Page 74 of Undefeated

I raised my hands from his chest and waved my arms in front of him.

“Shhhh. Don’t talk to me. Don’t touch me,” I said.

Silence.

I want this feeling, forever. The right here. The right now. I want to bask in this for a lifetime. This is what the books are written about. Everyone wants this and no one actually gets it. This is heaven. This is life with Shane Dekkar.

“Babe you’re shaking,” he said as his hand touched my thigh.

“Don’t talk,” I said as I opened my eyes.

He looked up at me, his face filled with worry.

“I need a minute,” I said.

His eyes widened.

I closed my eyes, “It’s good, babe. The good kind of don’t talk to me. The good kind of don’t touch me. The, oh my God, I want this feeling to last forever type of feeling. That’s what I’ve got going on.”

I paused and took a slow, deep breath.

“It’s okay, I’m fine now. You can talk,” I said as I slid back on his thighs toward his knees.

“What happened?” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked at him in amazement.

“You happened, Shane. You happened,” I responded, still in a daze.

Slowly, he smiled.

“You knew you were going to do this to me, didn’t you?” I asked.

He tapped me once on the thigh.

“Fucker,” I smiled.

“Kace, I didn’t ask for this. I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. I wasn’t trying to find a partner, a wife, a whatever. All I know is this – you entered my life, and when you did, things changed. Things inside of me changed. The feelings that you cause me to feel, they’re different. They’re not like other feelings I have ever had. Now that I have felt this, I know what everyone talks about. I know what it’s like to feel as if you need someone to just survive. I love and hate it both. It scares me. You scare me,” he said as he sat up in the bed.

“I scare you? Seriously?” I slid off of his legs and lay down beside him, my head resting on my hand.

“The good kind,” he chuckled, now sitting straight up in the bed.

“I don’t need. I never have. I have always been fine being alone. I’ve always known it’s how I’d live my life, I suppose - alone and happy. Now that I’ve met you - now that we have this, I can’t deny that it’s meant to be. Kace, I’m scared to death to try and live without you,” he said.

I looked into his eyes and felt full of emotion. I felt full of pride. Full of love. I was about to cry, and I don’t like to cry.

“You’ll never be without me, Shane. Never,” I said as I rubbed his arm with my free hand.

“Never?” he asked.

“Never,” I responded.

He made a fist and held it over his chest.

I made a fist and tapped it against his fist.

“You’re stuck now,” he said.