Page 221 of Keep This Promise
I place my palm against his, and his fingers close around mine. He leads me to the sofa, and I laugh.
“What?”
“The sofa?”
He blinks and then chuckles. “I swear that wasn’t what I had in mind. I just wanted to hold you for a while.”
I’d like him to hold me forever.
“Why?” I ask.
“Has anyone ever just done that, Sophie? Has anyone just let you feel safe for a bit without wanting anything in return?”
Theo and I used to cuddle, but in the last two years, it became rarer. He was working a lot, and his heart wasn’t what it was. He needed more care than he was able to offer, and I accepted that. It was what he needed.
However, I don’t think anyone has ever offered what Holden is suggesting.
“No,” I say softly.
He sits and then opens his arms. “Come here.”
I sit beside him, and he arranges me so I am tight against his side. Then he moves us so we are lying down, facing each other. Holden’s arms are wrapped around me, and my head rests on his chest.
I feel the weight of the world start to lift a bit at a time as we lie here. I close my eyes and think . . . a girl could get used to this.
ChapterTwenty-Six
SOPHIE
Iawaken to feeling weightless yet moving.
I open my eyes to find Holden carrying me toward my bedroom.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“For what?”
“Falling asleep when you were intent on holding me.”
“I wanted you to feel safe.” He gently kicks my bedroom door open and then walks over to the bed.
“I can walk.”
Holden grins. “I’m not ready to let you go yet.”
I like this. I like the warm tingles that he stirs in my heart. It’s as though the life I never thought possible is within my reach, and I just need the strength to grab it.
Carefully, he places me down on the bed, and now it’s me who is not ready to let go. When he moves away, I grab his wrist. “Will you lie with me in here?”
Holden looks to the bed and then me. “You’re testing my restraint.”
I don’t want to test him. I just want to be with him.
Then, without my having to ask again, he moves to the other side of the bed. Before he lies down, he hands me my diary.
Confusion sweeps through me. I put that in my side drawer—always.
“When you came back for clothes, did you remove this?”
