AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I…feel that way with you. Like…I matter.”
“You do. So much it surprises me every time I think about it. Which is quite a bit.”
“Really?”
“I don’t care about your past, Sarah. It’s the past. My life isn’t simple right now—I’m not sure it ever will be. It’s surrounded by violence on a regular basis with my jobs, my family, my…past. So being with me, it won’t be all sunshine and fun, but I can promise you one thing. You’re my girl, andthatI take very seriously. As long as I have breath, you’ll be my number one concern. My number one desire. My number one…everything. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.”
She clutched her throat, her eyes wide. The flicker of realization bloomed to life. She was mine, and I was hers.
And I was going to get my first kiss.
Chapter Twenty
Sarah
Boy,theresurewassomething magical about the guy holding my hand as we walked down the sidewalk. Totally taking a different way home so we didn’t have to pass the alley from earlier tonight.
Heat swirled in my belly like a warm blanket combating the chill in the air. Big, fat snowflakes danced in the darkness.
The sensation tumbling through me like a lazy creek flowing over rocks might be love. I wasn’t exactly sure what love was, but I hoped it felt like this. Because it was amazing. Or maybe it was the half bottle of wine I’d drank over the nearly three hours we sat at Gin’s place eating pasta, cheesecake, drinking wine, then coffee, and talking.
I loved Drey’s laugh. His smile. His funny stories and wisecracks.
“You cold?” he asked.
“Not even close.” I closed my eyes, letting the flakes land on my skin. This felt like a dream. “You?”
“Naw. Where to now?”
The streets were deserted. Weather forecasters were predicting several inches of snow tonight so everyone was probably packed into their homes. But not me. I loved this. Felt like a kid out here in this snow. Never got this in the southwest. And I’d been through only one winter here so far, so this was great.
“Once it starts accumulating, we might be able to build a snowman.”
“Now that’d be cool!”
“You say that like you’ve never built one before.”
“I sure haven’t.” I swung our clutched hands. “But I will with you.”
“And I make a mean hot cocoa and peppermint schnapps.”
“You’re on.”
He held my hand up, and I spun beneath him as if we were on a dance floor. “You like the snow?”
“It’s…clean.” I drew in a deep breath of the cool air. “Everything feels so fresh and new.”
I looked up ahead and realized I couldn’t even see that far anymore. It was really coming down. How cool.
We made it to the stoplight at the corner and Drey nodded at the convenience store. “Hot cocoa supplies? We can start a little early.”
“Yes!”
We hustled through the store, nabbing the last package of cocoa and one of the last gallons of milk.
“You’d think the world was coming to an end the way people freak out with each snowstorm and gather supplies.” Drey huffed, the snowflakes dancing around his head.
A flake landed on the tip of his nose, and I tapped it. “Drey?”
