Page 70 of A Moment for Us
The minute hand moves. “Delia! Baby, we have to leave.”
She opens the door and sighs. “I’m fat.”
She is absolutely not fat. “You’re beautiful.”
Her eyes are brimming with tears. “I can barely get it to zip up. I wasn’t supposed to start gaining weight yet, but . . . the cakes and the pregnancy and we’re having twins,” she rambles.
I walk to her, nudging her chin up so she can see my face when I say these words. “Delia, if there were a thousand women standing here right now, none of them would even compare to you.”
She steps closer, her hands moving to my chest. I lean down and kiss her. It wasn’t a thought. I just had to kiss her lips. She moves her hands up over my shoulders and into my hair, the two of us lost in the sensations. I press her back against the wall as I kiss her deeper, pouring everything I feel that I keep buried into it.
Too soon, she gasps and turns her head to the side. “We can’t. I can’t.”
I step back, the loss of her immediate. “Shit. I shouldn’t have . . .”
“It’s not because I don’t want to,” Delia explains. “It’s because I want to that we can’t.”
As convoluted as that sounds, I get it. “We’re roommates, that’s the agreement.”
Her eyes shift to mine. “Right. Roommates.”
I swallow and run my hands through my hair. “I’m sorry, Deals. I . . . well, I’m sorry.”
“I really wish you’d stop apologizing.”
“I wish I would stop doing things I need to apologize for. Anyway, I just wanted to say again that, clearly, I think you’re stunning and I am going to struggle to keep my hands off you all night.”
Delia bites her lower lip. “That is also the agreement. No touching and, you know what, Josh?”
“What?”
“I just decided this is going to be a lot of fun for me.”
“Fun?” I ask, feeling a little uncomfortable.
“Yes. See, you want me. I know you want me.”
“That has never been in question.”
Delia takes a step closer, her finger runs down my chest. “Yes, that has never been our issue. The issue is that you have some reason that you keep this heart locked up. Until you find the key, there’s no touching what you want, right?”
Oh, fucking shit. “This isn’t a game.”
“No,” she says softly. “It’s not. It’s our lives. Our futures, and so, I’ve decided that I’m going to make this very hard for you. I’m going to show you all the things you’re missing out on by choosing to keep me as your friend and roommate.”
“Great.”
She laughs softly. “I think it just might be—for me.”
“You’re insane. Do you know that?”
“I do. But so are you. Because I’m right here, Joshua.” Her words break at that last part. “I’m here, waiting for you to get your head out of your ass.”
I move closer, rubbing my thumb against her jaw. “I will only hurt you.”
“One day, you’re going to have to explain it because you keep saying you’ll hurt me or fail me or whatever else, but you don’t see.”
“See what?” I ask, not really wanting the answer.
