Page 64 of Why Not Now?

His expression is guarded. “What do you want to happen?”

Those deep brown eyes never leave me as I get closer and closer. “I asked you first.”

I reach him and, even though I still can’t tell what he’s thinking, he reaches for me, pulling me against him. I melt into his warmth and he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

“What do you want from me, Ava?” he whispers. “Just tell me. Tell me and I’ll give it to you.”

His head dips toward me, his lips brushing mine in a feather-light kiss.

I want more. I shift closer, pressing my body to his.

“Anything I want?”

He nods. “Anything.”

“What if I want the moon and the stars?” I ask.

“I’ll figure something out.”

My heart is racing, pounding against his. When he’d left the first time, it had been shattered. Now here I am on the verge of giving it to him again. Can I trust him? Could it work this time?

“I’m afraid,” I say.

“So am I. But now that I know you never wanted me to go…” He shrugs. “Why not now, Ava? Why can’t we try again?”

I search his eyes, and what I find there has me nodding.

He crushes his mouth to mine. We devour each other, unable to get enough. His fingers tighten in my hair, drawing my head back so he can kiss me deeper.

After too short a time, he tears his lips away. “Fuck. We need to stop.”

I whimper, my eyes still closed, my mouth blindly searching for his.

“Don’t make those noises. We have a birthday party to attend. We’re going to have to finish this later.”

Chapter 20

Derek

WhenIbringAvainto the living room again, I’m still holding her hand. Everyone is looking at us, nosy fuckers.

“Well?” I say. “Is this a party, or what?”

Conversations resume and no one asks directly what’s going on between me and Ava. It’s only a matter of time, but I’m glad they’ve decided to hold off for the night. My friends and family give me gifts which include a new ball cap, tickets to a hockey game next month, and a gift card for books.

Lastly, Ava pulls out a present from her bag.

“I wasn’t really expecting other people to be around when I gave this to you,” she says quietly. “It’s not much.”

“I didn’t expect you to get me anything at all. I didn’t tell you we were coming to a birthday party.”

“I know. But I made this and…” she trails off, shrugging. “I hope you like it.”

I tear open the wrapping paper to find a small photo album inside. From looking at the edge, I notice only a few pages have pictures. I flip it open to see what she’s included. And immediately start to laugh.

She’s got a couple pictures of Abyss as the first ones in the book. One is of her looking very disgruntled at the camera. The second is the same facial expression, but has been photoshopped, so she’s dressed in an Elizabethan gown with a crown on her head.

Everyone comes to see what I’m laughing at.

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