Page 95 of The Best Book Boyfriend
He’sinlovewithme.
And I’m in love with him. Even though I don’t say it back, I know I am, and that I will say it soon. So I close the gap, catch his lower lip between mine and I kiss him, and kiss him, and kiss him, and I don’t know what planet I’m on, but it’s not this one. His hands reach around my back and pull me tight to him as our mouths crash together.
I’ve been aching for this for what feels like a lifetime and I know it’s the same for him from the way his tongue searches mine. Pressed to his chest, my body lights up when he slides his fingers through my hair, cups the back of my head and lifts me off of his lap. He sets me down in the corner of the sofa, and his thighs scorch mine when he straddles me and tugs my head back to kiss my neck.
“That night you touched yourself here, I wanted to climb over and do this so much,” he whispers against my earlobe. An aching sob escapes my throat and his lips find mine. I fist his t-shirt with one hand, pulling him closer, as the other tangles in his hair.
Eventually we come up for air, breaking our kiss but clinging on as though we both believe that if we let go, it will somehow not be real.
“Hi,” I whisper, cheeks flushed, breath ragged.
“Hi.” It’s as if we’re meeting each other again for the first time, our fears cast aside. He pushes my hair back from my face and I bask in the feeling of him looking at me, roaming my jawline, my eyes, my lips.
“What now?”
“I hadn’t thought beyond the speech, to be honest.” He climbs off me and flops back on the sofa by my side. Silence hangs over us for a bit until I glance sideways and catch him doing the same, with a matching beaming grin.
“Have you eaten?” he asks, taking my hand and pressing it to his lips.
“No, actually, I was going to make something when I got back from my run and then... that all happened.”
“I have an idea.”
“Please say it’s one of your ideas where we end up naked?”
“Behave yourself,” he says, planting the most delicious kiss on my neck, the kind that makes me want to do the exact opposite. “How about we take a walk over to your house, and pick up sandwiches on the way.” A walk has never sounded so horny.
“Hmmm, I definitely thought we were about to have sex there for a minute.”
“Oh, don’t worry, we will, but today is the first day of the rest of our lives and I’m going to need a little time to get myself under control.”
“What happens when you lose control?” I nibble his earlobe and his little growly whimper is somehow both adorable and arousing all at once.
“Oh you’ll find out,” he smirks, standing up and turning away to adjust himself. “Come on, let’s go get you fed. I’ll hold your hand the whole way.”
“Might make eating awkward.”
“OK smartass, I’ll hold your hand as much as is feasibly possible. Then when we get to yours you can pack a bag of overnight things, and we can drive back here and spend the rest of the day reading on the sofa. I’ll rustle up something for dinner, and then you can stay over.”
“That sounds like a perfect day. Can we read naked? Like when Ana and Ned go on honeymoon inI Do, I Don’t?”
“You’re welcome to try, but I can tell you now that I will not manage a single page if I’m in the same room as you without clothes on. Maybe not even a sentence.”
I laugh when he slips his fingers into mine, tugging me up from the sofa. “Challenge accepted.”
I am out in the street, my hand in Luke’s, and it feels like the most normal thing in the world. The number of times I’ve wanted to touch him in public or pulled away when I’ve reached for him, it should feel shocking to be finally walking down the street hand in hand. It’s not shocking, it’s perfect. It’s right.
“Have I ever told you it took at least fifteen minutes for me to get the courage to come and talk to you?”
“Really?” I laugh. “It took you that long to come up with ‘what are you reading?’”
“You remember?”
“Of course I remember.”
He doesn’t let go when we walk into Sunshine. I feel zero hesitation, but still appreciate the reassuring way he squeezes my hand. Nope, no hesitation here. I feel like his pride and joy. Katy clocks us from where she’s pouring steamed milk into a latte and kicks her leg out to nudge Jo, who looks up at us both. Her face lights up and she starts quietly clapping from behind the till.
He doesn’t let go at my house either, squeezing tight while he kicks off his shoes. He shrugs one arm out of his jacket and then swaps the hand in mine for his other so he can slide it off his shoulder without ever breaking contact. It lands on the floor, and he stoops to pick it up, his thumb stroking my skin in slow circles. I’m about ready to faint from swooning, it’s the best foreplay ever.
