Page 44 of Liberating Love

As I nod against his chest, I hug him to me as tight as I possibly can. After a few minutes, I mutter, “I still can’t believe they came over.”

“You really don’t see how much you mean to them, to all of us, do you?”

That makes tears threaten to fall again, so I blink rapidly before leaning back to look into Delaney’s green eyes. “They mean a lot to me, too.” I clear my throat. “All of you do.”

His smile lights up his eyes as he kisses the tip of my nose. “Now that they know, when do I get to strut around with my sexy, young boyfriend?” He waggles his eyebrows, and for the first time in what feels like hours, I chuckle. I appreciate that he’s bringing this heavy conversation into lighter territory, even as my heart does a flip in my chest hearing him call me his boyfriend for the first time.

“Whenever you want, you dork, as long as you aren’tstrutting.”

He laughs, amusement and that fondness I’ve been ignoring for weeks—maybe months—in his gaze. “Operation Eye Candy is a go.”

With a snort, I smack his chest.

“Maybe I can take you on a date tomorrow night. And I can take you with me this week to meet my friends, well, officially. You met them already, but now I can tell them who you are to me.”

I sigh. “I might have changed my mind, D. You’re going to be insufferable.”

He chuckles, grabs my chin between two fingers to tilt my face up, and presses a slow, sensual kiss to my lips. By the time he pulls away, I’m a puddle of goo, and he clearly knows the effect he has on me because he chuckles and says, “You like me.”

“Maybe a smidge.”

With a snort, he presses a chaste kiss to my lips.

“I tried not to, you know.”

He stares into my eyes. “I know.”

As I search his eyes and find only understanding and affection, I say, “I’m glad it didn’t work.”

He smiles. “Me too, Freckles, me too.”

I settle into his chest, more grateful of his presence than he could ever understand, whispering, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Being here… thank you for being here.”

He presses his lips to my forehead, rubs my back, and whispers, “I’m right where I wanna be.”

Squeezing each other tight, I push away all thoughts of the day and focus on how good it feels to be in Delaney’s arms. I know if I let it, the day’s events will pull me under, so I focus on myboyfriendand nothing else, close my eyes, and let sleep claim me.

* * *

Delaney grabs my hand,laces our fingers together, and asks, “Ready?”

I sigh. “No.”

He offers a half-smile and presses a kiss to my cheek. “It’s going to be fine, I promise.”

Scrubbing my free hand over my face, I sigh. “Yeah, okay.”

With a squeeze to my hand, he pulls me up the sidewalk to Jameson’s house for Sunday brunch. I sorta feel like I need to puke, and I know I’m already blushing, but that only makes me hold onto Delaney’s hand tighter. By the time we reach the door and he knocks, I’m sure I’ve cut his circulation off entirely, but he never complains, he only smiles reassuringly at me.

He whispers, “It’s going to be fine, Freckles. Calm down.” Then he bends down to press a quick kiss to my lips.

“Well, that’s going to take some getting used to.”

Holden’s voice makes me jump and stare at him with wide eyes. “Sorry.”

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