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Shaye
The aftershocks are still rippling through me. I’d only read about them before, but holy crap. Amazing is an understatement. I roll over to find Nico’s eyes on me. A lazy grin lifts his lips. Those lips…Jesus. They don’t quit. I could live out the rest of my days very happily wearing absolutely nothing and having those lips blanket me in the sweetest of kisses from morning until night.
“How do you feel?” His eyebrows furrow, his fingertips tracing a path over my arm. “Are you sore? I tried to go easy, but…” I can see a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “It was hard, literally and figuratively.”
I giggle. “I’m okay. It burned in the beginning, you know, until we really got going.” Heat creeps into my cheeks and my eyes fall to the sheet covering us. “It’s fine now. Trust me, any tiny bit of pain pales in comparison to that epic ending.”
He winks at me. “Trust me, there’s a hell of a lot more where that came from.”
“Good, because I’ve waited a really long time for it.”
A buzzing sound comes from the night stand where Nico left his phone. He groans and rolls over to pick it up.
I toy with the stitching on the sheet and watch the muscles in his back tense before he flips back over toward me. He reaches out and fingers one of my blonde-pink curls. “You are more beautiful right now than you’ve ever been, do you know that?”
“Why? Because I’m naked?” I roll my eyes and snicker.
“No.” He slides an arm around me and pulls me close, so he can nuzzle my ear. “Although, I will say I much prefer you this way than with clothes on.”
“That’s such a typical guy thing to say.”
“So you’ve heard it a lot then? Can’t say I’m not a little surprised at that.”
I gasp. “Nico, you know I’ve never—"
“I know.” He smirks for a second before his expression turns serious. “Shaye, any time I tell you something, I want you to know it’s genuine. I never want you to question how many times I’ve said it to any other girl before. I never want you to think I’m using lines on you, because I’m not.” He tucks my hair behind my ear and strokes the side of my face. Tiny butterflies in my belly are roused by the gentle touch and begin swarming, waiting, hoping…“I know I haven’t been honest with you in the past, but it’s only because I didn’t know how I’d be able to keep you safe.”
“And you do now?”
“No. And there are other things to contend with…Max, your dad, my dad, Max…”
“So, you’re saying we’re doomed.” My eyes drop, and the once-anxious butterflies fall to the pit of my stomach, motionless and defeated. Kind of like the way I feel right now.
“Hey.” His voice drops to a low murmur and he tilts my chin upward. I try to shake off his hand before he can see the tears pool in my eyes. I don’t want him to see me crumble. Not again. Why do I keep letting this happen? When am I going to learn? Maybe it’s time to change majors since I clearly haven’t learned a damn thing about how to control my own emotions.
Okay, I know it’s only been four months, but still…
“Don’t cry, baby.” He smiles and slides closer, kissing the tears streaming down my cheeks. “You can’t be sad for this next part. You’re gonna ruin the moment.”
A sob escapes, and I cover my mouth to keep the next one from exploding out of me.
“God, you’re fucking incredible. Everything about you, Shaye. I love your passion, your sensitivity, your warmth, your fire — I love everything about you that’s missing in me. That’s why we’re so perfect together. You fill in all the gaps, baby. Every single one.”
I sniffle. “You can be so damn sweet. Sometimes.”
He shakes his head. “Nobody sees me the way you do. I’d never let them. I don’t want anyone to see me the way you do. All of this is for you and you alone. Nobody makes me feel the way that you do.” He pauses, his hand still on my cheek. “I’d give it all up for you, Shaye. I’d walk away from everything.”
My eyes widen. “Nico, don’t be insane. You can’t just—"
“I can,” he says, his tone flat. “I can turn and leave it all behind, never looking back once. If you’re by my side, I can do that.”
I swallow hard. “But you’re so good at what you do, and you love it…”
His arm tightens around my waist, his fingertips trailing up and down my spine. “Not as much as I love you. None of this is worth it if I don’t have a fucking reason to come home at night.” My heart damn-near stops once those words pierce the still air. I part my lips to respond, but I don’t hear any words spoken. I know what I want to say, but my mind and my mouth refuse to coordinate their efforts. My pulse is suddenly in my throat, throbbing with a voracity I’ve never experienced. I try once again to squeak out a reply, but now there’s a wad of imaginary cotton in its way. How convenient.
“I’m in love with you, Shaye.” And then he smiles, a real one, not one of the bullshit ones he flashes at business associates or big-boobed girls he wants to take home. A genuine smile, bright like I’ve never seen before. “In case that wasn’t clear the first time I said it in the hospital or just now. I know how you like to be thorough. No guessing games. This is me being as honest as I’ve ever been in my life.”
“I-I...” Well, that’s an improvement. At least I have proven that I can stutter. “N-n…” I swallow once more to battle the little slice of the Sahara desert in my mouth. “I love you, too.” Thank God my numb tongue is now functioning once again.
