, for us, for our forever.
“You want the fairytale,” I murmured against her lips, my hands raising to rest on either side of her face, my thumbs stroking against her soft, smooth cheeks. “I didn’t forget that, honey. I remembered. I swear I did. And… And everything will make sense soon. I’ll explain it all when I can. Every last bit. You just gotta give me one more day, princess. Just one more to make it all right. Do trust me?”
Eyes wet, she nodded. “With my life, Sawyer.”
“You believe me?”
“I do.”
Those two words had my heart jolting a little. More than a little, because I felt them pulse right through my body. It made me hold her tighter and made my brain short circuit all at the same time. My lips kept moving softly along hers before I kissed her softly. Not pushing my tongue into her mouth, not pressing up against her harder. Just us there, connected, together.
“All I need is one more day, sweetheart,” I said. “Will you give me that?”
Lashes fluttering, she nodded. Her arms circled around me, her face buried in my neck, fingers tugging at the material at the back of my shirt. My own hand moved to the back of her head, cupping her there, my fingers threading through her silky locks as I let that scent of lavender take over.
Just one more day. That was all I needed. It was there around the corner, so close I could feel it. And Holly was the only one I wanted to feel it with.
Chapter 27
Holly
I hadn’t been able to see a damn thing for the last one and a half hours.
The low hum of the truck’s engine was in my ears, and if I focused, I was pretty sure I could hear the wheels hitting a few bumps in the road every now and then. I could feel it all, too. That gentle jostle here and there that was oddly comforting.
Sawyer had spent the night at my house last night. Old house, really. It was bittersweet going back. It still felt like home: warm, welcoming, safe, and my heart always twisted a little when I had to leave. Sawyer made it easier, though, because he felt like home too. Like when I left with him, home was still coming with me. It was in his arms that I felt the most protected, like it was him and him alone that kept me shielded from all that bad out there in the world.
Even in his truck, even with the soft fabric of something—I was almost certain he had yanked one of my silk scarves out of my closet when we left for the day—wrapped against my eyes, blocking me from seeing even the slightest slither of light, I felt so safe.
“How long do I need to keep this blindfold on?” I asked. My thumbs tugged under the edge of the fabric, tempted to push it up and over my eyes just an inch or two.
“Just a little while longer,” he said, voice low. There was something else there in his tone, though. A hint of nervousness, but he cleared his throat before I could dissect that any longer. “Only a few more minutes left.”
I nodded, lowering a hand to my thigh. One of Sawyer’s hands was already there, his fingers gentle as they brushed against me. Letting mine rest atop of his, I instantly noticed that his skin felt warm and clammy. “Don’t sweat on me,” I teased.
“Oh, fuck,” he said, his hand jolting away from my leg. “I’m sorry.”
“I was just joking, silly.” Blindly reaching out for his hand, I brought it back to my thigh. “I don’t care if you’re sweaty. It’s a little warm today.”
“Right.”
“So, can I get a clue?”
“It’s a surprise. If I give you a clue, I’ll give the surprise away. You don’t want that, right?”
“I suppose not.”
Slowly, he slid his hand out from under mine and covered mine up. For just a millisecond, I felt what I assumed was his thumb brush along my ring finger. The touch was so quick, so soft, that it was almost like the sensation hardly registered, but then he just settled on squeezing at my hand as he drove, the hot wind flying in through the window.
He hadn’t been lying when he said there wasn’t much longer to go, because suddenly, I could feel the car slow down before the engine cut off. I stayed patient and kept still as something soft brushed against my mouth. Sawyer’s lips. I’d recognize them even with a blindfold on. Slowly, he kissed at me, his tongue gently slipping into my mouth. There was something about kissing him blindfolded that had me leaning into him.
One of my senses was cut off, so it was like feeling him differently, more intensely. I couldn’t help but reach up and place my hands either side of his face, trying to draw him in some more, because I really couldn’t ever get enough of him. We kissed slowly, lips pressed together, tongues dancing. A perfect kiss. Every kiss with him was. They always left me wanting to crawl into his lap and tug at his hair and feel him closer.
The feeling of his lips lingered there on mine as he pulled away from me. He cupped my cheek, his thumb stroking against my bottom lip so, so slowly. It made my eyes flutter shut behind the blindfold.
“Well, what now?” I asked.
