AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not unlike me, she was quiet but, rather than anxious, I could tell her mind was just as quiet. Her body wasn’t tense, her hand wasn’t shaking in mine, and she still had the ghost of a smile on her face.
My sweet Grace was content right now, and if that didn’t put me on the top of the fucking world, I wasn’t sure what would. Not even thirty-six hours and I knocked that wall down.
Again, I silently shouted a victory in my head.
I had to let go of her hand for us to go through a tighter incline, but when she reached the top she waited for me, sliding her hand back into mine without asking. We were nearing the overlook now and Grace slowed down as we walked.
“It’s so beautiful up here,” she said quietly, a slight hint of awe in her voice. “I’ve never actually made it here before and I’m kind of kicking myself right now.”
“It is pretty beautiful, isn’t it?” I continued to walk with her toward the edge, leaving out the part that I was glad I could experience this first time with her. To see the awe on her face, hear it in her voice…those were things that were going to stay with me.
Just like every other damn thing this woman did.
Grace had wound herself so deeply into me five years ago, it didn’t matter what distance we put between us—she was a part of me. Lovers, friends, estranged…
She was a part of me and nothing was going to be able to change that.
Finally to our destination, we slowed to a stand. Surprising me, Grace moved in front of me, lifting our linked hands over her head and in front of her. She didn’t lean back into me but she didn’t have to. I closed that distance and pulled her close, loving when I felt her relax into me. This wasn’t a new embrace, no. We had danced this way once upon a time, and even in our years as friends, there had been a bonfire or two where she stood this close.
But it was the linked hands crossed over her middle that changed everything a fraction.
It was the fullness expanding in my chest that really drove it home.
This was right.
This was where I was supposed to be, where I should have been for the last five fucking years. She was what kept me grounded and while I had always known it, it was this moment that felt like the lightbulb moment.
I would move heaven and earth to figure out how to keep this woman.
I was done pretending that I was ok being just her friend. I wanted so much more.
