Page 42 of Holiday on the Rocks
“Fine. I’m a Biomedical Engineer.”
“Wow. I knew from day one that brain of yours would take you everywhere.”
She batted her eyelashes. “Yes, I’m still flirty, nerdy, and a little dirty.”
Oh, this one could kill me. “I can see that. So what are you crazy biomed kids working on these days?”
“Artificial organ development.”
“Whoa. So I don’t need to worry about the crap I did when I was younger? You’ll be able to replace all that stuff?”
She bit into a cookie. “You’d need like a whole new interior. Sorry to say you’ll likely just die early.”
“I knew all that fun would bite me in the ass eventually.” She passed me the green frosting. “So for the smarter people who didn’t ruin their body as a teenager, what are you doing for them?”
“It’s kind of mind blowing actually. Artificial organs are one of the most groundbreaking innovations in biomed engineering. The devices are engineered to replicated a failing organ or assist in its function. It provides an alternative for patients who can’t receive a natural organ transplant, or because of the severe shortage of donor organs.”
“It’s hard to believe any of this is possible.”
“I know, it’s amazing. But there are a lot of challenges with it also. The body’s natural tendency is to reject foreign objects. The whole process of the immune system and rejection can result in the failure of the artificial organ.” She passed over the sprinkles.
“It makes me think of your grandma Dee.”
She gasped. “I think of her all the time when I’m working on projects.”
“If only this had been a possibility back then.”
“I know, right? So many of the problems they couldn’t fix even five years ago have possible solutions now.”
I poured some sprinkles on my cookie. “She was the one who gave me a chance back then.”
“Well, you were the one who’d come with me to her house and watch The Young and the Restless. Anyone who thought that was cool was an automatic favorite of hers.” Giggles. “She made me promise to never tell my mother, but she thought you were incredibly sweet.”
She hopped up, turned off the stove, and grabbed more cookies from the counter when I stood and pulled her to me. Her eyes sparkled and something in my gut squeezed tight when her arms wrapped around my waist.
“I think I’m digging closure, Langley.”
She pulled me closer and our bodies were flush. There was a low murmur that buzzed through me, and I physically ached for her.
Her phone on the counter pinged and she grabbed it with a smile. “Looks like my gang will be here tomorrow late morning.” She set the phone back down and her hands cupped my face. “So it’s one day of closure.”
I’ve never stopped loving you.
I shoved the thoughts of Rachel and Lexi and what their reaction to me would be out of my mind as she pulled me down and kissed my cheek. I lifted her and those legs wrapped around my waist without missing a beat.
When our mouths joined, it wasn’t just a kiss. It was raw emotion and adrenaline that tore at everything in me. I barely survived this girl, could I make it out the other side of closure in one piece?
SEVENTEEN
ALLIE
CURATE’S EGG
I was so lost in the kiss I hadn’t realize we were moving. His hands held my bottom as we made it up the stairs while a dangerous excitement surged through my veins like a river. You know, a river after a long winter when the snow melts and it’s out of control. The kind that makes an entire community worry and fill sandbags trying to ensure all are safe.
The times I’d daydream about this was almost shameful. Breathing heavily, our faces an inch apart, my body aching, all catapulting into the rush that was Levi. The wild electrical current we’d never learned to control.
By the time we reached his bedroom our shirts had disappeared and feeling his whiskers on my shoulders was a reminder that closure would likely leave me with scars that would never disappear. My brain was screaming to stop, while my heart had given the key to this man long ago.
