Shrugging, she peered at the setting sun. “It’s beautiful up here. So peaceful. I didn’t think it would feel that way coming back here.”
“To the carriage house or here in general?”
“Both, I guess. I have a new appreciation for home these days.” She rested her head on the back of the sectional. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it—the food, the community, the culture. Even the potholes.” She looked at me. “You. Remember our first fight?”
I chuckled. “I warned you not to touch my game.”
“I believe your exact words wereIf you touch my Game Boy, I’ll smack you.”
“Yeah,” I scratched the back of my neck. “I was ten years old.”
Grandma Liv had always hosted the Fourth of July, even back then. That year, my entire family came. Albany and I had grown closer after she switched schools, but I was mad at her that day for some reason. Probably because she’d let some little boy hold her hand at Cedar Point. We’d clashed immediately the moment she asked to playNFL 2K3, especially after my mother insisted that I share.
“Even at that age, you were full of yourself,” she said. “So cocky. I wanted to throw that game into the Detroit River.”
“You settled for that puddle, instead.”
She cracked up, letting her head fall back as she laughed. “You deserved it.” Silence stretched between us for a moment. Then, she whispered, “I knew one thing for sure that day.”
Unable to help myself, I leaned forward, placed a soft kiss to her lips. “What’s that?”
“That my life would never be the same if you weren’t in it.” She lowered her gaze. “Over the last few days when you were giving me space, I thought about you a lot. How you were with me, always taking care of me, making sure I was good all the time. You loved me more than anyone ever loved me. When you left, I panicked because I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel it again.”
“Have you?”
“Never. At least, not until now.”
Unable to resist her any longer, I pulled her to me, pressing my lips to hers. Albany melted into my arms when I deepened the kiss, moaning slightly as we fell back against the cushion. She tugged at my shirt, lifting it up and off. I kissed her—from her mouth to her chin, down her neck, then back up to her lips. I wanted to crawl inside her and never leave.
The thought was sobering, but nonetheless true. I wanted more than sex. I wanted her time. I wanted to fall asleep in her arms. I wanted coffee dates in the morning before work. I wanted to share every dinner with her. Forever.
Breaking the kiss, I rested my forehead against hers. “Bug, we’re here. I could make love to you, drown myself in you. But I need to know if this is just a tonight thing. Or a forever thing.”
Albany searched my eyes, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Is that what you want?”
I brushed my thumb over her mouth, placed a kiss there. “I do. I want it more than anything.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.”
“I’m scared, too.”
“Can we take it slow?”
I circled her nose with mine. “Whatever you need.”
Nodding, she said, “Then, take me home.”
Half an hour later, we stumbled into her condo, clinging to each other as we fumbled toward the bedroom. The world melted away, blurring everything but her—her soft skin, her low moans, her full lips.Damn.I couldn’t get enough of her mouth. And I would never be able to stop touching her.
But …
Her dress was like a puzzle I wanted to master. Tomorrow. Right now, I needed it off, I needed her naked.
Open.
Only for me.
Alwaysfor me.
