Page 27 of Only Ever You
I chuckled and kept on cleaning up. After I finished, for the first time, awkwardness hung in the air. I knew what I wanted, although it wasn’t defined. I didn’t have to have everything now with Luna. I simply didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stretch this time with her further.
She twisted the dish towel between her hands nervously until I reached for it. “What are you worried about?”
She took a quick breath, straightening her shoulders. “I really like you, Parker, and I’m afraid I’m going to screw this up.”
“You can’t screw this up, Luna. I really like you too.”
The sound of her quick inhalation was audible. She startled me just like she had the other night. She tossed the dish towel on the counter and closed the distance between us. Seconds later, she was leaning up to kiss me.
The moment our lips collided, fire blazed through me, and my mind went blank. There was a sweetness, a pure quality to her that stripped away my defenses and knocked me to my knees inside. She kissed me boldly, her tongue tangling with mine briefly before we broke apart.
We stared at each other, our breath heaving together. I scrambled inside, frantically trying to get purchase, trying to steady myself internally. The fierce need I felt for Luna was more powerful than any I’d experienced and tested all of my discipline.
“I want you, Luna.” My voice was decisive, the edges of my words scuffed from the force of my need.
I closed my eyes to gather myself. After several deep breaths, I leveled my gaze with hers.
She stared back at me, lifting her chin slightly and squaring her shoulders. “I want you, Parker.”
I swallowed. “I don’t want to rush this,” I finally said.
Luna meant too much to me. What she represented in my memory and in my heart was, not to be trite, something special. There weren’t many people I felt like I could be truly myself with. She was on that very short list. I trusted her on a bone deep level.
“I don’t know that we can rush anything. We’ve already blown past all of it.” She straightened up even further. “I’m halfway to falling in love with you, and I can’t believe I just said that out loud, but it’s true.”
My heart practically cracked a rib. My voice was raspy when I replied, emotion crashing through me so fast my throat felt tight. “I’m halfway in love with you. But?—”
Luna stepped closer, placing her palm on my chest, where my heart felt pulled toward it, as if she were a magnet.
“I feel like we lost so much time,” Luna said. “I don’t want to miss any more.”
As I stared into her eyes, I felt like I understood something even if she wasn’t saying it explicitly. She had missed so many things once her parents went on the road and turned her life into a display of video clips curated and fed to the masses. She didn’t want to miss any of the real parts of life. This, between us, was achingly real.
I placed my hand over hers, curling my fingers around it. “Okay. Here’s the thing, I want you so bad. I want it all. At any second, if you decide you want to slow down, all you have to do is say so.”
Her lips curled in a slow smile, joy and passion sparking in her eyes. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, but okay. The same goes for you,” she said earnestly.
I chuckled. “Luna, I waited years hoping I’d see you again. And then, I finally did. Pretty sure that’s not gonna happen for me either, but I appreciate you making sure I know.”
When she giggled, the sound slipped through the defenses around my heart, curling up in a corner. Warm and safe. The way my heart felt in her hands.
Luna turned her hand to lace her fingers with mine before stepping back and tugging me away. “The kitchen is great now, but…” she teased as she pulled me through the living room over to the stairs.
I took a quick glance over at Fuzzy. He was out for the count, snoring softly, where he slept on the kitchen floor.
“Do you need to take Fuzzy out?” Luna asked, stopping at the base of the stairs.
“No, he should be good. I took him out for a break before we started cleaning up. I was just making sure he was good and asleep.”
She giggled again. “He looks very asleep.”
A laugh rumbled in my throat as I squeezed her hand. “He’s a really good sleeper.”
I followed when she began walking up the stairs. A sense of anticipation began drumming through my body. My entire focus was on Luna. I barely registered that the stairs came to a landing with a single door that led into a large bedroom. The bed suited Luna perfectly. It was a tall four-poster bed with pillows piled high and light, silky fabric draped over the posts.
Luna stopped in front of it, dropping my hand and turning to face me. When she looked up at me, she looked hesitant with trepidation flickering in her gaze.
“If you’ve changed your mind –” I began.
