- Landon -
Her pretty blue eyes were glassy, but the smile on her face let me know I hadn’t lost her.
“You don’t have to say it,” she said. “I’m sorry I pressured you.”
“Don’t be,” I said, lifting her chin with my fingers. “You have every right to want to hear it.”
She pressed her lips together.
“Especially when you’re the only reason I even know what it means.”
She exhaled the breath she was holding.
“And I need you to know that I don’t just love you now because of what we’ve been through lately,” I said. “I have always loved you. For as long as I can remember.”
She relaxed into my arms.
“I fell in love with you as a kid the day you were saving worms. I fell in love with you as a teenager the first time I heard you singing in the shower. And I fell in love with you on your eighteenth birthday when I realized that my heart would be yours forever, whether you wanted it or not.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I want it,” she said. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“Good. Because I fall in love with you all over again every single day, and I don’t want to have to fight it or hide it anymore.”
“Me neither.”
“And I want to make up for lost time. That’s what all this is about.”
She looked around, her eyes bouncing from bouquet to bouquet.
“These are all the flowers I’ve wanted to give you since the day we met.”
“There must be two dozen bouquets in here.”
“Thirty-five, actually.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“One for every birthday and Valentine’s Day since I’ve known you.”
“That’s crazy, Landon. You didn’t have to—”
“I did.”
“But it must’ve cost you a fortune.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It was not having the courage to give them to you when I wanted to that cost me a fortune.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
My eyes smiled. “Yes, you do. You already said it last weekend.”
“What?” she asked. “That I love you?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate it the first time.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll have plenty more chances to let it sink in.”
“Good. Because I’m super needy, so you’re going to have to remind me all the time.”
“Deal.” She rose onto her toes and gave me a kiss.
Her lips were soft against mine and felt lighter than ever. “How long will Izzy be gone?” I asked, suddenly unable to think straight with Margot’s sweet taste on my lips.
“For the rest of the day. Why?”
I slid my hands under her damp T-shirt. “Because after all this talk about making up for lost time, maybe we should do some catching up now.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, grabbing my wrists as I pulled her shirt up. “Because I’m sort of grimy right now.”
“You’re not.”
“I am. Like I said, I thought my boyfriend was six states away so—”
“I love you grimy,” I said, liking the way it felt to say that four-letter word to her more with every admission. “And the only way I’m going six states away is if you’re going with me.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said, pointing down the hall towards a cracked door. “I actually have a bed right here.”
My chest glowed. “It’s about damn time you invited me into your bedroom.”
She blushed. “Seems the least I can do after you turned my apartment into a botanical garden.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed past me, pulling me towards her room.
I grabbed a rose from a vase on the counter. “Now that I’ve seen how…compact it is, it does feel like I went a bit overboard.”
“I told you it was small,” she said, pushing her bedroom door open.
“You told me it was small,” I said, my eyes passing from her dresser to the bed to the small window above it. “You didn’t tell me Stuart Little used to live here.”
She rolled her eyes and stepped up to me, trailing her fingers down the front of my shirt until they caught on my belt buckle. “What are you doing with that rose behind your back?”
“Take off your grimy clothes and find out.”
She took a half step back and pulled her shirt off. There was a damp patch of sweat at the base of her sports bra, and seeing her body already wet made me hard.
“Keep going,” I said, widening my stance.
She pulled her bra off and stood in front of me.
“I swear to God, this is just like a dream I had once.”
She turned around and looked over her shoulder at me as she bent forward and pulled her leggings down.
My mouth watered at the sight of her perfect ass while she straightened back up and used her feet to pry her shoes off.
“That view makes me want to buy you flowers.”
She laughed.
“Turn around.”
“Not until you show me something.” She flashed her eyebrows and cocked a hip.
I pulled my shirt off as fast as I could without damaging the rose or taking my focus off her for longer than absolutely necessary.
Her eyes dripped down my chest and came to rest on the waistband of my jeans. “More.”
I bit the stem of the rose between my teeth and moved my hands to my belt.
“That’s a good look for you,” she said. “Calendar-worthy for my money.”
I undid my belt, unzipped my fly, and pulled the rose from my mouth. “I’m glad you like it, because you’re about to get all twelve months.”
She chewed her bottom lip for a second before turning around and stepping up to me. “Allow me,” she said, curving her fingers inside the top of my boxers.
“Did you read my diary?”
“No.” She tilted an ear towards me. “You have a diary?”
“No. But I might start one after this.”
One side of her mouth curled into a smile, and she pulled my bottoms down two inches.
I set the rose against her cheek and dragged it along her jawline.
She batted her lashes at me and then sank to her knees, taking my pants and boxers to the ground with her. “What about this?” she asked, looking up past my dick as she stroked it. “Was this in your dream?”
The blood drained from my head as I throbbed against her hand. “I think I need to sit down.”
She nodded towards her bed, and I sat on the edge of it, clenching the stem of the rose in my fist, my heart pounding as she crawled over and wrapped her palm around me again.
“Now,” she said, licking her lips. “Where were we?”
She was so beautiful I could barely get the words out. “I was just telling you how much I love you.”
“Oh right.” She tightened her grip on the base of my dick and stroked the length of me.
And if her mouth hadn’t been full a moment later, I’m sure she would’ve said it back.