AllFreeNovel
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A waiter appears with the pretence of clearing up the spill, but underlying his presence is the implication we should stop what we’re doing, or leave.
Dylan releases me and winks at an open-mouthed woman at the next table. He grabs his jacket from the chair and holds out his hand. “Screw this. Let’s get room service instead.”
Through the Parisian streets, across our hotel lobby, and in the elevator we joke and kiss and remind each other of the “us” whose love can protect us from the world. Yes, the news hurts, but I won’t let this spoil tonight. I tell Dylan he needs to speak to Jem, and I get a monosyllabic response.
Back in the room, we tumble onto the king-sized bed in the centre of the suite and order pizza and wine. Then, cross-legged on the bed, we share memories from our holiday last year and talk about nothing else us as we eat and drink.
I grab the last pizza slice from the box before Dylan can, and hop off the bed before he can snatch it back. Standing in the floor to ceiling window, overlooking the Paris skyline, my heart swells as I look back at the extraordinary man sitting barefoot on the bed who’s happy with me and the ordinary. “If you really love me, you’ll let me eat the last slice.” I take a bite.
“Yeah?” he asks. I take another bite and smile at him. “I guess I really love you, then.” Dylan stands and drags me to him, then sinks backwards onto the bed. The pizza lands face down on the expensive sheets. “Always be you,” he says, holding my hair from my face. “Never change.”
I place my forehead against his as he grips me to him so I don’t fall. “I won’t, and never try to change me.”
He laughs and wipes sauce from the edge of my mouth with his thumb. “As if I have a chance, summer Sky. I learned that lesson months ago.”
I press my mouth against his and Dylan wraps his arms around, holding me tighter the way he anchors me to the world. Our lips’ gentle touch disappears as we lose ourselves in each other, kiss and seal ourselves back into the bubble we hide in. The reality outside can tear into us but will never pull us apart. Part of Dylan is part of me, and always was. I’m lucky; I found what my heart and soul were missing. Him.
