Page 61 of Sparks Still Fly

Now it’s my turn to look confused, but thankfully, he keeps going. “Please. I’d rather have you for a short time than not at all. Having you close by, it’s the only thing that’s felt right in my life in a long time. Please. Stay.” He slowly moves his hands up my arms, stopping temporarily at my neck, then gently cups my face. “We’re going to be in each other’s lives anyway. Elaina would murder us if we ever made shit weird, and we’ve managed to handle it just fine for well over a year now. I ignored every instinct I had to kiss you and touch you, and if you asked me to, I’d do it again. But not yet. Not right now.”

I consider this option, one I hadn’t thought of before. “So you’re saying…what? We try this out, you know, kissing, dry-humping, etc., for now and when it’s time to part ways, we just do?”

He shrugs, looking down at the floor. “If you want… I mean, if forever isn’t on the cards, I’d rather have you for now than not at all.”

Charlie’s advice echoes in my head.

If it’s what makes you happy, you owe it to yourself to go after it.

Nothing has made me happier than being with Owen. Ever. It’s a truth I’ve avoided and denied for too long. And if I’m the girl who chases after what she wants, this should be no different. Right?

His lips curve into a small smile as he studies me intently. It’s as though he can see the response forming in my mind, the one that comes so easily it should terrify me. I sniffle and take a jagged breath in, letting his warmth sink into my skin slowly like summer rain after a drought. “All right.”

There’s a feeling in my chest akin to steam being let out of a pressure cooker. It’s fast and loud. Everything we’ve just said is now out here, in the air all around us, and I’m no longer bottling in these thoughts and feelings all by myself.

“This is crazy.” The words fall out of my mouth in a half sob, half laugh. He smiles so wide that his eyes crinkle at the corners. “Are we really talking about a temporary marriage? And not just for show?” I shake my head at how absurd this whole thing seems. Is. It is absurd.

Right?

He brings our foreheads together, sighing. “Yeah, Maevey. We really are.”

A ridiculous smile blooms on my face, the force of it unstoppable as I allow myself to have this dream again, just for now. Because I’m chasing happiness, even if it’s short lived.

He pulls in a quick breath. “I’ve waited seven years to see you smile at me like that again.”

“And?” I tease.

“So much better than I remembered.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and I press forward, gently touching my lips to his. His fingers immediately wrap around the back of my neck as our kiss deepens, but this time it’s not desperate like the last. Now he’s taking his time letting our lips get reacquainted with one another. This time, I feel everything. Like the scrape of his stubble on my chin. The way he explores with his tongue and angles my head where he wants it.

Owen doesn’t lose control like last time. He keeps our kiss soft and sweet, and I feel every ounce of the tenderness he’s pouring into it.

When we eventually pull apart, I collapse onto him, my head resting on his shoulder. A loud yawn leaves my lips, and he chuckles. I feel the sound in my bones and shiver. I’m a morning person through and through, but I lied when I told him I slept well. I didn’t. And now I’m exhausted.

Owen’s arms wrap around my back and as he stands, he pulls me with him. My legs wrap around his waist. As much as I want to be absolutely wrecked by this man, I have no energy left and just as I’m about to protest about getting naked in his bed with him, he sets us both down on the couch so I’m on his lap.

“You should get some rest. You obviously haven’t slept off those two orgasms yet.” He winks at me as he runs a finger over the bridge of my nose, and I snuggle into his chest. Before he has a blanket draped over me, my eyes have already closed.

34/

i only got special ones today.

maeve

When I wake up, my legs are tucked up into my chest. Something soft is brushing against my cheek, and my lips turn up at the corners at the memory of Owen’s warm hand at my back as I fell asleep. A hum of contentment rolls through me.

The soft chuckle coming from somewhere in the room has me startling awake, and when I open my eyes, I’m met with the most beautiful sight. Owen James is holding a box of donuts and smiling at me. And it’s not just any smile. It’s a smile that has his whole face morphing into what can only be defined as joy. It’s a smile I haven’t seen in so long, I thought it no longer existed. But here it is, right in front of me.

I push the blanket off me completely and swing my legs over the edge of the sofa. Before I can get up, he’s sitting next to me with the pink box on his lap.

“I only got special ones today.” He opens the top to reveal a dozen donuts with sprinkles in every color imaginable. There are heart-shaped sprinkles, and star-shaped ones, sparkly sprinkles, and the big round ones that are nice and crunchy. These are gourmet sprinkle donuts, and there’s no way he got these from a random place in town.

I can feel my eyebrows lifting as I inhale and open my mouth to ask a question, but before the words are out of my lips, he’s already speaking, stopping me mid-thought. “I told Don weeks ago that sprinkles were your favorites, and he got tired of me getting a box of the same generic sprinkled donuts every day, so he stepped it up. It’s almost like he knew today was different.” His cheeks flush, and when he looks at me, I see a much younger version of Owen in front of me. Not the always self-assured, brooding man, but a vulnerable boy with kind eyes and a little shyness about him.

“What do you mean every day?” My face falls, and so does his. His blush deepens.

“I’ve ordered these every day since you got here. I usually pick them up early in the morning, after my workout and before watering the gardens. I guess I just hoped we’d have something worth celebrating together at some point, or if you needed cheering up, I’d have these ready for you. It’s stupid, I know.” He chuckles and runs a hand through his hair, shrugging.

This man. He’s bought donuts every day? He knows my favorite snacks? No wonder I can’t keep it in my pants.

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