Page 63 of One Day

“You’re allowed to be in your feelings with me.” He trails his fingers over my skin, fingers curling around the back of my neck and squeezing gently. “You’re safe here. With me.”

“I know.” Reaching up, I trail my fingers along his bottom lip and drag my finger down, my fingertip hitting his teeth, and his lips curl up slightly as he bites down gently on it. “I’ve always known that, Cowboy,” I say, scooting towards him. “You’re my safe place.”

His hand moves over my hip, bunching up the fabric of his shirt on my body as he pulls me forward, and there’s something gentle about the way he does it. His body a cradle to mine, his warmth seeping into my skin and wrapping me in a bubble. It’s not one I ever wish to leave. I want to be here with him forever. I’m sure of it at this very moment that there is nowhere I would rather be than in the safety of his arms.

And that scares me in a way I’ve never felt. This utter desire I have to always be near him, the way I crave him more and more every day. It’s new terrain to travel, and maybe that means I should get off this ride.

We said we’d be honest with each other, and I should be about this. That things have begun to shift and turn and take new shape. Shapes neither of us have faced together before, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I’m not ready to stop this with him, and I worry by being honest, by telling him the truth, that he might tell me we have to stop. Our friendship is too important to keep going, to keep chancing it, knowing the kindling for change is right there on the edge, just waiting to ignite.

I want to be a little greedy. To soak in more of this before we have to draw a finish line and put an end to something really great.

“Sunny,” he whispers, pressing a small kiss to my lips and tangling his fingers in my hair again. Something I’ve grown to love so desperately. Especially when his thumb darts over my pulse point as if he’s checking to make sure I’m real. “Where’d you go?”

“Right here.” I lean forward and kiss his collarbone, his fingers curling tighter against my side, and just as I’m about to climb into his lap for the second time tonight, his phone starts ringing on the nightstand. His attention falls away from me as he sits up to grab it, a soft sigh filling the room when he ignores the call, but not before I catch the picture of him and his mom on the screen. “Walker,” I say, squeezing his elbow when I see the crease between his brows. “You know you’re safe to be in your feelings with me, too.”

His lips press together, setting his phone face down after turning it off. He falls back into the mattress, pressing his hand to his abdomen. “I…” he trails off, blowing out a quick breath.

“Why are you ignoring your mom?”

“I’m not—”

“Walker.” I sit up and climb into his lap, giving him something to focus on as my knees press into his hips and my hands run up his chest. “Talk to me.”

He runs his fingers into his hair, pulling at the ends. I slide my hands up his triceps, untangling his fingers from the dark locks to tangle our fingers together. “I accidentally told her I’m coming home for the summer to work in our town lawyer’s office.”

“But you aren’t.”

Swallowing, he pulls my arm forward over his shoulder and untangles our fingers to slide his up my thighs and under the hem of my shirt. He trails up to the small of my back, dragging his finger down. “I’ve already worked out a list for other internships with my advisor here in Michigan,” he says, drawing circles over my skin.

For a single second, I let hope bloom that the reason he’s staying is me. I know it’s not, that it would be insane of me to think so, but for one second, I let myself believe it. I let myself balance on the idea that we could be more.

Loosely draping my arms over his shoulder, my fingertips trail up his back until my fingers are tangled in his hair. “I’m guessing she doesn’t know about that.”

“I brought it up earlier, but before I could tell her the truth, she had to end our call abruptly,” he says, squeezing my hips. “The same way she did when I accidentally agreed, and now I can’t bring myself to.” He takes a pause, and I let him sit in his feelings, slowly running my fingers through the ends of his curls. “It’s going to break her heart, Sunny. I can’t do it.”

“I don’t think it will.” I move my hands to hold his face between my hands, his stubble making the tender skin of my palms tickle. “She loves you, Walker. She just wants you to be happy, whether that’s in Georgia or here. It won’t matter. You just have to be honest with her.”

He leans forward, pressing his forehead to my chest. “That’s easier said than done.”

I trail my fingertips down his back, his skin warm against mine. “You know, it doesn’t have to be so scary, Cowboy,” I whisper, smiling when I feel him chuckle against my chest. “I’ll even hold your hand through it.”

Lifting his head, he smiles. “Yeah?”

I nod. “Safe place.”

He presses his lips to the hollow of my throat and then my chin before his fingers trail over my back, pulling me flush to his chest. “Safe place, Sunny. It’s always been with you,” he whispers, pressing his lips to the space above my heart. “Always.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

SONYA

A smile is on my face when I wake up. I can’t help it. The lingering hint of mint hangs around the room, overwhelming me as I turn onto my back, expecting to find Walker in the spot next to me, but instead, I find the bed empty and the door to his room slightly ajar.

Running my fingertips along my collarbone, I pause at the spot he marked. His touch, his lips, his teeth branding me in the memory of him. It’s a freeing feeling to give myself over to someone, letting them in enough to see me in my most vulnerable state. It’s like I opened all the doors and windows and just hoped he wouldn’t leave me to let the wind blow in.

Instead, he came in like the sun. He painted my walls with light, shined the floor, and filled the echo with noise. The best kind of noise that fills me to the brim with a tempting joy. Something I can’t just shake off and forget about. He’s stuck to me like honey.

When my phone buzzes on the nightstand, I turn onto my side to grab it off the nightstand. Reid’s picture fills the screen, his cheek pressed tightly to mine with a wide grin on his face. His blue eyes squeezed shut, his nose scrunched up, and I can’t stop myself from grinning back at it as I slide my thumb along the bottom of the screen.

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