Page 35 of Moonstruck at Midnight
“Yes, everything’s okay. But it would be best if we start heading out,” he urged, looking at his watch. “We’ll wait outside.” He turned on his heel and left. Nina followed Caleb with her eyes—cheeks on fire. Juan Pablo squinted his eyes at her and made a funny side-pout to go with it. I wondered ifthe voiceswould inform him that Nina found Caleb to be hot as hell—because she obviously did.
I couldn’t blame Juan Pablo for all the gesturing. I probably made the same face he did after seeing Nina shamelessly blushing for Caleb. Luckily, Thomas was busy looking inside his head that he didn’t notice any of the awkward interactions in front of him.
I searched for Thomas’s absent-minded eyes and said, “Come on. Let’s go.” He stood up. We promised to get together more often and said goodbye to my friends.
“Everything okay, Miss Murphy?” Caleb asked, both concerned and amused.
“Yes, everything’s fine. Can you take me home, please?”
“What just happened?” Thomas was visibly confused about the whole situation.
“You tell me,” I replied, feeling annoyed by his behavior at the ice cream shop. I didn’t understand why Thomas had an attitude with me instead of just telling me what happened with my least favorite person in the world.
“We’ll talk when we get to the apartment,” he snapped back at me.
Excuse me?
He hadneverspoken to me like that before, with that edge. I ignored him the entire way back home and enjoyed what was left of my ice cream cone.
We got home, and I took my shoes off with a sigh. I sat cross-legged on the living room couch beside Thomas. “Can you nowpleasetell me what happened with Juan Pablo?”
“Yes.” He turned to look at me, and something told me it would be our first fight. “When we were alone, Juan Pablo had a moment, he … closed his eyes and grasped my shoulder. Then, he opened them, looked directly into mine, and asked me if I wanted toknow.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he explained everything. “I said yes.” I remained silent, forcing him to keep expanding.
But why,why,would he say yes?
“He began with something like ‘Avoid and love, but love and avoid—no regret on mistakes that aren’t made.’ Then he added, ‘I was surprised to see you.’ He then told me something that absolutelyno oneknows. I can’t stress that enough, Billie. I don’t know what to think, but it’s messed up, so I figured Juan Pablo might be right about everything,” he fretted with a broken tone, letting his head hang.
“What iseverything? I can’t even understand his riddles, or if you do, please enlighten me. You can’t seriously tell me you believe every word that comes out of his mouth.”
“He made it seem as if you and I aren’t meant to be together.” He sighed, looking intently at my eyes while squeezing my hands. “What did he tell you the day you met him? I need to know if you truly want to be with me.”
When he said that, I quickly realized that he was feeling insecure in the relationship. That somehow, what Juan Pablo told him made him feel uneasy—made him doubt.
I remembered perfectly what Juan Pablo had told me, but there was no use in telling him any of it. What mattered was howIfelt abouthim. I didn’t want Thomas overanalyzing Juan Pablo’s words. It wasn’t important.
“What are you talking about? These past few weeks have been amazing, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of them with you.” I sat on his lap and placed my arms around his neck. “I warned you about Juan Pablo. He meddles too much, and I know you allowed him to tell you all those things, but that doesn’t mean that they are real, valid, or that whatever you think they mean will somehow change how I feel about you.” I pressed my cheek between his neck and his shoulder. “I love you.”
And I really meant it. I was crazy about him. We hadn’t said that to each other, and there I was, opening up myself to him, being vulnerable, not knowing if he would reciprocate the feeling. But I wanted to reassure him, and I was willing to say and do anything for him to feel at ease.
He grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of him in a swift move. We were now facing each other, my knees straddling his hips. He kissed me as he’d never kissed me before—with urgency. He pulled my waist even closer to him, and my fingers brushed his dark-chestnut hair with hunger, giving him exactly what he was giving me. His hands slipped under my blouse and slid against my bare skin, making it react. I was craving him.
He abruptly recoiled away from me, but I complained with a low groan and thrust myself at him again.
“I love you,” he whispered, making me stop to look at him as he brushed a strand of hair out of my face. “I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“Then don’t.” I wanted him to stop worrying and doubting our relationship.
I brought my mouth to his, and we quickly picked up where we’d left off. I took his shirt off to reveal his rock-hard chest and chiseled abs that I adored. He did the same for me and stood up, wrapping my legs around his waist. He took me to my bed, and I let him do the thinking for me.
I was ready to give myself entirely to him, and I wanted him to know that I was his.
He removed whatever garments still left between us. I patiently enjoyed every second of his hands softly grazing my skin as he did it.
His eyes met mine, and a simple nod from me—an answered invitation—assured him that I was ready for him to keep deciding for me. And he did, so I allowed myself to burn and melt as I felt him for the first time.
June 17, 2009
I HEARD A STRONG KNOCKon the door—the kind of knock that wants to get noticed. I peered through the peephole and saw Eric’s unmistakable platinum blond hair.
