“You’re looking at me like you want to kiss me,” I whisper.
“Just wondering if you’d let me.”
“I think I might.”
He leans closer, his nose brushing against mine. Then his soft lips meet mine.
There’s no heat behind it, no underlying hope for something more. It’s tender and gentle. A way for him to express how he’s feeling without words.
“Will you give me a ride home? I can’t sleep in that chair, but I want to be back first thing in the morning for when she wakes up, and the doctor makes his rounds.”
“Of course.”
I say it with absolute certainty, already knowing I won’t leave his side tonight. I don’t want him to be alone.
And for the first time in a long time, I don’t want to be alone either.
Chapter 26
Landon
“God damn, woman.”
Ainsley turns to glance at me over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
I grip onto the porch railing as my eyes trail down her bare back. “I’m just now seeing the back of your dress.”
She rolls her eyes but she’s smiling as I step closer to her. I lift my hand and trace her spine with my fingers, loving the way she shivers under my touch.
“You’re beautiful.”
“You clean up nicely yourself.”
I fumble for my house key and stick it in the lock. “I’m just going to straighten up a bit. We ran out of here in a hurry. You can go right downstairs and?—”
“I’ll help.” Ainsley steps into the house and immediately flings off her shoes, grunting as she does. “You have no idea how badly these things hurt.”
Mental note, give her a foot massage later.
I chuckle. “They look like they’d hurt.”
Ainsley heads for the kitchen. “Heels are medieval torture devices created by men to ensure their wives couldn’t run away from them.”
She continues on her rant, but my legs are rooted to the floor in the entryway. Ainsley moves about my kitchen, putting dirty plates into the dishwasher, wiping off the countertops. She checks to make sure the sliding glass door is locked.
All of this, for me.
She left the prom because she was worriedabout me.
My heart thunders in my chest, that old familiar feeling taking hold of me. Ainsley always used to make me feel less alone. She had my back, showed up, helped. Even when I was at my lowest. When I didn’t deserve her. When I didn’t want to admit it. She had my best interest at heart.
She still does, after all this time.
“Hey.” Ainsley sticks her head out of the kitchen. “You okay?”
I stride toward her, my steps long and sure.
Backing her up against the counter, I take her face into my hands, and I kiss her. Hard. Suffocating. Like I need her to consume me and all that I am.
