Page 104 of Keep Me Never
I jump up, staring down at her settled in the middle of the makeshift bed, hair spilled all around her.
“For the record, I had this plannedbeforeMason told us your dad was coming in tonight.” She smirks, but the expression softens the longer she stares. “I thought some quiet time under the stars with the Certified Negativity Exorcist would be the perfect way to end the night.”
I’m laughing before she even finishes, then I’m hauling my ass over the side, falling in beside her.
“Hi.” She smiles.
“Hi, Angel.”
We sit there, saying nothing for a few minutes before she sits up on her knees, putting some music on the Bluetooth speaker.
She folds her legs under her, so I push up and mimic her position.
Eyes on me, she claps three times, and my head falls back with a laugh.
Her mouth curves, and she grips my arms, yanking me back in place. “Come on. This is the perfect time for this.” She claps three times again and smiles. “I’m grateful your dad is here.”
“Hey!” I chuckle. “You can’t take mine.”
“Well, I am.” She shrugs, lips still pulled high. “Your turn.”
I clap three times. “I’m grateful the scouts are coming.”
She nods, clapping three times. “I’m grateful I get to be there when they do.”
Smirking, I clap three times. “I’m grateful I get to kiss you anytime I want.”
She raises a brow. “Says who—Ah!” She squeals as I tackleher, climbing over her and pinning her little wrists above her head.
Her big, blue eyes are bright and shining, alive.
She makes me feelalive.
Releasing her hands, I run my knuckles along the side of her cheek, and she leans into my touch. It does something to me.
It’s a quiet pull, a sort of anchoring place I never expected to find. Warm and inviting, the kind of place a man could rest. Stay—maybe evenbelong.
“I haven’t felt like a man since the day I realized I had a long way to go to become one I could be proud of—to become one that my dad would be proud of. For a while there, I wasn’t sure I had it in me, but then you came along.” I trace her lower lip with my thumb, our eyes locked. “We happened, and I need you to know that you make me feel capable, like with you, I can become the best version of myself. I wanna be that for you, Angel. Good. Worthy. Strong.”
Her eyes grow glossy, and she reaches up, running her delicate fingers through my hair, causing my lids to flutter closed.
“‘Home’ is a word I’ve hated for a while now, my parents’ divorce having messed me up more than I expected,” I admit. “But you’ve helped me remember something important, something it sounds like your dad always knew.”
“What’s that?” she breathes, so low I almost miss it.
My eyes open, connecting with hers once more. “Home has nothing to do with where you live,” I murmur.
Her lower lip trembles, but she gives me the most heartbreakingly beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Because she knows what I’m saying: She is home for me.
She leans up, kissing me softly, and I feel her pour herself into the kiss…right before I feel her little knuckles against my stomach as she starts pushing the waistband of my sweats down my hips.
“Someone could see.”
She shifts, tugging her leg through the space between us soI’m no longer straddling her as she moves onto her side. Reaching down, she pulls the blankets up over us, hiding us from the neck down.
Big, blue eyes meet mine over her shoulder, and when she reaches back for my hand, I give it to her, allowing her to pull me, to lead until I’m right where she wants me—tucked up behind her.
“Baby—” I begin.
