Page 108 of No Way Home
I’d finally come home.
When our lips were fused once again, his hands slipped up under the hem of my shirt. I welcomed his warm touch, murmuring my approval. Swirling, massaging, he trailed lower across my belly. His fingertips ran along the top of my high-waisted jeans. Then he was fumbling with the button. Before I realized what was happening, he had it undone.
My stomach flipped—about to remind him what kind of girl I was—when he said, “Trust me.”
I relaxed against his touch, doing just that. When he found my navel piercing, he stopped, going no lower.
Oh.
I smiled against his mouth, and a chuckle rumbled in his chest. He drew circles around it, driving me wild, pushing me to the edge, my grip fisting in his shirt to keep from unraveling.I must’ve been driving him wild, too, because his chest shook with each breath, like he was struggling for air.
Then he whispered the last words I expected him to say. “I love you,” he breathed.
I moaned—it’s all I could do. Head dizzy, mind blown, I pulled his lips back to mine.
But he broke the kiss again. “I love you,” he repeated, his breath ghosting over my lips. Oh, he was waiting for me to reciprocate.
“I l-love you t-too,” I blurted. “L-like I’m c-crazy, s-stupid in lov-v-ve with you. The forev-v-ver k-k-k-ind.”
His forehead tipped to mine and he let out a throaty noise of satisfaction. “Finally,” he whispered, full of awe. “We need to get you warm.”
I didn’t want to stop kissing, but I was frozen. I inclined my head toward the door. “Sh-should we?”
His eyes turned down. “I can’t go in there. How about we head across the parking lot to TJ Maxx and get you some dry clothes? My treat.” He cocked a brow. “And don’t argue. You’re my girlfriend now. Get ready to be spoiled.”
Pretty sure on the word girlfriend, my internal organs turned to glitter. “O-okay.” I beamed. “If y-you insis-s-st. But-t-t only if-f I get-t-t to spoil y-y-ou t?—”
“Stop talking, Magnolia.” He laughed. “Before you break a molar. Here.” He turned his back to me. “Hop on.”
As he booked it across the parking lot, me hanging off his back like a baby koala, I gazed up at the sky, hoping, praying, that Mom was watching.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
BOWEN
The reliefon Magnolia’s face when she saw me waiting outside the fitting room put a pang in my gut.
She looked adorable in a pair of leggings and a UVA hoodie. She giggled when she saw that I’d picked the same hoodie from the men’s section. “Matching sweatshirts? I guess that makes us a real couple.”
“It definitely does.” I opened the bag with my wet clothes inside, and she dumped hers on top.
“You didn’t want leggings too?” she asked, checking me out in my new jeans.
“Didn’t think anyone would want to see that.” I laughed. “Warm now?”
“Yeah.” She beamed, so beautiful.
I curled an arm around her shoulders as we walked. “Did you actually think I might disappear while you were in the fitting room?” I couldn’t hide the guilt in my voice.
Her eyebrows met in a V. “Sorry. I might have some trust issues.”
“Dang, girl.” I pressed a kiss to her temple, wishing I could wipe all the pain away from the past four years. “I’m not leaving you,everagain. Okay?”
“Okay.” She sighed and snuggled into my side. “Why aren’t we walking to the checkout?”
She must not have noticed that I popped the price tags off her clothes before she went to change. “Because I already paid and I think I found a place where we can be…alone,” I said in a knowing voice.
She giggled. “Is that right?”
