Page 84 of Fly Back to Me
The muted buzz of the cereal blender hums around us. “You lie,” I tease. “You were waiting all day for this moment with your favorite childhood cereal. Just admit it.”
“Would you think differently if I was?” he plays along, plucking a few napkins from the holder.
“Actually, I don’t think you’ve ever been sexier.”
He nods as our order greets the teal countertop. “That’s good.”
I tap his arm through our faint laughter, and then he’s paying for our ice cream before we exit.
“If you hyped this up for no reason …” I trail off, scoopingthe crunchy cream.
“I should’ve ordered the Wheaties. Could’ve prevented me from the permanent damage you might do,” he counters, slipping a generous lump of chocolate ice cream in his mouth.
“Never mind,” I mumble through the euphoric blend of cinnamon and vanilla. “I’ll eat my words proudly.The crunch.”
“You’ll never go back to regular soft serve.”
When we reunite with his motorcycle parked along the sidewalk, his palm lands on my hip to circle me around him. He guides me until my backside is leaning against his bike, his frame towering over me as he scoops another bite of his ice cream.
He’s shielding me.
My hands pause their mission to eat, that glowing trim bordering my heart now spreading generously across the muscle.
I’m struck with his tenderness at the same time I drink in his ruggedness. A loose hair dangles on his forehead above a stubbled jaw that munches on the dessert. The ink and metal clung to his right hand on display when he shovels another spoonful through his peach lips.
A whirlwind of fire and ice, and I was damn right about one thing.
He’s never looked sexier.
“So, do you still think I’m arealasshole?”
I eye him curiously, digging a small mound of ice cream up. “You’re growing on me.”
He swallows his food, his crystal gaze piercing through the night. “What’s the secret to getting a solid ‘no’ to that question?”
“More ice cream,” I tease. “More kissing.”
He prods his tongue out to lick his lips, cradling my chin between his thumb and forefinger. But just when his mouth is an inch from mine, I slap my spoonful of vanilla ice cream on hislips.
His eyes squeeze shut, crinkling at the corners as my chest bounces silently.
“I’m sorry, I’ll clean it up.” I lift on my tiptoes, sloping my chin up so I can suck the splotches of dessert.
But he’s too quick, and his lips dart to my cheek.
With one palm framing the dry side of my face, he smears a path of cold cream from my cheek to neck. Heat radiates in my lower belly as he extracts a fit of giggles from my lungs, his wet and scruffy lips stamping kisses along their journey as I shout, “Okay, okay! Truce!”
The carving of the invincible superhero begins to chip away in my mind. The engraving I’ve insisted on holding with my nails dug into it.
He’s human.
Maybe I’ve sunk myself too far into something I wasn’t equipped to climb out of, but I’ve never wanted to be this deep underground.
In this special orbitwecreated.
With Cade and I, we didn’t mold for the world that was already set for us to live in. Instead, the world bent forus.
We’re not a rule, but an exception.
