Page 117 of Fluke
“I get it,” he says, his eyes searching mine. “We’ve done this for a week now. Maybe. But that’s not really true, Pippa. Doesn’t it feel like we’ve always done this—we just didn’t know it? Like, we were taking the long route to get here?”
I nod, afraid to speak. If I open my mouth, the tears will fall.
“Will you move in with me?” he asks.
“Jess …”
“I don’t want to waste any more time without you. And I’m sure there’s shit we haven’t thought about, and we’ll have arguments because that’s what couples do. But I want you to know that there’s nothing you could do to make me not love you. Love doesn’t start and stop. I think I was born already loving you, and I’ll die the same. It’s a continuous thread in my life.”
I push him onto his back and climb on top of him. I lay my head against his chest as he holds me.
Tears collect against his skin and flow down his shoulder. He places a palm on the back of my head, rubbing it against my hair.
“I’m not pushing you,” he whispers. “Unlike my family, I respect boundaries. But I’d rather put the boundary around the two of us. I’d like you to trust me to love you and take care of you like you deserve.”
I don’t deserve Jess Carmichael. I’m not sure anyone does. And this could be a setup for epic disaster because losing him would be the ruination of me. But it’s too late for that.
My head spins as I realize what I’m about to do. But there isn’t another choice. When you know, you know.
“I just think a lot of people scramble around and assign the word love to things that probably aren’t love at all.”
I was righter than I even realized.
“Yes,” I whisper against his ear. “I’ll move in with you.”
A burst of energy—of excitement, anticipation, and joy—fills me. I smile when I look at him. The smile grows as I see the same thing that I’m feeling written on his face.
“Seriously, Pip, if you ever make me sweat something out like that again, I might not make it through.”
I laugh and sit up, straddling him. “I’m happy.”
“I’m glad.”
“But keep in mind that I have a lease to deal with. And utilities. And—”
“And you forget that we’re a team now. Those are all things thatwehave to deal with now. Not just you. It’s neverjust youanymore.”
I lean forward and kiss him. But as soon as our lips touch, it’s as if a deal has been reached.
Jess rolls me over onto my back, never breaking contact.
He kisses me intentionally, deliberately—carefully. It’s as if he’s making promises to me that only my heart can understand.
My legs open, and he moves between them. My hips tilt, and he slides inside me without breaking our kiss.
He moves his lips across my jaw, pressing them softly against my skin. His hips flex into me unhurried. Like he has all night.Like he has all the time in the world.
I roll my head to the side as he kisses down my neck. The heat of his mouth and the slow, delicious rhythm of his hips is a new level of intimacy I didn’t know existed.
Unlike the other times we’ve been together, this isn’t fucking. This isn’t getting each other out of our system. This isn’t about the end.
This isn’t about the interaction. It’s the sum of them.
“I love you,” he whispers in my ear before pressing a soft kiss behind it.
“I love you too.”
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