Page 130 of Memories By the Shore
“We’re still married,” I whisper, bringing my fingertips to his bare chest. His skin pebbles under my light touch.
Jasper sucks in a breath. “So, that means you can have one last fuck session with me and don’t have to feel guilty about it?”
The steady rise and fall of my chest do nothing to help curb the intoxication I feel from standing this close to him. “It means I don’t want to get divorced.”
Still putting the pieces together, Jasper is silent for a moment.
“What about your fiancé?” he asks cautiously. The back of his knuckles finds my cheek. He caresses me tenderly.
I lean into his touch, craving it more than water. “When you saw me at the restaurant yesterday, I was breaking up with him.”
Relief that’s palpable washes over Jasper as he sucks in a heavy breath of air. “You were leaving him?”
I nod, smiling sweetly. “Yes.”
“And what does that mean for me?” Jasper’s other hand meets my face.
“It means no one else exists,” I say.
“No one else has ever existed.” He rubs his nose against mine. “You were my first and only love, Arizona. When I met you, I was young and knew nothing about how to be a partner, but what I did know was that I never wanted to live without you. My love for you is both steady and chaotic, just like the Pacific.” He slowly glides his fingers into my hair. Threading them through, he fists a handful. With a gentle tug, my head tilts upward. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours.” With my eyelids filling with moisture and my heart in a death grip, I release those two words like I’m taking an oath.
His eyes leave mine for a quick glimpse down to my lips and back up. “That’s better.”
“You were my first love, Jasper.” My voice cracks. “Your touch, your laughter, and your commitment are the only things I know are real in this world. I’m sorry I didn’t understand how to support you either, but I plan to spend the rest of my life learning how because I only want to live for us.”
Jasper’s mouth comes crashing into mine. A kiss more desperate and promising than any other before it. His tongue finds mine, weaving into my mouth andmapping like it’s his own. I swing my arm around the back of his head, pulling him deeper into our embrace. I never want to let him go ever again.
“I love you, Avery,” he mumbles.
Tears stream down my face, but we stay connected, and somehow, I make out the words, “I love you too.”
A small chuckle rumbles through his chest before he releases my hair then slips both palms to my cheeks. Our gazes remain locked.
“This is it,” he tells me. “No going back. No running away.”
I shake my head through a smile filled with tears. “Never. I’m never leaving you.”
His expression showing signs of either shock or disbelief. I haven’t figured it out yet. “And you’re moving back to Coconut Grove?”
I thought about this constantly the last twenty-four hours. And the real question that I should be asking myself, which should have been addressed many years ago.Are Jasper and I going to be a moment or a lifetime?
“Yes,” I say with a confidence that bleeds from my soul. “I don’t want us to be a small moment in time. I don’t want our memories by the shore to be only that—memories.” I lick my salty lips. “I want us to be a lifetime.”
For only the second time I’ve seen tears fall from his eyes, Jasper blinks, forcing a single drop to escape from under his eye. “A fucking lifetime.”
I fall into him, letting his body engulf mine in an all-encompassing, future-building, panty-dropping kind of way. He holds me tightly.
His lips graze across my collarbone. “Arizona?” he whispersinto my skin.
The light dusting of his breath leaves goose bumps in their path.
“Yes,” I breathe out, my knees weaken.
“You need to change your last name,” he gently demands, slipping his hand underneath my dress and gliding up my leg.
I giggle. “I know.”
