“Why am I here?” I ask, my voice surer than my heart.
I whirl, gradually facing him, and my eyes widen just as my heart beats faster. It feels like I’m looking at him for the first time.
He’s all grown up. Hard muscle and sharp, masculine edges have replaced the lanky boy I once knew. He’s all man now.
My body grows warm as I take in his black shirt, the buttons practically popping off at the chest. I know what lies beneath his clothes, but at the time, I didn’t know who it belonged to. Now that I do, I want to taste him as though for the very first time. And for me, I guess it would be.
He moves a step until only a slice of a hand separates our beating hearts. His eyes turn hooded, and his Adam’s apple bobs as he gazes down at me, his tongue darting out, licking between his lips. It’s as though we’re thinking similar dirty thoughts.
“You’re here because I missed you.” His brows bend so hard, I can feel his anguish vibrating through my body. “And you being here tells me you missed me too.”
He takes my hand, and I let him hold it. Let him feel my tingly skin, even if he can’t feel the way he makes it come alive.
“I need you, Chiara.” His eyes deepen into mine. “Please stay. Not just right now, but forever.”
He lowers his mouth to my forehead, his lips leaving a kiss. My skin prickles in the wake of his affection, my heart hammering for a man it wants.
“I know we may not know each other anymore. Not like we used to.” His soft words glide over my lips as his nose feathers over mine. “But I still feel you everywhere. Your laughter, our inside jokes, the way you’d lay your head on my shoulder when you were sad. Those memories…they’re ours, Chiara.”
Blinking back tears, I pull away enough to find his eyes staring back at me.
“I wish you would’ve talked to me.” My voice seeps with emotion, the words tearing me apart.
His hands cup each side of my face. “I’m sorry, baby. For all of it.” His eyes turn hazy, my words tearing him up too. “Forgive me.”
“Dom.” The word is a plea. For something I hope we can find, keep, and treasure for infinity.
“Chiara…” His gaze swims between my eyes and my lips.
My breaths fall faster, my chest falling in and out with the fastened beats of my heart. My eyes find his mouth, and as they do, his lips collide with mine. The feel of them, now knowing they belong to the boy I loved, makes this kiss different than any others we’ve shared.
This kiss, it’s gripped from the ashes of our past and from the roots of our future.
My hand clutches the back of his neck, his clasped to my face, his thumbs rubbing over my damp cheeks. His lips move slowly, passionately, over mine, as though he wants to memorize every motion, every breath.
And knowing all the wild things his mouth can do, it’s nice to know he can do this too: show me what I mean to him.
He drags his face away, his forehead slanting over mine, both of us panting.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” he says, swallowing harshly, his arms circling around the small of my back.
“That’s too bad, because I wanted you to,” I confess in a whisper as I move an inch.
My hands come around his neck, and as I stare at Dom, I realize I can’t allow my father to take another thing away from me. My future is mine to create, and I want that future with this man right here.
“Does this mean you forgive me?” he asks, the depthless pools of his eyes searching mine.
My lips part as I gaze back at him, my heart swelling with so much of everything, it’s hard to contain it all.
“I think I can try.”
A heavy exhale slips out of his chest before reaching into his pocket, removing a black wallet.
I look at him, confused, and before I have a chance to ask him what he’s doing, he removes something from inside. My eyes widen, and I let out a gasp as I see what’s in his hand.
“You really kept it?” I ask through the blanket of tears now covering my vision.
“Of course I did.” Half of the friendship necklace I gave him the day of his mom’s funeral dangles from his hand. “I kept everything about us right here.” He palms his chest. “I've never forgotten a single thing, even when it hurt to remember.”