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There’s a pressure in my chest. It’s not quite an ache but something more pleasant. Something warm and delightful that begins to sprout and grow like a flower in the spring the longer his hand is in mine.
Suddenly I feel it everywhere; on the back of my knees. In my belly. Between my breasts and at the base of my spine.
It envelops me,engulfsme, a welcomed hug I haven’t felt in years.
Maybe I’ve never felt it all.
Not like this, and not until this moment right here, because it’s never been this nice.
Love.
Every second I’m with him, I fall a little deeper. Soon I’ll be twenty feet underground without a way out.
I don’t think I ever want to climb out.
I love him so much, with every corner of my soul and every beat of my heart.
You love him,it says.
You’ve loved him for a long time.
“You okay?” he asks. He squeezes my hand and gives my arm a little shake. I feel the sensation there, too, in the valley between my fingers where his grip locks into mine. “Where did you go, Lacey girl?”
“Nowhere,” I say, and I realize I’m staring at him the exact same way he stared at me on his parents’ roof. Maybe he loves me, too. “I’m right here.”
We pull up to my apartment ten minutes later and find a lucky spot out front. Shawn grabs my bags from the trunk and wheels my suitcase to the sidewalk. My fingers curl around the handle, and we stare at each other.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, but his feet don’t move. “Thirty minutes, tops.”
“Take your time. You know where I’ll be. Just buzz when you get here, and I’ll let you up.”
“Okay.” He steps toward me, and the toes of his sneakers bump mine. His hand rests on my cheek, in the spot he always finds. “Text me if you need me, alright?”
“I will.” I reach up and kiss him in the middle of the crowded sidewalk because I want to, and I really don’t care who sees. “I can’t wait to see you again.”
His lips curve up. “Flirting with me, Daniels?”
“In your dreams, Holmes. I just really want some presents.”
“At least you’re honest.” Shawn taps my hip, his fingers fanning out over my waist. “Let me move my car before I get a ticket. That would be a mood killer.”
“Okay.” I pat his chest. “Go. I’ll see you soon.”
He takes my hand in his and kisses each finger. “Soon.”
I watch him drive off, and I didn’t know it was possible to miss someone when they just left, but I do.
* * *
I speed clean my apartment.
I take out the trash. I make my bed and arrange the pillows in a neat little line. I wipe down the kitchen counters and light a candle.
It feels like I’m getting ready for a date, and a nervous buzz of energy zips through me.
Shawn knocks on the door twenty-nine minutes later, gifts tucked under one arm and a bag of food tucked under the other.
“Talk about punctual,” I say. “I’m impressed.”
