Page 57 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice
We’re taking a walk along the lake, hand in hand, talking about nothing and everything at the same time. There is a lot I still want to know about her, and so many questions she has for me. The sky is hidden behind heavy clouds, darkness coming from the mountains. I’m not sure whether it comes from the heavy rain clouds or the fact that it’s already late afternoon.
Jensen darts along the shoreline at full speed, bouncing between the beach and the grass, always circling back, never straying too far.
“Why, though?” I lift my eyebrow at her, confused. I was hoping he’d run off with his tail tucked between his legs.
“Because he’s a narcissist who doesn’t understand the word ‘no,’” she explains, lifting one of her shoulders in a half-shrug. “You were there at Caleb’s. He loathes not getting to have the last word.”
“Right,” I say, furrowing my eyebrows. “Just let me know if Jensen should have a bite of his calves,” I joke, trying to lift the mood and pull her closer by her hand until I can snake my arm around her waist.
“I can handle him,” she promises and snakes her arm around me too, giving my hip a reassuring little pat. “And you have nothing to worry about.”
“Who said I was worried?” I try to joke, but yes, the truth is, I am worried. She was so distraught when she appeared at my vet clinic with Chaos. Thinking that she loved him so much, that his betrayal hurt her that deeply?
It’s hard to remember that and not feel concerned. Whether she wants to admit it or not, he has an effect on her. And I admire her for her loyalty, how she loves with her whole heart. I can see it in the way she loves Pumpkin and Cinnamon, in her friendship with Lauren. When she loves, she loves hard. It gnaws at my thoughts that her asshole ex once had that, an ever-present reminder that once upon a time, she picked him. That she trusted him in a way she doesn’t trust me yet.
“You keep asking about him.” She lets out a deep sigh. “And you try to pretend he doesn’t infuriate you. You don’t need to say it out loud. And you better leave the acting to me,” she quips, and I notice my shoulders relax.
“I promise you, he’s not even a topic anymore. I left my past, and him, behind. I have no intention whatsoever of going back.” She comes to a stop, making me halt as well. “You’re my future.”
She shifts in my arms, sliding her hands up to cradle my cheeks, gently guiding my face down until we’re eye to eye. “You’re the person I want to be with. The only one I want to kiss.” She softly presses her lips against mine, and I feel hers stretching into a small smile. “And the one I’d love to wake up next to.” When I open my eyes again, she shoots me a wink. “Don’t give him any power. I might be a bit bummed, but I’m not letting him ruin us, and neither should you.”
“Okay,” I whisper, burying my hand in her hair while pulling her flush against me with the other one against the small of her back. “I believe you. I trust you, Nic.”
Shenudges her cheek into my hand like a cat as her hands wander down my arms until they come to a stop at my hips. They dig into my jacket as she’s holding on for dear life as I lean in and kiss her.
It’s the kind of kiss that makes me forget everything around us. It consumes me to the point I don’t even realize it has started pouring until she draws back, and we gaze at each other with heavy breaths and disbelieving smiles.
“Do that again,” she whispers, biting her lip really fucking seductively.
I pause, smirking. “Careful. I’m, like, one kiss away from carving our names into one of these trees.”
She giggles, eyes twinkling. “Wow. Full teenage love energy. Should I expect matching couple’s hoodies next?”
“Only if you promise to wear mine to make it smell of you.”
She tilts her head, tapping her lip as she considers it. “Hmm. Do I get a say in the font you use for the tree carving?”
“No. It’s cursive or nothing. I have standards.”
“Oh, well, as long as it’s classy vandalism and doesn’t hurt the tree.”
“The classiest,” I whisper and lean in, tugging her lip from its cage between her teeth. My heart thunders against my chest as the wind whips her hair around us, the scent of her vanilla shampoo ever-present, and that sweet taste that is so unmistakably hers on my tongue.
She is all my senses, all I can see, all I can hear. Every single cell of my body is tuned in to her,yearningfor her.
“We should get inside,” I whisper against her lips, and she answers me with a vehement nod. Her cheeks are flushed with heat, her eyes are glossy, and I can’t help but press my lips against hers once more in a quick kiss. Then I take her hand and pull her after me, with an urgency I don’t recognize from myself, back to her house.
One shrill whistle and Jensen follows suit.
“He’s all wet. Let me—” I say as we step inside, but Nic shakes her head and tugs me with her.
“I don’t give a damn if you don’t,” she whispers hoarsely and shoots me a seductive grin over her shoulder, and I mean, who am I to object? I still can’t completely help myself, and one handedly throw a blanket over him as I follow her.
I let her tug me up her stairs and down the hallway, giving zero fucks about the wet trail of rain we’re leaving behind us. Her grip is firm and certain, as if letting go isn’t even a possibility. I kind of love it.
She’s trouble. But the good kind. Beautiful, smart-mouthed trouble with a smile that makes me feel like I’ve been handed a prize from the universe. That makes me see nothing but her.
Once we’re in her bedroom, she kicks the door closed behind us, then crowds me against the cool wood, wet hair plastered to her face and a mischievous glint in her eyes.
