Page 48 of Best Year Ever
But the fact that we’re on the same page about seeing other people changes things. I think I can go with what she wants if we’re not leaving that up in the air.
I’ll take it for now. It’s a big step for me anyway.
Settling my thoughts with that decision, I scoot a couple inches closer to her on the couch and grab one of her hands, threading her fingers with mine. On instinct, I bring our joined hands to my mouth, kissing the top of hers, before resting them back on my lap.
Her pupils seem to dilate a little, and she stares at where our hands meet.
“So let me make sure I understand,” I say, rubbing my thumb along the side of her hand. “You don’t want any labels. But we’ll stay exclusive and see each other as often as we can with our schedules?”
She lifts her head, looks me in the eye, and nods.
“I’m in, Rori.”
She beams in response, prompting me to bring my free hand up to the side of her face. She leans into it with her cheek, with my other hand still joined with hers on my lap.
The moment is the most intimacy that we have had since the photo shoot. In its own way, the most intimacy we’ve ever had.
And I’m not scared by that, I realize.
We sit there for a moment, looking at each other. Then a beat later, Rori bites her bottom lip, maybe out of anticipation, or maybe to evoke a reaction from me.
Either way, react is what I do. A small groan escapes my throat at the gesture, and I cannot keep my eyes from dipping to her mouth. Suddenly, I’m following an inevitable path to her lips, moving towards her until our mouths connect.
The kiss is soft and gentle, our first one in months.
If the night ended here, I would consider it a success. Her warm, soft lips are my destination.
But she starts moving her mouth, adding dimension to our kiss. We stay at that pace for a minute, our lips separating andthen coming back together softly, until finally she lets out a pleased sigh that rips through my restraints.
Shifting my hand from her cheek to the back of her head, I go in with more serious intent this time, parting her mouth with my tongue. She reciprocates a moment later, taking over control of the kiss with a heated moan.
It feels so damn good to hear her sounds again.
After more time passes, she sighs again into my mouth, and it reawakens my awareness of our surroundings. I bring my hands down to her bare legs, rubbing the smooth skin all the way up, where her tiny denim shorts cut off the top of her thigh.
I cannot help but chuckle, breaking the kiss. “You were trying to torture me with these, weren’t you,” I say as I fondle the hems.
“Uh huhhh,” she says with a small laugh, laying her head in the crook of my neck.
“Well, it worked,” I say as I kiss the top of her head.
Snuggling into me tighter, her attention turns to the TV, which is still playing whatever show she put on when we sat down. “Landon, we’re going to need to rewind this episode,” she says. “I’ve missed everything.”
I grab the remote, figuring out how to restart the show. She’d picked a reality competition about a baseball player looking for love. Twenty ladies are competing to “win his heart” or something like that.
As the episode starts to replay, Rori begins explaining some of the character’s back stories to me. We’ve both sat up, and I loop my arm around her body in a half hug. She slides her ass closer to me so our legs are touching too.
“Tracey’s a teacher from Missouri, and it was really cute, last episode they did a video of all her kids telling her good luck. And then Becky, she’s super bitchy, everyone hates her…”
I nod and gently stroke her arm with the hand that’s wrapped around her.
And then it hits me. I’ve never had a night like this with a woman. Relaxed, staying in, fooling around, watching TV. It’s allstandard for relationships, but I have been avoiding just this scenario for eight years. Do I like it?
“This is nice,” I blurt out, responding to my own question.
“Hmm,” Rori says as she turns her head to me and then snuggles in a little tighter. “Yes.”
We stay like that through two episodes. Now, around eight PM, the Florida sun is beginning its descent, and a range of colors is coming through the window.
