Page 124 of Lily In The Valley
She looked over at me as I dropped the rental car keys in the dish by the door.
“Sorry,” she said. “You know how they are.”
I shrugged. “Nah. That sounded like you were excited I’m home.”
She smiled. The kind that started in her eyes.
“How’d it go?” she asked, voice softer now.
I walked to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and leaned against the counter.
“She’s trying,” I said. “It’s weird. But it’s real. And Kahlia’s… something else. Bright. Weird in a good way.”
Kelly walked over to me. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I think… I’m going to try and get to know her. Now. For Kahlia, if nothing else.”
Kelly reached over and squeezed my hand once before letting go. She turned to reach for something behind her and when she did, I stepped closer. Cornered her without meaning to. Or maybe I meant to. Her back pressed to the counter. My hand found the space beside her hip. She looked up at me. Eyes big. Lips slightly parted. Still soft from the smile she’d just given Zaria through the screen.
“You okay?” she asked again, barely a whisper this time.
“No,” I said. “Not even a little.”
Her brows drew together, but before she could speak, I stepped into the space between us, unhurried but measured. Close enough to feel her breath catch. Close enough she had to tilt her chin up to meet my eyes.
“You’ve been holding me together since the second I got off that plane,” I murmured. “Giving me peace. Giving me light.”
She blinked.
I wasn’t done.
“But every time you touch me, Kelly… I feel how much you’re holding back. And I can’t do that anymore.”
Her breath hitched.
I leaned in, my mouth a breath from her ear.
“I want the real thing. Not just your comfort. Not just your friendship.”
She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. So, I kissed her. Not softly. Not sweetly. But like I’d been dying of thirst and she was the only water I’d ever recognize. She gasped, but her mouth opened for me. Her hands found my shirt. Clutched it. I pressed her into the counter, one hand cupping her jaw, the other braced beside her hip. She melted against me like she’d been waiting for this just as long. We kissed like people who didn’t know how to stop once we started.
When I finally pulled back, my breath ragged, eyes locked on hers, she looked wrecked in the most beautiful way. Lips kiss-swollen. Cheeks flushed. Fingers still curled in my hoodie.
“It’s my last night here. I’m taking you out,” I said, voice rough. “Not as your friend. Not as a placeholder. As the man whose been waiting for you to stop pretending we’re anything less than everything.”
She swallowed. Nodded once, dazed. “Okay.”
“Say it,” I whispered, brushing her bottom lip with my thumb.
“Yes,” she breathed.
I kissed her again, slower this time. Deep. Certain. And in that moment, everything I thought I’d lost started feeling possible again. Because loving her had never been the problem. It was believing I was allowed to.
Chapter 37
Khalil
She disappearedinto her room after saying yes, leaving me standing in the kitchen with a mouth that still tasted like her and a heart trying to play it cool. I leaned on the counter, arms crossed, listening to her move around. Water rushed, bottles clinked, a blow dryer hummed. Even her getting ready had a rhythm. She was orchestrating a moment she didn’t know was already perfect. Karter padded over and plopped down at my feet, growling, like he knew what was coming.
