Page 131 of Aftersome
She writes too.
The longer I stood there, the more I admired her. Every second that passed, she became more painstakingly beautiful. Her eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration and a few times I caught her biting on her bottom lip.
Every little movement I wanted to memorize and store forever.
Then finally, as if she caught me from the corner of her eye, she grinned brightly.
“You’re back.” She closed her notebook and set it down beside her on the couch.
My heart leaped.
“I’m back, baby.”
Fuck. The things it does to me seeing her here in my home… waiting for me.
Her eyes softened, and soon she was making room on the couch for me.
“Sit with me?” she asked while lifting the corner of the blanket.
Always.
I sauntered over to her where I fit my body in right next to hers and pulled her legs until they were covering the tops of my thighs.
“Where did you go?” She leaned back until her upper half was against the couch and her eyes were heavy on mine. I took the opportunity to start massaging her calves before I broke the news to her that she was officially moving in.
I had a feeling she would take it well, but another part of me hoped that she wanted this just as much as I did.
With a straight face, I nodded my head toward her bags that she had yet to notice and when she finally peered over at them, her mouth dropped.
“Mal? What’s going on? Why are my bags in the middle of your living room?”
Her tone didn’t seem like she was upset, but more like she was confused.
“I told you that I wanted you here, didn’t I?” My mouth went dry as I waited for a reaction from her. I usually wasn’t someone who worried too much about what others thought, but right now, all I could do was count my breaths.
Would it matter to me if she got pissed off that I already made the decision on her behalf to move in with me? Maybe, but in the end, I'd always have her here.
Her mouth opened and closed, and at one point I thought I heard the beginnings of a word, but she quickly stopped herself.
Now, I was starting to stress out.
My limbs went stiff and my palms began to perspire as it became more and more difficult to decipher the influx of emotions that crossed her face.
“When I do things, I do them wholeheartedly and when I brought up the idea of you moving in, I didn’t just say it to be thrown out there and deciphered. I said it because I can’t live another eleven years without you by my side,” I admitted with every ounce of honesty I had. “I may do things a little irrationally, but that's all I know. I’ll never be the clean-cut, nice guy who thinks twice before doing anything. I’m impulsive, stubborn, possessive, and that’ll never change. But through all my flaws, I promise that I’ll always have your best interests in mind, even if you don’t agree with them at first.”
I watched as her breathing went from shallow to fast.
“So, yes. I left to go get all your things from Hendricks’s house and brought them here. Was that selfish of me? Maybe, but I don’t regret it.”
Not one bit.
Just when I thought she’d pull away from me and give me a piece of her mind, she didn’t. Instead, she scooted herself closer and made herself comfortable in my lap where she was now straddling me.
“I don’t ever want you to be someone you’re not, even if you do make hasty decisions without consulting me first.”
“Even if I’m overbearing?” I questioned with the tilt of my brow.
Closing the distance between us, she pressed her mouth to mine.
