Page 207 of Falling Backwards
He seems to hesitate, and then his voice drops to a murmur on the word, “Yeah?”A few fingertips come up and seek out my cheek, then my lips.“No regrets?”
I shake my head lightly, not wanting to dislodge his touch.“None.”I kiss one of his fingertips and check just because, “None for you?”
“Not a single one.”
I feel his hand move, feel his lips fully graze mine again.
“I don’t regret you for a second,” he whispers.
The words dive deeply into me.
Something tells me he means them beyond just what we found ourselves in over these last many minutes.
I mean mine beyond that, too, when I whisper back, “Nor I you.”I let go of his shoulder to brush a knuckle along his jawline, then repeat his, “Not a single one.”
Our next kiss only lasts short moments, but it doesn’t feel small.It feels big in a different way from all our others.They held oceans of sincere emotion and desire, yes—they were not lacking in the least.This one just has something of its own in it.
I don’t ponder that further.We need to crawl out of this bed and see to some tidying up.And now we’re both yawning; tiredness is coming back to us.
But I do fail at holding in a giggle as I finally start extracting myself from his embrace.
My eyes have adjusted just enough to the darkness that I can make out the upwards turn of his lips.“What?”
Can’t hold the joke in either: “I thought I was annoyed about you always stealing the blanket, but maybe you should do it even more often.”
His laughter pours into the deeply shadowed room.
In a sweet rush, I once again remember him calling me‘love.’
It all makes my heart feel bright.
“Can I keep you?”he asks easily.
“Please do,” I say in kind.“And please let me keep you.”
“Happily.”
After a smiling few moments, I echo in a whisper, “Happily.”
I sense one of his hands smacking around the bed in the dark until it lands on my arm and lightly squeezes.I find purchase on him, too, and copy him.
Then we help each other out of the bed, not letting go until the moment we absolutely have to.
And mylifefeels bright, actually, even now in the middle of the night.
L U K E
Focusing on work sure is difficult.
I mean, in a way, I can’tnotfocus on it.It’s Friday—and Black Friday, at that—so there’s plenty going on to keep my attention.In the spirit of such a popular money-spending day, Mr.Polk decided to suspend reservation requirements and even offer brunch.The latter affected me and Maggie a bit since we clocked in for the last hour of it, but the open dining has made the bigger mark on us.
There’s the source of my general distraction, though:Maggie.
Work may be busy, but I still notice her often around the bar area and her hostess stand; either I catch her looking at me or the other way around, and it always brings smiles and held looks.And she lives in my thoughts, so I can’t help remembering all the time we’ve spent together at my apartment, which means I can’t help wishing this wasn’t the day she goes back to her place—and I can’t help having all kinds of little daydreams about us keeping each other like we agreed on in the dark earliness of this morning.
“Oh my God,” I say under my breath.
I start crafting two Old Fashioneds while memories from that dark and early hour whisper over me for the hundredth time, putting my body’s tiny hairs on end like it’s anticipating having her close again.
