With a huff she finally stands still and I can take in her beauty, even with the frustration on her face and the fire in her eyes. It’s comforting, actually, because to me this is her. This is Cherry.
I move my hands up to frame her face. “You’ve come in here like a hurricane. Is everything okay?”
Her face moves through multiple emotions before landing on feigned nonchalance. “I’m fine.”
“Cherry,” I warn.
She looks up at me, eyebrow raised. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Southwick. I just knew it would be weird to people if we went any longer without seeing one another, so I came over.”
“Uh-huh, sure.” I know she’s hating the smirk that pulls at my lips.
She pushes at my chest, which forces a laugh from me, then she moves around me to the other side of the island, putting some space between us. I feel the loss of her warmth more now than I have while we’ve been apart. Possibly because she’s still close enough that I can see the lines of her nose as she scrunches it.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dare.” I lean on the island and watch her. I take in everything I’ve missed about her in the past week—the way she bites her bottom lip aggressively to stop her saying whatever thoughts pass through her mind; the way she replaces an unwanted smile with a glare in the hopes that it’ll keep that smile at bay.
When I see her become serious, I do the same and decide to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
“I’m really sorry I’ve been away for a while,” I start.
Oakleigh’s head whips up. “You’re sorry?”
“Yeah,” I say with a nod. “You didn’t deserve that kind of behavior from me.”
She scoffs and shakes her head. “Finley, you don’t have to?—”
“But I do.” I move around the island, still keeping the space between us that she clearly wants, but simply needing to be nearer to her, nonetheless. “I didn’t communicate what I needed. I acted rashly and completely flipped out when I should have simply taken the time to think about how you would have meant what you said. Because once I did, I realized that you could never have been trying to imply what I thought.”
She watches me with disbelief, her mouth left gaping.
I grab her hand and tug her closer, until her body is flush with mine and I can smell the sweet perfume on her skin. I hold her in place with a hand on her lower back, but it’s not necessary because she grabs my bicep as if she needs something to keep her close. Her nails dig into my arm and I welcome the subtle sting.
“Tell me how I can make it better, Cherry.” I lean down and nuzzle my nose against her cheek. My hand slides from her back to her hip and I squeeze. “Just tell me and I’ll do it.” Oakleigh’s breath hitches against my ear and it’s such a sweet sound. “I’ll do anything.”
Her hand whips up to my shoulder and I let my forehead fall against hers, our short breaths mingling. I don’t think she even realizes that she’s nudging her nose against mine. She seems unaware of her feet inching closer.
My blood pumps around my body so quickly that I can hear the buzzing it leaves behind in my ears, the silence around us making it sound twice as loud.
I’ve never felt this way with another woman before. No one has my skin tingling, or electricity thundering down my spine the way she does.
I let my lips get dangerously close to hers. “Tell me, Cherry.”
In a daze, she opens her mouth to tell me, but whatever it is that she’s about to say gets trapped in her mouth the moment Gus walks into the kitchen.
“You guys are coming tomorrow night, right?” he asks, completely unaware of the moment he’s just ruined.
I let my forehead fall against Oakleigh’s once more as a grunt of frustration fills the room. “For fuck’s sake,” I growl. I place a quick kiss on her forehead before stepping away from her. I quickly walk around to the other side of the island in the hopes of hiding my growing erection from both of them.
Oakleigh snaps out of it quicker than I do, a quick shake of her head and her usual smile is back on her face as she turns to Gus. “Tomorrow night?”
“Yeah, to the Locke and Key. We’re all going to get drinks. Didn’t Wren tell you?”
I may or may not have a text from my sister that’s remained unread for three days. It might have said something about the Locke.
“Oh, um…yeah, I forgot, sorry. We’ll be there.” The flush on Oakleigh’s cheeks has my chest swelling with pride. She licks her lips and takes a seat on one of the counter stools.
“Cool.” Gus heads to Wren’s room where he roots around for something before leaving the house once more.
