Page 153 of Frozen Flames

I can’t even believe it sometimes—the life I’m living right now. I’ve been dreaming of this for years, and I finally have it all in front of me.

She places a wet towel over the bowl filled with dough. “Claire,” I say, watching her cut the Roma tomatoes, “I meant it. I don’t want us to be apart any longer.”

She stops in her tracks and puts the knife down. “I think we want the same thing.”

“Do we? Because I want a real relationship with you. I want you to be mine.”

She smiles, and it does inexplicable things to me. “You want me to be your girlfriend?” she asks happily.

I nod, and she runs into my arms, and I’m glad I have the kitchen island as support.

“Oh, I’m so sorry…” She notices when she pulls back.

“Don’t be.” I’m more stable than I used to be, but my body still likes to remind me of its limits. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to fully walk long distances without crutches, but for now, I’m taking it day by day.

We finish the pasta sauce, and later we turn the dough into linguine noodles before preparing all of it—meatballs included.We top everything off with fresh Parmesan and basil and red wine.

It’s great to finally sit down and give my legs a rest.

Once we’re done eating and Claire tidies up the kitchen, we bring our wine into the living room. I walk slowly from the dining chair to the couch, careful with every step.

I relax once I’m sitting down again, and Claire cuddles next to me. “Thanks for bringing all the ingredients, Claire. I’ll transfer you the money.”

“Nonsense.” Her brow furrows. “Tonight was entirely on me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Harvey, I’m serious!”

“I’m serious,” I mimic, and she shakes her head. I push her hair back from her face and admire her eyes—so dark right now. “I want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you. You gave me time to work on myself when you could’ve told me to fuck off.”

She looks at me, her smile lighting up her face, lifting her cheeks. “I love you. Of course I was going to wait for you. I knew that you were worth it.”

“Hmm, debatable with the way I treated you at times.”

“It’s in the past now. We’re moving on.” She leans her head on my shoulder in the cutest gesture. When she looks up at me, she beams and leans in to kiss me. She’s about to pull back when I pull her in farther until she ends up on my lap.

I keep kissing her slowly, savoring her like I did our dinner.

“I love you,” I whisper against her lips, and she repeats the words, saying them to me again. I couldn’t be happier, knowing that the woman I love loves me back.

I know I’ve made a mess out of things, but everything is slowly coming together, feeling aligned for the first time in a while.

“You’re mine, Harvey,” she says in a quiet voice. “You’re mine now.”

“I am—all yours.” I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

I could never explain everything that drew me to her from the beginning, save for this intense feeling.

It’s magnetic and poetic and everything I could ever wish for.

Our lips move against each other, taking it all in. All the pain we went through to be together, and all the love we feel.

I hold on to the back of her neck as she straddles me. My hands travel farther down, grabbing the hem of her dress and lifting it up and over her head, getting her out of it, which is what I’ve been waiting for all evening.

I remove her bra and trace one tit at a time with my forefinger, the gesture pumping more blood to my dick.

“So beautiful,” I tell her.

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