Page 81 of Never Let Go

She chuckled, not opening her eyes but keeping her grip tight on my hand. “There was nothing really to forgive, was there? I thought you did something that you hadn’t done. It was a misunderstanding. If anything, I should be apologizing to you for reacting the way I did without giving you a chance to explain.”

“No apology necessary, but I forgive you anyway. After I wimped out in college, I guess I should’ve known you’d suspect that I was being less than honest with you.”

Her eyes finally blinked open and she smiled at me. “Both of us wimped out in college, but we’re putting it behind us now. There’s nothing we can do to change the past, so I guess we better focus on the future.”

“About that.” I ran my fingers up and down the bare length of her arm, still staring at her like I would never stop. “This may go without saying, but you’re my girlfriend now, right? We’re going to give this thing a real try?”

“Yes, and thanks for asking and not just assuming.” She lifted her hand to drag her fingertips along my jaw. “Do you have any idea how much time I spent wondering what this face looked like? It seems so surreal that I finally know now and that it’s you.”

“Yeah, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it too. If it helps, I spent just as much time thinking about you.”

Surprise flickered in her eyes. “You did?”

“I did.” A naughty smile spread on my lips and I winked at her. “Not all my thoughts were pure, though. Especially not after we kissed.”

She widened her eyes at me. Then they dipped down to my chest where my body disappeared under the sheets with hers. Her cheeks blushed beet red before she looked up at me again. “Will you tell me what your thoughts were sometime?”

“I’ve shown you what some of them were,” I said, then grinned. “I’m looking forward to showing you all the rest too. How about you?”

“Uh, the same.” She flushed to the roots of her hair this time, vulnerability shimmering in her eyes as she looked up at me. “You felt it too, then. The chemistry? It wasn’t just me?”

I snorted. “It definitely wasn’t just you, baby. I spent most of our dates so hard, I could barely move, but at the same time, I just wanted to keep talking to you forever. It was weird.”

“Weird in a good way?”

“Weird in the best way,” I assured her, then studied her eyes and frowned. “You’re really not very comfortable talking about sex or being turned on, are you?”

She shook her head. “I guess I just haven’t had much practice.” Her hands came up to catch my face, her eyes locked on mine. “I hope to get some now, though. A lot, actually. I want to be as confident as you are about it, and as open as Ashley is, but I’m going to need time.”

“I can give you that. I can give you all the time in the world, as long as you keep forgiving me when I fuck up and keep letting me explain myself to you if I make a mistake. You may not have much experience with sex, but I don’t have a lot with relationships.”

“You don’t?”

I shrugged. “I’m a nerd at heart, remember?”

“Says the guy who just admitted to having a lot of experience with sex,” she teased. “How about this? We just agree to be patient with each other, to hear each other out always, and to be honest if we run into anything we’re unsure about?”

“Yes,” I said. “To all of the above.”

“Good.”

My stomach rumbled and Shelby laughed. “Should we go grab some breakfast? We can cook together. I’ll show you some of my mom’s tricks and you can show me some of yours?”

“As long as you promise never to mention our mothers while we’re naked again, I’m in.” I planted another kiss on her lips and then reluctantly rolled away. I got off the bed and handed over my shirt for her to wear.

When she put it on, I almost tackled her right back to the bed, but eventually, I beat the urge and took her hand and led her to the kitchen instead. Shelby’s head seemed to be on a swivel as we left the master bedroom and made our way to the main area of the apartment. I smiled when her gaze finally came back to mine.

“Nice place, right?” I said. “It could be yours soon too, if you’ll agree to move in.”

Her jaw slackened. “Whoa, there. Easy, tiger. Let’s give this a few months before we start talking about moving in together.”

“Fine, but as soon as you’re ready, tell me and I’ll ask again, but I’m ready now.” I meant it too. We were going to make this work. I could feel it in my bones.

As we walked into my kitchen, I showed her where everything was and then just watched her for a moment, completely enchanted with her full curves in my white button-down shirt. Her shapely legs reaching from underneath it. Her messy, blonde hair against the collar.

“You should keep that,” I said as I finally forced my ass into motion and strode to the fridge to get some eggs. “It looks way better on you than it ever will on me.”

She smiled and waggled her brows at me. “Thank you. I’m going to take you up on that, but only so I’ve got something to sleep in that smells like you for now.”