Page 50 of Tangled Up In You
“How about eggs, bacon, and toast?” I asked, thankful he’d gone to the store the day before.
One look outside the window above the sink told me there was no way we could go anywhere—well, unless we hiked through the snow. Which could be fun. We’d done it a few times when we were kids. We’d had awesome snowball fights too.
Corbin came up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist, kissing my nape. I melted against him, tilting my head back and resting it on the side of his.
“If you don’t stop, we’ll starve,” I pointed out as I felt his dick poke my ass. “Now shoo.”
“You didnotjust tell me to fucking shoo,” he said with a scoff.
For emphasis, I grabbed the spatula from the stove and flipped around to face him. I gently tapped it against my open palm, arching a brow at him.
He put his hands up. “Fine. I’ll shoo. Like a damn dog.”
“Good, boy,” I said, suppressing a laugh upon seeing the incredulous stare he gave me for that remark.
It didn’t take long to make breakfast, and once I was finished, we sat down at the table near the patio doors and ate. We watched the snow continue to fall and talked about old times—not the parts of the past that would stir up drama again, but the parts that made us laugh so hard I nearly choked on a piece of bacon.
“Remember his face?” Corbin asked through his laughs before he scrunched his face up and mimicked old man Burton, “You damn kids better get off my lawn or I’m gonna call the law!”
I laughed and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes before busting out into another fit of giggles.
I’d forgotten how easy it was to be with Corbin, but he was reminding me more and more each day. He’d only been back in Willow for about a month, but I already forgot what life was like before then. As if I’d been merely existing and not actually living. My life was simple. Predictable and lacking all spontaneity. And I’d been okay with that.
Until I remembered what it was like to be with Corbin.
Suddenly, I felt like my old self again, as if Corbin’s presence gave me back a piece of my soul. My missing piece. That piece had been torn from me when he’d left seven years ago, and it’d taken every ounce of strength to carry on without him.
“I don’t want this day to end,” Corbin said after we’d eaten and crawled back into bed. He pulled me into his arms.
I couldn’t fight my thoughts anymore.
“What happens when you leave?” I asked, forcing back the wave of sorrow weaving through my chest. “Our lives are too different, Cor. I want to have this—you here with me—forever, but that can’t happen, can it?”
Corbin looked at me for a minute before sitting back and getting off the bed.
I instantly missed his weight on me. It was as if the blanket had been yanked off me, and I was left there missing its warmth. He walked toward the door, and I watched the grooves in his naked back move as he did. The two dips in his lower back sat right above the sexiest ass I’d ever seen.
“Corbin?”
In the doorway, he turned, and his face had dramatically changed from the vulnerable expression to one of frustration.
“Why do you have to be like this, Hunter?” He shook his head and looked down at the hardwood floor. “Why do you always have to bring up such fucking depressing things when all I wanna do is enjoy being with you? The last time I tried to talk about the future, you shut me down. And now you wanna talk about it again? Make up your fucking mind because I’m losing mine trying to keep up with you.”
I got off the bed and neared him before grabbing his hand. I half-expected him to yank away from me, but then I reminded myself that was a moveI’dmake; not him.
“You don’t want to be with me, do you?” he asked, lifting his gaze and focusing on me. His usually blue-gray eyes appeared darker.
“That’s not true,” I said, stepping closer. “But it’d be stupid not to at leastconsiderwhere this is going. I mean think about it, Cor. I have a life here just like you have one there.”
“You know that’s a bullshit excuse,” he snapped, letting go of my hand. “Guys on my team have girlfriends. Fuck, several of them even have kids. They all make it work. Yeah, my summer is a full schedule of training and workouts, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t make time to see you.”
I pictured the kind of life he talked about. It wasn’t totally impossible. Difficult, yes, but not undoable. However, I still didn’t see it working out long term.
He’d still live in Kansas City, and I’ve live there in Willow. All of that traveling back and forth to see each other would get tiring: physically but mostly emotionally. Because there’d be too many goodbyes and not enough time between them to ease the heartache.
“Okay. Then maybe we should just take this one step at a time,” I suggested, grabbing his hand again. “See where life takes us. I won’t mention it again.”
Corbin raised our joined hands and kissed my knuckle. “Have faith in me, Hunter. Relationships aren’t easy. They take effort, and yeah, sometimes they’re fucking hard. But we have to try. Don’t give up on me. I don’t want to lose you again.”
