Page 59 of Possession

He leaned down and the whisper ofI love yousent a shiver along my neck and arms.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Come on, I’ll make us some breakfast,” he said as he led me to his bedroom door.

Breakfast turned out to be cereal and coffee. I laughed when he pulled out a box of Cap’n Crunch.

“What?” He smirked.

I shrugged and bit the inside of my cheek holding in my full-fledged smile. That cereal had always been his favorite. “It’s nice to see not everything has changed.”

He poured milk into the bowl and looked at me without contrition. “It’s a staple… Liam tried to buy the generic, bagged shit once… it wasn’t the same.” His lips tipped down as, I assumed, he thought about the horrors of eating off-brand Cap’n Crunch.

I laughed and I felt it in my stomach.

He trailed his thumb along my cheek. “I love that sound, and this…” He pulled his thumb along my lower lip tracing my smile before he bent down and kissed me, leaving me wanting more.

Our time was too short. After a night, a morning like we’d had, I wanted to stay in, catch up, laugh some more, eat five hundred pounds of sweet cereal as we remembered things about our history that had made us happy. As I’d watched him sip his coffee, I’d pretended that this was just like any other day. This was our place and, when we both returned home from our long day, we’d lavish each other in touch, lose ourselves in the sounds of the other, and eat dinner naked on the floor of our bedroom, with paints and pencils strewn around us. It was the life we should’ve had, but I was content knowing that it could possibly, hopefully, one day, become our reality.

I’d texted Lana while we were eating. Declan had told me I could wait in the shop until she arrived, but I hadn’t needed to. She had shown up right as we started walking down the back stairs. Lana pulled in and parked behind the shop, next to a mean looking motorcycle.

“I’ll see you tonight.” Declan pressed his lips to mine and instead of letting him pull away, I wrapped my fingers in his hair and kissed him harder. A frantic feeling flooded my chest and anxiety pooled in my stomach. After everything, after last night, I wasn’t ready to just let him go.

He pulled away and placed his hands on either side of my neck, his thumbs just above my pulse points. “I know.” His voice was heavy. “I feel it, too. But, I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.” He leaned in closer, his eyes serious. “I love you, Paige.”

A lump formed in my throat and it was hard to speak around its sharp edges. This was painful. It actually physically hurt to leave him. He’d saved me last night, after I’d suffered for years in a bleak, hollow, pallid state, he’d been able to revive me. Declan took me from a blank page to a panoramic canvas filled with an assortment of brilliant shades.

“I love you, too.” My voice almost cracked, and I inhaled trying to stave off my overreaction to this departure.

He squeezed my hand when he said, “Goodbye.” Untying each finger as slowly as he could, kissing me one last time before he turned toward the backdoor of the shop.

I’d see him tonight, it was only a few short hours. I was being ridiculous… then why did my heart still hurt, and why the heck did I have tears in my eyes as I took a seat in the passenger side of Lana’s car.

“Shit… are you okay?”

“How do I do this?” I asked.

“Do what, honey?”

“How can I survive giving myself over to it, breathe again, feel so much, and then walk away?” I sniffled.

She laughed lightly. “Awe.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m serious.”

“I can tell.” She smiled, and I sat up straighter wiping under my eyes. “You’ve gone a long time without real love, and it’s about time you’re getting what you need. Would it help if I told you, beyond the snot and tears, you’re actually glowing?”

My lip twitched fighting my smile. “I am?”

She nodded and shifted the car into reverse. “Yes, ma’am, you are. Maybe I slept with the wrong brother.”

I gasped, “You didn’t?”

“I did.”

“Where?” I was floored.

---