Page 218 of In Somnis

Because none of it accounts for this.

For her choosing me.

She smells like lemonade every time she walks into a room.

She’s like the human version of the sun, and every time I’m with her, it feels so warm.

And she keeps scrunching that nose.

Shit.

“Yellow” by Coldplay starts drifting through the speakers inside the inn, and I glance over her shoulder. Jasper is standing in the doorway, with both thumbs up, an enormous grin, and zero subtlety.

The laugh that escapes me startles both of us.

Lennon turns to look behind her, then back at me. “What’s funny?”

I shake my head once.

“Jasper’s cards were right after all.”

She goes still.

The fairy lights sway in the breeze, inside, the song keeps going, and my hands come up, and for a breath, I hesitate, giving her time to move away if she wants to.

She doesn’t, not even a fraction.

I take her face in both hands.

Her skin is soft and warm under my palms, and she leans into the touch when I bring my forehead down to rest against hers.

We stay there, breathing the same air.

Her lashes flutter. “Nev.”

I let my nose drag slowly up the back of hers, then down again, and when I stop, I’m close enough to feel the small hitch in her breath against my mouth.

“I can’t take one more second,” I murmur softly. “Without your lips on mine.”

She gasps…

… and I kiss the gasp right off her mouth.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Lennon

Nevan kisses me, and I let him.

For one whole second, I let him, one warm and gentle second that tastes of banana bread, birthday, and something distinctly Nevan, which is a combination I did not previously know existed but turns out to be extremely compelling. My fingers curl into the fabric of his hi-vis vest without my permission as the fairy lights above us blur into soft gold, and for a moment, the world reduces itself to exactly this.

His mouth against mine.

His hand slides into my hair.

The swing creaks faintly under me, and he kisses as if he means it, like he’s been thinking about it. But then my brain, which has apparently been on a brief unauthorized holiday, comes back online.

Paul.