Hell, the entire time I was with my ex, I was basically mentally cheating with Meadow. I’ve lost track of how many times I fucked my ex, closing my eyes and imagining it was Meadow.
But I’m also terrified to admit that to her because she internalizeseverything. I know she’ll end up blaming herself for the breakup and start to spiral, which is the last thing I want.
Especially when we only have one night left here.
Thankfully, she lets me off the hook by leaning up and pressing her lips to mine.
“Thank you,” she whispers against my mouth. “That might—thatisthe nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
My lips curve up in a smile as I lean in and brush my lips against hers in a slow, lingering kiss.
When I pull back and flash her a playful smirk, she tilts her head and arches a brow.
“Me next,” I grin. “Time for you to whisper sweet nothings in my ear now.”
She throws her head back and laughs.
“You’re a real piece of work, Owen Brooks. You know that?”
“Oh, I know,” I chuckle, agreeing with her. “That’s why I’m so curious as to why you’ve been crushing on me all this time.”
She rolls her eyes, lightly shaking her head as a cute smile curls her lips.
“If you really want to know,” she exhales, “I’ll be honest, I thought you were hot at first. Just really fucking hot.”
A low laugh rumbles from my chest.
“Wow, how romantic of you,” I quip.
“But then,” she continues, her expression softening, “I got to know you, and your personality made you a thousand times more attractive, which I didn’t know was humanly possible,” she laughs softly.
My eyes flick between hers as I listen, waiting patiently for her next words.
“But every day as I walked into the office, no matter how shitty of a morning I’d had, I knew you were going to make me smile,” she adds. “You were going to tell me some corny joke, make a hilarious comment about an annoying coworker, or ask me to walk with you to get a coffee just to make me feel better. With you…” she trails off, swallowing thickly. “I always feel…happy. And that’s not an emotion that’s come easy to me most of my life.”
Fuck.
My heart physically cracks open.
I love her.
I love her so much it’s killing me.
I want to tell her… I want to tell her so fucking bad.
But we only have one night left here, and I’m not about to fuck it up by love bombing her.
I plan to love-bomb the hell out of her when we get back to Chicago because, at least there, I know where she lives. If she shuts me out, I can go full stalker mode and bang on her door until she lets me in.
Call me creepy, but I’m not kidding.
I’mnotletting her go.
Instead of spilling every piece of my heart to her, I flip us so she’s on her back and I’m hovering above her. Meadow parts her lips, and I lower my mouth to hers, our tongues rubbing together in a deep, intoxicating kiss that makes us both groan.
If I can’t use my words to express my love to her, I’ll use my body for now.
Sink into her and give her what’s left of my soul.
