Page 142 of Revolve
“What?”
“You’ve told me you love me forty-seven times today.”
I turn to look at him. “I did?”
“In all different kinds of ways.” He smiles, like this is a secret he’s kept, him counting myI love yous. “Like when you kiss me, and you linger for a minute to kiss the scar by my lip. Or when you retrace the smiley faces on our palms. Or when you take your thumbs”—he takes my hands and moves my thumbs under his eyes; I run my fingers under there on instinct and he sighs happily—“and do that. Or when you tell me you love me, thenshowme exactly how much.”
My cheeks feel hot, and I look up at him like I’m going to burst at the seams.
“And when you look at me like that,” he adds. “I love you too, Sierra. And I hope I do tell you enough.”
Then he lays a whisper of a kiss on my hair, and suddenly everything feels right in the world. I feel like I’ve found a place where I can land safely. Forever.
FIFTY
DYLAN
SIERRA HASN’T LETme move in four days. Today, she’s handcuffed me to the bed. Any other day, this would be my ideal situation, but right now my girlfriend is changing in front of me, and I have to sit here.
I tug on the fuzzy pink handcuffs again. She caught me making her a grilled cheese in the kitchen after she came back from soaking in the hot tub with Summer and Scarlett—and Kian, because he’s got nothing better to do than mock me by joining them. She lured me back to bed with false promises that I will definitely make her follow through on later.
“Don’t look at me like that, you did this to yourself,” Sierra says right before pulling the string of her bikini. I can’t help but feel proud of how confident she is in her body. She doesn’t hide her scars anymore. After the Grand Prix, she sat with me as I elevated my leg and shopped online. She’d ask if I liked a dress or a skirt, but then she’d get quiet, and I realized she was hovering over the crop tops. I bought her every one she liked.
“What did you say? I can’t hear from all the way over there. Come closer,” I say.
She crosses her arms, and it doesn’t help the predicament in my pants. “You really think I’d fall for that again?”
“Yes.” I grin, and she gives me one of those looks I love kissing off her face. “I’m sorry,” I say for the eighth time today. They gave me a boot to wear to make sure my ankle is immobilized. By skating on my sprain, I’ve added a few weeks to my recovery, so I’m not too happy about that, because Sierra’s taken her task as my nurse very seriously. Which would be hot if she agreed to dress up. Instead, she just scolds me.
“I’ll get on my knees. You liked that before.”
“You did that in the middle of the doctor’s office. They probably think I torture you.”
My head falls against the headboard. “Thisistorture.”
“Good,” she says. “If you ever keep anything like that from me again, I will cut you with my skates. That’s a promise.”
“Is that supposed to deter me? You could carve my heart out and I’d still come crawling back.” Her eyes narrow to slits. “I promise, I’ll never hide anything from you. You know that.”
She nods, going back to change into the tiniest shorts I’ve ever seen.
“You’re seriously going to lock me in here, and strut around in those?”
She stares at her outfit. “What’s wrong with them?”
“Unlock these handcuffs and I’ll show you exactly what’s wrong with them.”
“Nice try,” she says. “Take this as your punish—”
I yank my hand, and the handcuffs scuff my bed frame until the chain breaks. The smile on my face turns devious, and Sierra’s mouth falls open. I spring from the bed and stalk toward her. She’s still blinking at me, staring at the broken handcuff dangling from my wrist.
“What were you saying about that punishment?”
“How did you—? Summer’s going kill me for breaking her handcuffs.”
I chuckle, “We’ll blame it on Kian.” I kiss down her chest, just the way she likes.
When I lift her, she gasps. “Your ankle! Put me down right now, Dylan!”
