Page 67 of The Fantasy League
EIGHTEEN
ABEL
I woketo someone stirring up the covers at the edge of the bed. Peeling an eyelid open, a sleepy Scarlett lay on her side, back facing me, at the end of the bed, curled into a fuzzy throw blanket.
She yawned, staring out the enormous bedroom windows while watching the sunrise as it made its way over the ocean-kissed skyline.
Mesmerized, I observed for a long while, studying her movements. Occasionally she’d do a tiny yawn and then tug her blanket tighter against her right after. Or she’d tuck her knees into her chest and wiggle her butt until she was situated comfortably.
It was moments like this that I wished I could hear the thoughts that wenton in her head. Sometimes I thought I had her figured out completely, but fuck did she catch me off guard yesterday when she told me that she no longer wanted to be friends.
Granted, it worked out in my favor. But I assumed thatIwas going to be the one to make a grand confession to her before she left today, which would then be followed up with a multi-day sulk session after she rejected me.
Damn, was I wrong but in the best fucking way possible.
I wondered how long she’d waited to say that. Or more importantly, how thefuckI hadn’t picked up on it.
In a sense, it didn’t matter anymore because she’d agreed to be my girlfriend last night—seriously, this time—and too bad for her because I wasn’t going to let her take it back now.
Not in a million fucking years. And then some.
“Morning, Red,” I croaked out with a raspy voice, nudging her shoulder with my foot from underneath the comforter.
Scarlett looked over her shoulder and gave me a groggy smile that made my breath go flat. Fuck, she looked gorgeous right after she woke up, still bleary eyed with sleep crusted on the inner corners of her eyelids.
“Oh sorry, did I wake you?” she asked in a soft whisper like we weren’t the only two people in the room.
My mouth turned up into a matching sleepy smile while I combed my eyes over her face. “I don’t mind. Come lie with me?” I opened my left arm to make a spot for her.
She gave me another tired half smile and scooted up next to me, nuzzling her head on my chest while she tucked herself into my side and laid a gentle hand against my torso.
Fuck, a few months ago, the idea of having her pulled against my chest after waking up together was a fantasy. If I thought she’d consumed my brain back then, it was a thousand times worse now. Somewhere along the way, she began to consume me entirely, but I wasn’t fucking mad about it.
In the back of my mind, I questioned whether or not she knew the extent of my feelings for her. Surely she must’ve known that everything that I did was all for her and not the stupid ploy that we had played into, right?
I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened—that I knew that I was falling for her. Fuck, I think I fell for her the first time those big brown eyes peered up at mine, but now… now I knew for sure.
Without a shadow of a fucking doubt.
I loved her. So fucking much.
My lips turned up while I reminisced, lightly grazing my fingertips up and down her spine as we watched the sunrise together in silence. After a while, our breaths became synced and I watched with a smile as she absentmindedly glided her fingers across my bare chest.
God, what I would give to spend every morning like this with her.
Lowering my gaze, I studied her for a few minutes while she stared out at the waves crashing against the shoreline. Both of us still tiptoeing around the looming conversation of last night and replacing it with comfortable silence.
I shifted my body to face her so that we lay parallel on our sides. Her eyes fluttered closed while I carefully brushed the crust from her eyes with my thumb. I ran my fingers through her hair, tucking loose strands behind her ear so I could better see those brown eyes that peered up at me through her lashes.
I paused for a brief moment, knowing that the next words that came off my lips could change our relationship if she didn’t feel the same way. Fuck it, if she was going to deny me, I needed to know. I didn’t want to draw it out and wait until we were both back home to sort things out.
“Red, you can pretend like nothing happened between us last night… but it happened,” I whispered. Doubt crept through my mind when her face remained neutral. “And I’m not going to pretend like it didn’t.”
Scarlett stared back at me, her expression shy, but her eyes held mine. The heat that had been building the last few months loomed over us. “Okay,” she said in a soft voice, inching her face closer to mine.
“You still wanna be my girl?” My brows shot up in surprise, and she nodded in response. Fuck if my heart didn’t soar seeing her head move up and down. “No arguments, oppositions, or objections?” I jokingly mocked one of Lea’s trademark phrases, gripping the back of Scarlett’s neck while lowering my lips to hover over hers.
“None,” she replied against my lips while arching her body into mine.
