Page 40 of Hello Handsome
Her words were oxygen to my lungs, and I stared at her in awe.
It was different than with Maya.
Aggie and I were both older. Wiser. Hardened in some ways, weathered and softened in others.
In the back of my mind, I saw a twenty-year-old, vivacious, determined Maya say I love you and jump into my arms in the sunflower field.
And in front of me, I saw this beautiful, strong, incredible woman, her eyes full of wonder and confidence as she looked at me.
“What does this mean?” she asked.
I reached out, palming her cheek in my hand. “Let me show you.”
27
GRAY
I held her hand,walking to the room, skin humming with energy. The elevator door couldn’t open soon enough; it couldn’t travel up fast enough. The key card couldn’t communicate with the reader any faster.
But soon, we were in the room, a perfectly made bed waiting for us.
Maya walked me back to her bedroom in her apartment. The plain white bedding had flowers haphazardly embroidered across its surface like she got bored sometimes and played with thread.
There were just two photos framed on her walls. One of a little girl hugging her arms around a corgi’s neck. And another of a sunset over a sunflower field.
I blinked my eyes back to this moment, to the beautiful woman across from me, a searching look in her eyes.
There was so much history between us, a friendship I could count on like the ground under my feet. And I loved her. I did. Younger Gray thought I could never love another woman—I hadn’t expected to—but Aggie surprised me in the best possible ways.
No words could tell her, so I showed her, drawing her close to kiss her full lips, faded lipstick giving them a hint of color in the dim room.
I looked away from the photo to Maya who stood behind me. But she wasn’t wearing her sundress anymore. It was pooled around the ground at her feet, showing her curves concealed only by a thin cotton bra and panties. “Maya?” I whispered.
Aggie pulled back from our kiss, studying me with dark eyes. “I’m nervous.”
I rubbed my hand over her bare shoulder, grazing soft skin. “Tell me why you’re nervous?”
“My body,” she said, stepping back to pace the small area between the bed and the short hallway to the room. “I’m no beauty queen.”
The sad way she said it told me the words weren’t her own.
Taking her in, I breathed, “How can you see yourself as anything but beautiful?”
She wrapped her arms around her soft stomach, scored with faded stretch marks. “I feel beautiful when I’m with you.”
I kissed her, grateful she put her trust in me.
“You really think I’m beautiful?” Aggie whispered.
I blinked, lost between the present and the past. I clung to the moment, to this beautiful woman and kissed her. The world was right when my lips were on hers. “Of course I do,” I murmured against her lips. “You’re everything.”
The words emboldened her, and she turned. “Unzip my dress?”
My fingers shook on the small, smooth zipper. The sound was loud in the quiet room as I lowered it, revealing more of her soft skin, the black strapless bra cutting across her back.
With the zipper lowered, I stepped back, and she turned to me. Taking a deep breath, she lowered the dress to the floor andstepped out of it. Then she came closer, unbuttoning my shirt, eyes focused on her task.
“Take your clothes off. It’s only fair.” Her lips were dark from making out, quirked into a playful smile.
