Page 48 of Gift of You
“Where’s your beanie?” I blurted, a desperate quality to my voice. I wasn’t sure why it mattered quite so much, but it seemed important somehow.
The mask he’d donned somewhere between his friends’ cabin and my apartment building slipped just a little, a hint of warmth shimmering in his beautiful brown eyes. “It’s in the car.”
I stepped closer, closing half the distance between us. “Do you promise you’ll wear it?”Will you remember me?
He took another step, now standing an arm’s length away. And yet I didn’t reach for him. “Of course.”
Our eyes locked, neither one of us making a move.
Stay.
The word that had haunted me for days hung heavy in the air between us, as if I could reach out and pluck each letter and give them all to him.
Don’t go.
I was floundering before you came.
You brought me back to life.
Don’t. Go.
Stay.
He breathed deep and then he was in my arms, hands around my waist, lips pressed to mine, kissing me with the same kind of desperate hunger I felt humming through my veins. My hands were everywhere, gliding over every part of him as if I could memorize his shape through my fingertips alone. Eventually, they landed on either side of his face, my thumbs tracing his cheekbones as our tongues tangled with need.
The kiss ended just as abruptly as it started, leaving my heart racing and my head spinning. The shattered look in Louis’s eyes had me reaching for him, wanting to do something, anything, to erase that heartbroken expression from his face.
“I better go.”
“Louis, don’t?—”
“Thank you for everything. I hope you... Good luck, Matty.” He pressed a chaste kiss on my cheek, then hurried out the door.
33
LOUIS
The driveback to the city should have taken an hour, but because I had to pull over twice to get control of my tears, it was closer to an hour and a half. I pulled into the garage of my condo building, unloaded my luggage, and trudged toward the elevator. Arriving on the eighth floor, I made my way down the hall and unlocked the door. Silent darkness greeted me, and I burst into tears all over again. After dropping my keys onto the table by the door, I left my luggage in the entryway and made a beeline for the couch. I switched on the lamp, then pulled out my phone and dialed my sister.
“Hey, Lou! How’s the bear hunting going?” The sound of her voice on the other side of the line, hundreds of miles away, had me wishing I’d flown out to visit for Christmas after all. Though that would have meant I’d never have met Matthew. The thought had me spiraling all over again.
“Lou? Are you there?”
I opened my mouth to respond but all I could get out was a choked sob.
“Oh, Lou. What happened?”
“I fell for him, Nat,” I finally managed to get out. “I fell for him so hard.”
“Oh, honey. And he didn’t feel the same?”
“I don’t know. He never said anything.” Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. Good lord, how was it possible for a person to produce this many? Surely I was getting dehydrated at this point.
“Wait. Please tell me that you told him how you felt...”
I sniffed loudly. “What was I supposed to say? ‘I know we just met, but I think I might be in love with you’?”
“I mean . . . yeah. Kind of.”
