“Yeah, Guppy.”
My breathing slows as I gaze at her. And as I calm down, I realize she’s glowing. Her face is shining even before she really smiles. When she does smile, it’s slowly, and then it’s huge.
“What are you grinning at?”
Did I just feel her wriggle her thigh against my cock?
Yeah. Yeah, I did.
She shrugs innocently. “I’m happy.”
This time my burst of breath is much closer to a laugh. “Why? I just told you I think we’re doomed.”
“You told me,” she begins, beaming as brightly as ever, “everything I thought you would.”
I screw my face up in confusion. “And the fact that I think we’re doomed makes you happy.”
Evie shakes her head, giggling deliciously. How can she look so sexy, laughing at our inevitable demise?
“No, you bull-headed Taurus.” Her hand at my chest becomes a fist and she bops me with it. “I’m happy because I knew all of that already. How conflicted you are about us. How you think you don’t deserve this… And how you love me…”
She pauses, and her eyes widen as though she’s surprised herself by saying this aloud.
“I knew. I knew all of what you felt. And that means I really do know you. Not an illusion. I can trust you.” And then her smile re-doubles. “Better yet, I can trust myself with you.”
Evie reaches up, grabs me by the back of the neck, and tugs me down. She kisses me hard. I lose myself in her kiss like a man with a fever. But even lost in its power, I feel her other hand glide down my torso, down below my abdomen, where she grips me. Then she wrenches her mouth from mine, panting.
“And I fucking love you too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
EVIE
I awake to the arresting sight of Drew’s muscled legs disappearing into a pair of jeans. He catches me watching as he tucks himself into the fly and grins.
“Go back to sleep, Guppy. I’m gonna walk Gem and then check on Grandma.” He bends down, still shirtless and kisses me on the forehead. Even in the soft dawn light that just barely tints the apartment, he’s breathtaking.
Did he just say he’d walk Gem? And I get to stay in bed? I stretch my limbs luxuriously. My body feels deliciously heavy and pleasantly sore in a few places. Another half-hour of sleep would be wonderful.
“Thank you.” I stifle a yawn and roll onto my side.
Clearly, he finds my sleepy-headedness amusing because his grin has grown. It’s probably because of my frizzed out curls. I resist the urge to pull the covers over my head. I close my eyes instead.
“Don’t laugh at me,” I mutter, feebly swatting a hand in his direction. Of course at this, he laughs.
“I’ll be back.” He chuckles. But without opening my eyes, I just nod. I think I hear the jingle of Gemini’s leash and the excitedclick-clackof his dancing paws on the wood floor, but after that sleep pulls me under.
I open my eyes to full sun and Gem’s warm body curled against the curve of my legs. I blink at the startling brightness, but it’s obvious that Drew’s not here. I push myself up and scan the floor at the head of the futon for my phone. It’s right where I left it, and a press of the home button reveals that it’s 7:52 a.m. My alarm will go off in eight minutes, but I don’t have class until noon.
I flop back against the pillow. Where is Drew? It has to be at least an hour since he walked Gem. The sun wasn’t even fully up then.
I frown. Doesn’t he have work?
Did he leave for work without waking me?
I press my phone again and squint at the screen. I have three messages. Two from Mom. One from Tori. None from Drew. My sister’s text is from last night around eleven o’clock.
Tori: You’re a fool if you don’t take M&D’s offer. I had to put my life on hold for 3 years for that kind of payday. All you have to do is drop that loser.
