Grantley
I woke to a warm, soft hand stroking my forehead, and then a gentle kiss to my lips.
“Hey, wake up,” Phoebe’s voice whispered.
Slowly opening my eyes, I looked up to see her face gazing down at me. Fuck, she was beautiful. Her face was bare of makeup, her cheeks rosy and clean, and her gorgeous brown eyes had never looked so bright. I lifted a hand and cupped her face.
Then something hit me.
“Fuck,” I cried, scrabbling around. “The boys, they were here, asleep. Where are they?”
“Ssh,” Phoebe replied. “It’s okay. Beth took them to bed after extracting Callum’s finger from your nose. I’m surprised it didn’t wake you, the little bugger was clinging on in there.”
“Were they okay?” I asked, pushing up and rubbing at my eyes.
“Fine. Although, we’re a little concerned what Callum meant when he asked if Marcia could do the birthday cake dance at their birthday party.”
My eyes widened as my gaze shot across the room – no Marcia or Barney.
“They’re drinking coffee in the kitchen, with Beth. You’re the only one we couldn’t wake.”
“Oh, okay.”
I yawned and stretched my arms, then hooked one around Phoebe’s neck and pulled her closer for a kiss.
“Hmm you taste like cherries,” I whispered against her mouth.
“That will be the lip balm gift we were given at the Spa. Beth got orange.” Phoebe grinned.
“Well I like it. Did you have a lovely, relaxing day?”
Phoebe tapped a hand against my thigh, urging me to move up and pushed onto the couch beside me.
“It was perfect. Thank you.”
As she rested her forehead against mine, and ran a hand through my hair, I felt more contentment than I had ever had in my whole adult life. Nothing could better this moment, not a damn film role, a prestigious award, or even millions of dollars. Being here with Phoebe, tasting like cherries and smelling like wild flowers, was my nirvana.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I blurted out.
“W-what?”
Phoebe looked startled as she pulled back, looking at me with huge wide eyes.
“I…I…what did you say?”
I took a breath and threaded my hands through her hair. “I said I don’t want to leave you. I know I have to, but I don’t want to.”
Phoebe swallowed. “I can’t stand the thought of you going,” she whispered. “It’s going to be awful.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that we were actually on the same page. I hadn’t planned on telling her how I felt, not yet anyway. I wanted to be sure that was how Phoebe felt too, before I said anything, but as usual, my mouth had engaged before my brain. Having her here, looking radiant and so fucking adorable, it had just come rushing out.
“What do we do?” I asked.
Phoebe looked unsure, and lowered her gaze.
“Hey,” I whispered. “Tell me what you want to do.”
“I…” She took a deep breath. “I want to keep seeing you and if we have to do the long distance thing, then we do it.”
I wanted to jump up and punch the air. I hadn’t realized how damn much I needed her to say those words. I’d been through so much shit over the last few weeks and she’d been there with me, supporting me; having my back and every day she’d become more important to me.
“I will make it as easy as possible for you,” I said, cupping her face with both hands. “I’ll come to you as often as I can, and don’t worry about the cost of flying in to me, I’ll cover it, pretty girl. If it means I get to see you, I’ll pay anything it costs.”
Phoebe let out a little whimper and swiped away a tear.
“Hey,” I soothed. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just so happy that you want the same thing.”
“Well I do,” I replied, confidently, because I damn well did. “And we will make it work.”
“You think we can?” she asked tentatively.
“Without a doubt.”
Phoebe squealed and the next thing I knew, I was on my back with Phoebe squirming on top of me, peppering kisses all over my face. My pretty girl was happy and that made me fucking delirious.