Page 37 of Love Like Ours

“He has no inside manners.” Palmer laughed and handed her a towel to dry herself off. When she was done, he wrapped his arms around her. “Morning,” he said after he kissed her.

“Good morning.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His hair was wet from the rain and his eyes were glued to hers. God, he was so amazing. How had they avoided one another till now? Why had they avoided one another?

Then, before she could respond, he lifted her up into his arms, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. He backed her into the countertop and pushed aside the empty coffee mugs she’d found in the cupboard. His mouth covered hers, and his hands moved up her thighs, over her hips, around her entire body.

The night before, she had taken the time to appreciate everything about him. Enjoyed exploring his entire body, running her fingertips over every muscle. This morning, however, her patience was low. Her nails scraped against his skin as she yanked at his clothing.

When he finally embedded himself deep in her, a low growl emanated from her chest. She locked her ankles around him as the kisses and movements softened.

“Mine,” she thought she heard him say softly against her chest as she fell over the edge. Mine, she thought in return.

Half an hour later, she watched Palmer pile thick ham slices onto his plate from his air fryer. “Parker and Sara took me to Ireland my senior year and ever since then, this is bacon.” He motioned to his plate and winked at her. “How many slices?”

“One,” she said as he set two on her plate. “One.” She tried to pull her plate away.

“Trust me, you’ll be back for seconds.” He added eggs to his plate.

“I’m surprised you don’t have beans,” she joked.

“Oh?” His eyebrows shot up. “Have you been to Ireland?”

“Scotland,” she said. “Once, before… I moved to Pride. I went with my mother.” She fought back the sadness and pasted on a smile as she sat down at the bar top. “It’s the other half of our heritage, apparently.”

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” he said, sitting next to her.

“What?” she asked, trying to avoid his gaze.

His fingers gently nudged her chin until she was looking into his eyes. His thumb brushed the tear that had slid down her cheek as she’d remembered the week she’d spent in Edinburgh with her mother. The fun they’d had exploring the old town with the castle on the hill. All the wonderful food they’d had, the shopping, the laughter.

“Mask your sorrow. It’s okay to be sad. Your mother was pretty amazing.” He smiled slightly at her. “You were lucky to have wonderful times with her.”

She nodded, knowing his past. Suddenly she felt selfish and spoiled for having at least one loving parent in her childhood.

“See, there you go, now you’re feeling guilty.” He shook his head. “You don’t have to hide your feelings from me.”

In the next few moments, something changed inside Sophia. Words, feelings, pain that she’d never expected to let loose flowed from her until her dried tears stained her cheeks and her chest felt strangely much lighter.

Palmer held her, listening to every word while she finally unleashed everything she’d been holding onto for months. She let everything go for probably the first time in her life.

“I didn’t mean to unload on you,” she said between sniffles.

Palmer chuckled, the sound vibrating against her cheek.

“Trust me, I know how it feels to finally release it all.”

She leaned back and wiped her eyes so she could see him. “You do?”

He nodded. “After I came to live with my brother, they set me up with a counselor. Well, Parker and I went together. We both had… issues to work through.”

She nodded, understanding completely. “It helped?”

It was his turn to nod. “Very much. I’d never thought that just talking to someone would help. It did. You feel drained, tired, and oddly lighter. Right?”

She assessed her own body, her mind, her heart, before nodding slowly. “Yeah.”

He smiled. “I know just what you need to get over this hump. My official prescription is more coffee, a walk on the beach with an unruly dog, followed by a bowl of ice cream and, after that, a very long nap.” He winked.

“Sounds like a foolproof plan,” she replied, her lips curving into a smile as Loki bounded to the door, tail wagging with excitement.