Page 115 of Dare To Fall

“If you’re cooking, then I’m starving.”

She laughs. “Saying all the right things.” She opens the oven door and takes out the dish. “Baked ziti for dinner. And I made cookies earlier to snack on later.” She looks over her shoulder at me. “Could you set the table, please?”

I flip closed my sketchbook and clear the table of my pencils, wipe it over with a cloth, then set out two plates, silverware, and open a bottle of wine. Moving up behind her, I wrap an arm around her waist and bury my face into the curve of her throat.

“Ari, I—”

“Unless you’re about to throw me over your shoulder, toss me onto the nearest surface and ravish me, wash your hands and sit down.”

I laugh, press a kiss to her shoulder, and step back. “Sorry, babe. I need food, otherwise, I’ll be too weak to make you scream my name later.”

I follow her to the table and wait while she portions out the food, then hold out her chair for her.

“Would madame like wine?” I toss a tea towel across my arm and hold up the wine bottle.

She laughs up at me, and nods. I fill both our glasses, then settle on the chair beside her.

“Fun fact,” I tell her as she scoops up a forkful of food. “We’ve known each other for six months.”

“It seems longer.” She chews and swallows. “Wait. How do you know? I thought you couldn’t do math.”

“It’s March. I know, up here …” I tap the side of my head. “... that September to March is six months. It doesn’t really mean anything to me, but I know what it is. When I first went to Churchill Bradley, my mom taught me how long it was between the semesters, so I knew when I would go home. So, September to December is three months. January to March is three months, and then March to June is three months.”

I lift my glass and tilt it toward her. “The point I’m making is it’s been six months since you burst into my life and turned it upside down.”

“I think if anyone’s life was turned upside down, it was mine.” She softens the words with a smile.

I put my glass down and drag my chair closer to her. Taking the fork out of her hand I place it on her plate and curl my fingers around hers.

“I’m sorry, Ari. I was stupid, cruel, and wrong. I behaved badly and made what should have been an exciting thing for you awful and frightening.” I lift her fingers to my lips and kiss each one. “How can I make it up to you?” I waggle my eyebrows.

She laughs, pulls her fingers free and palms my cheek, her thumb sweeping over my bottom lip. “I like this version of you.”

***

I wake up early Sunday morning. Ari is wrapped around me, face buried against my throat and one leg thrown across mine. She’s fast asleep, her breathing soft and steady. We didn’t get to sleep until late, after spending yet another day talking and then crawling into bed together.

Easing onto my side, I press a path of kisses along her shoulder, up her throat, over her jaw until I reach her lips.

“Time to wake up, baby.”

Her brows pleat and she grumbles softly.

“Kellan is getting here early. Do you want to be in bed when he arrives? Especially if he’s with Miles.”

Her arms tighten around me. “Can’t we just stay here and never go back?”

I kiss the corner of her mouth. “I wish we could. But we’ll run out of food. And without a cell phone or a car, we can’t get more.”

“I didn’t plan on going back. I packed everything.”

“I know. We saw the cases. Don’t worry, Kellan will bring it all with him. And you have a load of new clothes as well.”

Her eyelashes flutter, and then her blue eyes lock on mine. “You bought all the clothes here for me, didn’t you?”

I nod. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I just stuck with sweats and t-shirts.”

Her fingers stroke down my back, over my hip and round to curl around my dick. “Did I ever thank you for the clothes?”

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