Page 132 of Promise Me Not

I’ve waited for this moment for months, and it’s here.

The girl of my dreams is in my arms, her mouth pressed to mine, heart beating wildly and showing no signs of stopping.

I hope she doesn’t.

I hope she kisses me until her lips go numb and exhaustion sets in.

I hope her lips stay on mine until her knees give and I get to lift her in my arms, just to lay her in the bed we’re sharing.

And then I hope when she finally does fall asleep, I’ll be the one she sees in her dreams, the way I have no doubt she’ll be in mine.

Sheisthe girl of my dreams.

Please let me become the man of hers.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Payton

Before,March

“I wishyou could have seen the sunset the other night. It was like being in the clouds.”

“I saw.”

Smiling, I look over at him, his brown eyes shining. “You did?”

Something in his face softens, and I turn toward him, reaching out to take his hand. “Of course I did. I was with you, baby. Always will be.”

“I wish there was time to take Deaton to the beach before heading home. He’s obsessed with the water. He is so going to be one of those beach boys when he grows up.”

He reaches out, his warm palm pressing against my cheek. “I look forward to seeing that.”

My heart aches, and I reach for him, running my hand through his dark hair. “I miss you.”

He smiles wide, and I blink slowly, the image of him starting to blur.

My eyes open, and I look over just as Mason kills the engine, finding we’re back at his beach house. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he whispers, nodding toward the back. “Little man slept as hard as you. He didn’t make a sound the entire drive.”

My mouth tips up at the corners, and I unbuckle, stretching my limbs. “That’s because we woke up at an ungodly hour to beat the traffic.”

“If you thought I was going to waste any of my last day sitting on the highway for hours, you were wrong, Pretty Little. We’re doing our last day right.”

He climbs out, and I follow, trailing his movement as he makes his way around the car. With every step he takes, my stomach flutters, feelings I haven’t felt in a long time and some entirely new ones, swirling low, low, and lower. Nerves I’m not accustomed to tickle along my spine, and I chew on the inside of my lip, my eyes lifting as he steps into my space.

I forget to breathe as he leans in close, his palms planting on the glass windows at my sides.

“This is how it’s gonna happen,” he whispers. “Brunch, bathing suits, beach, bonfire.”

I swallow, pulling in a lungful of air as I drop my head back, dizziness settling over me—a result of his nearness. “Is that right?” I manage to say.

Mason presses his body to mine, his smirk shamelessly mischievous. He opens his mouth, and mine parts, and then he pushes off, yanking open the back door and disappearing inside.

I’m stuck where I stand a moment longer, and I don’t miss the raspy chuckle he lets out.

God, he knows what he’s doing to me.

What the hellishe doing to me?

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