Page 134 of The Chance

Jordan

Soft puffs of airflitter across my pec.

Tickles feather over my chin.

Weight and warmth blanket me, grounding me into the couch that’s missing the lumpy cushion.

There’s even the occasional tap against my toe.

The backs of my eyelids are washed out with orange, telling me there’s enough light to fill the room, and yet, I can’t find it in me to open them.

Raspy mumbles scrape over the otherwise silent room and my lips tip up at the corner.

It’s just gibberish. Broken words and missed mutters.

My favorite way to wake up.

Skin to skin. Chest to bare chest.

His heart so close to mine that I swear they beat the same rhythm.

That part is new, but shit, it’s now even more my favorite way to wake up.

Even better that he came to me like this in his sleep instead of wandering off to put pillows in the fridge.

“There were so many mornings that I woke upashamed,” I whisper, and tilt my chin to bury my nose in Mac’s hair. I’m taken over by a toasty sweetness, the hint of rich smoke barely there but enough to make my chest swirl. “Wondering how the hell I was the one to wake up.”

The arms hooked around my shoulders twitch.

“Then, one day, I woke up feeling guilty as shit for holding you back.”

I thread my fingers into his hair and cup his head, holding him to me.

“I never meant to hold you back, Vida,” I whisper softly, my voice too thick to do anything else. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Pressing my lips to the side of his head, I inhale. Etching the scent of him to memory. Squeezing the imprint of him into my soul.

I’m not sure how long I stay like that, just breathing him in, but then he finally moves. Finally looks at me. Rolls his head along my pec until his chin is resting on my chest. His face is splotchy, and his lower lashes are damp.

My brow furrows and I gingerly cup his face. “Vida?”

He blinks and tears escape his brilliant eyes, but the corner of his lips lift in a soft smile.

“I thought I was dreaming,” he murmurs, and my heart gives a mighty thump. “But you’re here for real and I dunno.” I think he tries to shrug, but the position we’re in doesn’t give much room. “It’s got me feeling fuzzy as fuck.”

My snicker burns up hot when a grin splits his face nearly in two. His smile so wide that his cheeks bunch up and his eyes squint.

It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I swallow hard against a sudden rush of nerves and speak the truth for him.

“You’re goddamnedgorgeous, Vida.”

He’s blinking when I brush some of the hair back from his forehead, his grin softening.

It’s when I meet his eyes head on that I see the reddening and the moisture collecting again. His lips tip into something almost shy and he buries his face in my chest.

“I know it’s kinda weird to call a man that b—”

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