His smile was radiant. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I kissed him lightly. “This is crazy, right? To anyone on the outside, I mean.”
“We met three years ago. We’re just catching up in person.”
“A convenient way to look at it.”
“It’s also true.” His hand traced gentle patterns on my back. “I know you, Maya. I know how you take your coffee and what games make you rage-quit and that you stress-bake when you’re anxious. I know you talk to yourself when you're working through problems and that you have seventeen different laughs depending on what’s funny. You’re kind and smart and brave and that you see the best in people even when they don’t deserve it.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Oh, Geoff.”
“So yeah, to anyone on the outside, we might have only just met in person, but I’ve been falling in love with who you are for three years. This?” He gestured between us. “This is just the physical finally catching up with the emotional.”
“You’re not allowed to say romantic things like that when I’m naked in your bed. It’s not fair.”
"Why not?”
“Because it makes me want to do disgraceful things to you.”
His eyes darkened. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Both.” I winked.
He laughed, pulling me closer. “As much as I would love to take you up on that, you need sleep. Your body’s been through a lot.” He winked.
“My body feels pretty great right now, actually.”
“Maya.”
“Fine, fine. Sleep.” I settled back against his chest, letting the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lull me. “But tomorrow…”
“Tomorrow we can stay in bed as long as you want.”
“Promise?” I yawned.
“Promise.”
Chapter 7
Geoff
Iwoketopalemorning light filtering through the curtains and the unfamiliar weight of another body in my bed.
For a moment, I lay still, afraid to move, afraid to breathe, afraid that any shift would reveal this was just an elaborate dream. That I’d open my eyes and find myself alone like every other morning for the past decade.
But then Maya sighed in her sleep, burrowing closer into my side, and the reality of it hit me like an avalanche.
She was here. In my bed. Naked.
We made love for the first time last night. Not once, but multiple times. She’d looked at me like I was something wonderful, touched me like she couldn’t get enough, said my name in ways that would echo in my memory forever.
She loved me.
Maya, the brilliant, funny, kind Maya who I’d been pining after for over a year, loved me back.
I was completely, utterly screwed in the best possible way.
She shifted again, and I felt every point of contact between us. Her head rested on my chest, her hand splayed over my heart, one leg thrown over mine. She fit against me perfectly despite our size difference, like we’d been designed to slot together exactly this way.
