Page 99 of Never To Be Mine

“Stay the night,” he said softly, kissing the top of my head.

I smiled against his chest. “I already planned to.”

I nestled closer against his chest, letting the steady rhythm of his heartbeat relax me. His arms tightened around me, one hand tracing slow circles on my bare back while the other rested at my hip. The sheets were cool against our skin, the faint scent of sea salt drifting in through the open window.

“What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever bought?” I asked, my voice soft in the quiet room.

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through me. “A tiger.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know that movie, the one with the tiger in the hotel room. I wanted a tiger. Borrowed my mom’s credit card and bought one.”

“You did not.”

“I did. Never met the thing. Mom found out, and from what I understand, it lives in a very nice sanctuary in Africa. They send me cards every year thanking me for the donation and asking for another one. My parents said I almost created an international incident.”

I smiled against his skin. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Your turn. Worst purchase?”

“A pair of shoes I wore once and then hid in the back of my closet because they pinched my toes so bad I wanted to cry. I still have them.”

“Sentimental value?”

“More like stubborn refusal to admit defeat. And I paid over a thousand dollars for them.”

We drifted like that, trading silly stories about bad haircuts and awkward teenage phases, his fingers never stopping their gentle strokes. The conversation faded into comfortable silences, broken only by soft laughs and the occasional murmur about favorite pizza toppings or the worst movie we’d ever seen. His voice grew lower, sleepier. His hold never loosened, making the world outside feel far away.

I felt my eyelids grow heavy, the contentment wrapping around me like a weighted blanket. No tension, no overthinking, just the solid warmth of him and the knowledge that it felt right to be in his arms. My last thought before sleep claimed me was how perfectly I fit against him.

32

HOLLIS

Iwoke up with Juno draped across my chest like she belonged there. Her breathing was slow and deep. One arm was thrown across my stomach, her leg hooked over mine.

I watched her sleep. And for once, I didn’t immediately reach for my phone. Didn’t think about orders or emails or the seventeen things waiting on my to-do list.

I just lay there, watching her sleep.

She looked different. The little furrow she usually wore between her brows had almost completely smoothed out. Her lips were slightly parted. Her hair was a golden disaster across my pillow, and she’d never looked more beautiful.

Shit.

I think I’m falling in love with this girl.

The thought sucker punched me.

I stared at the ceiling and let it sink in. Love. After barely knowing each other for two months. After only dating for three weeks, much of which was spent apart. That was insane. Love took time.

But this didn’t feel like lust. Lust I’d had plenty of. Lust was familiar territory. The spark, the chase, the fading interest. That was my pattern. The one I’d warned her about. With every other woman, there had always come a moment when the newness wore off and I started looking for the exit.

With Juno, I kept looking for more. More of the way she challenged me on everything from marketing strategy to the best songs. Three weeks in and the restlessness hadn’t shown up. Not even a whisper of it. I just kept thinking about the next thing with her. Places I wanted to visit. Things I wanted to experience with her. Instead of an exit, I was looking at the future.

I couldn’t tell her. Not yet. It was way too fast and saying it out loud felt like tempting fate. What if I was wrong? What if this was just the high of great sex and the thrill of finally being with someone who didn’t bore me? I needed to sit with it. Kick the idea around for a while. Make absolutely sure before I put something that big between us.

Except I’d never once in my life wondered if I was in love with someone. The fact that I was wondering now felt significant.