Page 93 of Crashing into Love

“I want this to work. I want this, Selma. I want us to figure out how it works, with you there and me here. I don’t have a ton of money, but I’ve got some sponsorship and endorsement money that I put away because I didn’t need it to live on, so I’ve got savings. I know you can’t just move to the US, and I can’t just move there without taking some steps, but I want to do that one day. I want us to have that to work toward, whatever that looks like for us. It’s been two weeks, yeah, but I know what I want: I want you and Gia in my life, however I can get you. I’m crazy about you, and I want this to work.” Drew moved her index finger back and forth between them. “So, you tell me what you want, and we find a way to have it. Or, we meet in the middle on some things, and we go from there.”

Selma looked off to the side for a second before she asked, “Is that champagne?”

“Yeah. And a cheese plate,” Drew added, motioning to it. “I thought we’d celebrate being in the same room again before we go to dinner. I didn’t expect this conversation.”

“Oh, babe… I’m sorry.” Selma moved to Drew, and her hands, surprisingly, went under Drew’s shirt and rested on her stomach. “I shouldn’t have blurted all that out while we were just coming up here. We could’ve talked about that later.”

“We can talk about it whenever. I just wasn’t expecting it now, so I did a thing, but it’s okay. We can skip it and keep talking.”

“What? No way. We’re having that champagne and cheese, and I’m going to spend time with my girlfriend, who I missed. We’re also going to talk about the stuff we want to talk about and not the stuff we can talk about later, like the logistics of one of us moving to a different country one day, which seems like a lot for only being together for two weeks.” Selma winked at her.

“So, I should cancel my visa application?” she joked.

“For now,” Selma replied and wrapped her hands around Drew’s back, rubbing it up and down over Drew’s skin in mesmerizing patterns.

“If you keep doing that, I’m going to want to do something else,” Drew told her.

“Like what?” Selma asked in a teasing tone.

“You know what, Selma.”

“Well, you did get us this fancy room,” Selma replied.

“Don’t tease,” Drew said, quirking an eyebrow.

Selma smiled up at her and told her, “I’m ready.”

“You are?”

“If you are, I’m ready.”

“Wait. Right now?”

“Not right now. You did a whole thing, and I know you made a dinner reservation. It doesn’t have to be tonight after that, either. I just want you to know that I’m ready. I don’t want you to hold back like I know you did the last time we were together. I want you.”

“I want you,” Drew said and kissed her nose. “In all ways, beautiful.”

“Will you pour us some champagne while I go to the bathroom?”

“Of course.”

Selma kissed her quickly and turned to go. Drew took a deep breath and reached for the bottle.

“There’s a hot tub in here?!” Selma yelled from the bathroom.

“It’s a jacuzzi tub,” she corrected.

“I don’t care what you call it. This thing has jets! We’re using it!”

Drew chuckled.

CHAPTER 28

Drew had worn her lucky jacket along with a long-sleeved Henley, which was evergreen and brought out her eyes. Her blonde hair was slicked back, but a piece of her hair kept falling in front of her ear, and Selma wished she’d sat next to Drew instead of across from her so she could reach out and put it back behind the woman’s ear. Then again, she kind of liked that it made Drew look just slightly imperfect.

“How has your knee been doing?” Selma asked, trying to focus on anything other than how good Drew looked.

“It’s been fine. I asked to see my scans, like you suggested.”

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