Page 128 of Choosing Forever
Emotion clogs my throat as I stare ahead at the TV and the second movie we’ve started tonight. It’s been years, but I’m still carrying a lot of baggage. The same baggage that I’m now expecting Delaney to be okay with seeing on my back, like a permanent reminder of everything we’ve been through.
Gently, two fingers sweep along my jaw before guiding my face back toward her. I hold my breath, waiting for her to tell me that she’s changed her mind and what we had is just too complicated to replicate. It would be fair, after everything.
She doesn’t look at me like she’s considering leaving, though.
“Twenty-two feels old at the time, but it’s not. It’s naïve, hopeful, and feeling weighed down by the expectations that we feel like we need to meet. We’re still learning who we are and who we want to be, Darren. Making mistakes is what we’re supposed to be doing, even if that includes hurting those we love. I’ll never forget what happened between us, or the way I felt because of it, but I don’t have the energy to keep convincing myself that I hate you for the mistakes we made. And you shouldn’t either. I’m starting to see the kind of man your mistakes turned you into, and I think they paid off.”
I don’t know who moves first. All I can think about is how good it feels when she’s draped over my body and our lips are touching.
We kiss slowly, with small breaths exchanged between us and hands exploring. She finds my chain and rolls it between her fingers while running her tongue along my bottom lip.
“You didn’t drink your wine.”
I hum, gliding my tongue over hers. “I don’t drink much anymore.”
“Why?”
Grabbing her thigh, I tug it up to curl around my hip. “It clouds my judgment. And with you, I’d like to be fully present. I’ve already missed too much time.”
“Mm, alright.”
“There’s dessert,” I whisper.
She drops a hand to the cushion beside my head and pushes herself up, wiggling like she wants to slip out of my arms. “You’re just mentioning that now?”
“I was a bit preoccupied.”
“What is it?”
“Chocolate cheesecake.”
She drops her head and moans into my ear. It’s a devilish little maneuver that has the exact effect she was hoping for. My dick stiffens in my second pair of briefs, twitching against her pubic bone.
“It’s in the fridge chilling. We can leave it there for a while longer,” I muse, running my fingers up the length of her spine.
She arches a brow, pressing herself down on my groin. “And what could you possibly want instead?”
“I’m not picky.”
“You’re still a hopeless flirt at thirty years old.”
“It’s been a long decade.”
“You never even went on one date? With anyone?”
“Not even one,” I admit.
Her tone swoops slightly, revealing a lingering pain when she asks, “Sasha?”
“No.”
“How is that possible?”
“When Sasha and I . . .” The flinch on Delaney’s face nearly kills me. I ignore the fresh slash of regret and continue. “She was at a party over near Oak Point, out by the campground. I was so drunk I didn’t even remember how I got there, but she found me leaning against the shop, drinking my body weight in whiskey. It was the one and only time we slept together, not like that’s much of a defense. Once was all it took. But there were no dates. No kissing or hugs. We spoke enough to have dinner together with Abbie or to pretend we weren’t at each other’s throats all the time while taking her for walks downtown. At home, if there wasn’t a crying baby or a toddler throwing a tantrum, it was silent.”
“That sounds lonely,” she murmurs, blinking away the gleam in her eyes.
“I wasn’t the only one of us that was lonely, Elle. At least I was still here. I had my parents and friends. Who did you have?”
