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“That I’ll get slapped?”
She shakes her head. “That you won’t.”
“I’ll take those odds,” I murmur before closing the final breath of distance between us. My mouth teases hers. Carefully. Softly. Not demanding but not asking for permission, either. It’s a taste. A promise. That if she lets me in, the results will be more than either of us could’ve ever asked for. And she knows that as well as I do.
We fit just as perfectly as before. Hell, even better because we know what’s like to live without the other. And it’s unbearable.
A soft whimper vibrates against my lips as I slide my tongue along the seam of her lips. She sighs and raises onto her tiptoes to get closer to me. To put us both out of our misery. Because this is normal. This is easy. This is two souls who’ve been apart for too long. This is just a kiss. But it’s everything I’ve ever needed. Everything I knew I’ve been missing since the moment I broke a girl’s heart that I wanted to keep forever.
“Dad! Miss Swenson!” Grady yells from the family room.
Ending the kiss all too soon, I rest my forehead against Saylor’s and exhale slowly while trying not to lose my shit on my cockblocker of a son.
“I’ve got bad news for you,” Saylor whispers.
“What’s that?”
“A kiss like that isn’t normal. Trust me. I spent years trying to find it after you left.”
“So did I,” I rasp.
She smiles back at me. “But it is easy with you. Maybe a little too easy, if I’m being honest. I’m uh, I’m going to go use that bathroom. You better start the movie before you wind up with a full-blown rebellion on your hands. I’ll be there in a few.”
“Okay.”
She slips around me, her hips swaying back and forth in a pair of dark jeans before disappearing around the corner toward the guest bathroom.
“Dad!” Grady calls again.
I shake my head and clear my throat. “I’m coming!” I yell before cringing at my poor word choice.
I wish I was coming.
Shaking my head, I go to the family room, then get the movie set up and push play. But I can’t focus on a freaking word until Saylor comes into view a few minutes later. She tiptoes toward me before lifting her chin toward the cushion to my left.
“Is this seat taken?”
I lift my finger to my lips, motioning for her to be quiet, then grab her arm and tug her toward me.
Her hand covers her face to muffle her laughter, but her eyes are still crinkled in the corners, and it’s the prettiest sight I’ve ever seen. A fresh wave of nerves is bubbling just beneath the surface, but she pushes them aside and snuggles into my chest, resting her head on my pec. Just like she used to. The familiar scent of sweet vanilla clings to her hair and tickles my nose, but I avoid the urge to lean in and breathe deep. Instead, I wrap my arm around her shoulders and squeeze softly, soaking up the moment like a dry sponge. I know what it’s like to live without these moments, and I refuse to take them for granted ever again.
The rest of the movie goes by in a blur, and I don’t catch a single plot point. I’m too busy memorizing the way Say’s chest rises and falls or the soft gasps that escape her anytime something intense happens on the screen even though she’s seen the movie a thousand times. When it’s finished, I tell the boys to get in their snow gear and play in the backyard for a few minutes, promising to start the next movie in an hour. Thankfully, they oblige without arguing.
Which leaves me and Saylor alone. Again.
“So…your son most definitely caught us snuggling during the movie. You know that, right?” Saylor points out as soon as the back door slams shut.
My eyebrow arches toward the ceiling. “Is that a problem?”
“I don’t”––her button nose scrunches with indecision––“I don’t know? What do you think?”
“He might be young, Say, but he’s not stupid. He knows I have a crush on you.”
She laughs. “A crush?”
“Yeah.”
“He knows you have a crush on me?” she clarifies, her grin wide and carefree.
