Page 65 of It's Always Been You
The fact that my brain immediately translates that into something dirty, and my cock stands up and takes notice makes me think I really have taken a giant step forward today. Purged something that has been weighing me down.
Molly pins me with a look that makes me think there’s something on her mind, but she doesn’t want to say it.
I smile at her, running my thumb over the back of her hand. “Ask me a question, Rory.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a cemetery.”
I wave a hand around. “They’re all dead. They won’t mind.”
She snorts out a laugh. “Fine. When I saidI still know what you need, you turned it dirty, didn’t you?”
“You bet I did, Rory baby.”
She narrows her gaze at me. “Weren’t you just crying over your parents’ graves, like, three minutes ago?”
I nod. “I was. I needed it. I needed to come here, and I needed you to be here with me. It feels good to be here. Like I was holding onto some of my grief, but I finally feel like I can let go. I couldn’t have done it without you here.”
“I’m glad. And I’m glad I could be here. I’ll always be here for you.”
She looks away then, as if she didn’t mean to say that last part. Thealwayspart. But mean it or not, she said it, and I heardit. I can’t unhear it now. It’s contentment that fills my chest now, in the space where grief once was.
Today has been a whole bucket of emotions.
I know she wants to change the subject because when she meets my gaze again, she smirks. “A question for a question, right? Ask me a question, Gabe.”
I think about all the questions I could ask right now. The ones I want to ask.
When you said forever, did you mean it?
What happens now?
Are you mine?
Am I yours?
I love you. Do you love me? Could you love me one day, like you used to?
But I don’t ask any of those. One day I will. Not now.
I stand and reach down a hand to help her up. Then I ask something else instead.
“Want to get dressed up and go to a party with me?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Molly
“Oh, my god, Molly!”
I turn when I hear my name. I barely get a chance to see where it came from before a striking brunette in a purple gown throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and bouncing on her toes.
“Jesus Christ, Ames, let her breathe.” Gabe’s voice is amused, and I pull away just enough to look into the beaming face of Gabe’s middle sister.
“Holy shit, Amelia!” I wrap my arms back around her, and this time it’s me bouncing. I always loved Gabe’s sisters, but Amelia was twelve the last time I saw her. Seeing her all grown up is a crazy kind of time warp.
“I can’t even believe how grown up you are,” I say when she finally lets me go.
We’re standing on the terrace of the building Gabe donated, surrounded by a veritable who’s who of Berkeley alumni and the San Francisco tech world. The terrace is decorated with spring flowers and is awash in the glow of twinkle lights strung overhead. It’s gorgeous and romantic, and I’m standing next to a beautiful man who hasn’t stopped touching me since I walkedout of my hotel room earlier tonight in the dark pink strapless dress I chose. He gaped at me for a full minute before he regained the power of speech and pressed me up against the door to my room, kissing me senseless and absolutely destroying my lipstick.
